- The Red Wings, surprisingly, didn't display much jump early in the first period. The play was all in their own end.

- The penalty call on Drew Miller for goaltender inference was a joke. So a player can't go hard to the net in open ice anymore? The Predators were handed a power play opportunity they didn't deserve. To their credit, though, the Preds took advantage of it. Also, the hooking call on Niklas Kronwall was ticky tack.

- Composite sticks are dreadful sometimes. How can they break just from deflecting a shot? That is happening more and more, and it's alarming. Had Pavel Datsyuk's stick not broken, it's unlikely the Preds would have scored Shea Weber's goal.

- The Red Wings' forecheck was more effective late in the period.

- The crowd is more into this game than I've seen for a playoff home opener in awhile at Joe Louis Arena. It's probably because the Red Wings opened on the road , and the competitiveness of the series has already been established, especially in the aftermath of Weber's hit on Henrik Zetterberg, and the subsequent fight between Weber and Todd Bertuzzi. Maybe, too, it's because the Red Wings are in a different role this time, as an underdog, and they rallying behind them.