Comment 1: Rookie Watch
Let's take a look at some marquee performances from some rookies who aren't used to being put in the spotlight:
Jeremy Chen: -1 rating, 2 hits, 3 shot blocks, 21 minutes played - That's a big stat line for Jeremy Chen, the young pure defenseman out of Canada. Asking for 21 minutes from a young guy like him is a tall order, and Chen really delivered when he could. The -1 rating is not a "problem" by any means, in my humble opinion; rather, he did all he could from his position. He's not supposed to be the guy who's scoring. The rest of his line should be helping him out.
Kalvins Zvejnieks - 1 shot, 2 hits, 17/29 faceoffs, 22 minutes played - Zvejnieks, the 6'4 power forward from Latvia, hasn't been scoring that much this season (8 points through 17 games), but he's really come into his own around the faceoff circle. This game, and a few other good ones like it, put him over 50% for the year, which isn't too common amongst rookies. Again, a lot of minutes and a lot of smash-mouth hockey from the big man. Nicely done.

Comment 2: Who Blew It?
I've managed to find another tight game where it's tough to pick out one person who really blew this game for their team. In fact, the guy I'm going to pick was actually on the winning team - and that's Hippo Passamus. He had an amazing opportunity with just 2 minutes left in the game to close it out, and he couldn't do anything with it:
That's a ridiculous set of plays from the Falcons center. As the leading scorer on this team, he should really know how to take his time or make the pass to someone who's available. Instead, he lined up presumably the same shot 3-4 different times and missed on every opportunity. The Falcons had 15 shots in the 3rd period and OT, and they still had to take it to a shootout.

Comment 3: Goalie Watch
Cedric Robinson has been THE guy for Detroit all season - they haven't started their backup at all yet. He's been solid, and the Falcons have been too - his record is [obviously] 12-5-0. He really stepped up in this game during the shootout - it's is tough for anybody to stop 3 in a row. The Whalers really took it easy on him, all things considered. They only put up FOUR shots in the 3rd period! They got unlucky that they didn't lull Cedric to sleep!
Casimir Stevens played his heart out, and it's unfortunate that he had to take the loss in this one. He faced 30 shots (including the 2 SO shots), which is well above the average of 22.13 shots he faces per game. That sort of fatigue could have really played a factor in the shootout. The defense needs to do a better job of bailing him out, especially since he stopped 25 consecutive shots from the end of the 1st when Possamus scored (yes, he still blew it for a little there) to the shootout goal!