Wings Hope to Avoid Snowballing VS Avalanche

Detroit (6-5-1) VS Colorado (7-6-1)

Detroit has finally put the horrific losing streak behind them, and now the task of starting a streak in the other direction begins.  The Red Wings will be looking to win their 2nd straight game against our old foes, the Colorado Avalanche.

The roster for tonight's match is relatively unchanged from Saturday: Todd Bertuzzi and Patrick Eaves are both still out with their respective ailments, but Mike Commodore will be replaced by Jakub Kindl on the blueline.  It also appears that the splitting of Datsyuk and Zetterberg will continue, with Pavel manning the top line, and Hank working the 2nd line.

My thoughts on this game are such: I am not looking for another blowout.  We put the concerns about scoring behind us in Anaheim, the boys proved that there's no lingering issues there.  I would prefer to see a couple early goals, then watch the Red Wings lock things down defensively.  Isn't that what Coach Babcock wants in the first place? He's been trying to get the team more tight defensively, but it's a more difficult task when the offense isn't there and there's no lead to protect.  In a case like that, you worry as much about scoring to get the lead as you do about not making a mistake and giving the opposing team the lead!

My prediction: 3-2 Wings, with Filppula getting the Gold Star as player of the game.

Let's Go Red Wings!!

Wings Go Duck Hunting, Rout Anaheim 5-0

How's everyone's shoulders feel the day after?  Do they feel a little lighter?  I know mine do.

Detroit finally got the offensive ball rolling again and took the Anaheim Ducks to task, whipping them 5-0 on Saturday night.  Nicklas Lidstrom netted a pair, and Niklas Kronwall, Henrik Zetterberg, and Johan Franzen also found the back of the net, giving the Wings almost as many goals in one game as they'd gotten in their last 6.  Jimmy Howard also posted his 7th career shutout in the tilt.

I hope the Wings remember what they did last night and can carry into their next few games, because one win does not a solution make.  At the very least, the Wings did win in dominant fashion.  I would be much more concerned had Detroit simply held on to win a 1-0 game and still not found a way to score in bunches.  Also, what a relief to see the Mule take his own advice and shoot the puck!!  2 games he goes without putting a shot on net and he goes out last night and fires half a dozen Jonas Hiller's way.  Hopefully now that he's found the twine, he can continue to do so.  We're definitely going to need it to claw our way back to the top after that little stumble.

Next up: The Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday.

Class dismissed.

A Call for Detention: Wings Winless thru 5

Before I even begin: Yes, that was a terrible no-call on Koivu.

Also: Yes, that was a terrible no-call on Setoguchi at the exact same time as Koivu.

Now, with that aside, I want to begin by saying that I am extremely volatile over what transpired last night in the Red Wings' 2-1 OT loss to the Wild.  Someone last night said it best: "The Wings deserved better, the Wild deserved less."

With that said, there's an argument to be made here.  The argument doesn't just span last night's...whatever it was resembling a game, it spans this whole 5 game winless skid we've got going on.  Anyone think I'm wrong in saying the Wings have been a completely uninspired and unfocused group lately?  Barring a rare few players, there's no jump in the skates, there's no ferocity in the corners, no drive to get to the net.  Detroit is lacking the urgency to win that most teams have all the time, minus the talent to put it to good use.

You think Columbus is feeling urgent to win some games? You damn well know they do.


And with the loss last night, the squandering of our best start in 30 years is complete: 5 up, followed by 5 down.  10 pts after 5 games, and 11 points after 10.  Pathetic and, more importantly, unacceptable in these parts.  Change is needed, but it's not the roster or the personnel.  It's the work ethic, the grit to play the same way and at the same high level at minute 60 as you did at minute 1.  The scorers need to shoot more, the checkers need to hit and grind more.  He who hesitates is lost, and the Wings have shown every time through this trek in the wilderness of losses that their easing off the gas is killing them.  Errant passes--or simply throwing the puck at no one at all--landing on the other team's sticks, half-assing defensive assignments, an unwillingness to just put the puck on net.  These are all things can can be remedied as long as the team actually works to remedy them.  They say it, oh they say it plenty, but I've not seen the boys act on all the things they've been saying they can do to get out of this rut.

When Johan Franzen was asked by Ken Kal how the Wings can improve before last night's game, he answered, "Shoot." three times.  That was three more times than Franzen actually shot at the net during the game.

See what I'm getting at...?

Class dismissed.

Wings Wasting Best Start since '72 - A Study Hall Moment

"FFFFFFFF...!"

I can imagine this is what Babs is doing, and has been doing, since the end of last night's game.  I know I am.

Detroit played host to Todd McLellan San Jose last night and was defeated by him them 4-2.  I apologize for the political correctness of correcting myself here, but even though most anyone would agree that the only reason the Sharks can deal with Detroit is having the former assistant coach for the Wings be their head coach, it's just not something that's nice to say.

As if that's ever stopped me before.

I'll say it right now: If Todd wasn't their bench boss, the roles would be the complete opposite.  No, this isn't whining, especially when you look at the stats.  Sharks players themselves will tell you that the games are extremely closely contested, but when your head coach used to work with almost every guy on the other team, he knows stuff about them that he can exploit.  Perhaps we'll see something similar in time with Ottawa now being commanded by Paul MacLean, but Ottawa does not have the talent that San Jose does--at least not yet.

Anyway, enough about that.  The bigger problem here is that Detroit lost. Again. For the third straight game.  That, my friends, is a losing streak. It is also unacceptable.  I simply can't fathom how a team like the Wings can come out the gate so hot and cool so completely!  Outside of the top line, nothing is happening with the skaters, offensively OR defensively.  Last night was a perfect example: Offensively, there was such poor passing through most of the match that it was painful to watch.  It showed a terrible lack of proper communication between the players.  Speaking of lack of communication, defense was...

Yeah, that sums that up.  I mean come on, look at the 3-2 goal for the Sharks.  Three guys back and Ian White, one of them, takes a guy to the boards.  Okay, fine, but do you think that maybe one of the other two skaters near the other end of the boards could try to, I don't know, get back and take away the middle???  Joe Thornton knows what a gimmie is, and if you offer him one like on that play, he will take it 8 days out of 7.

Sadly, even the return of Jimmy Howard wasn't enough to break Detroit from their funk.  None of the 3 goals he allowed, to me, were unstoppable, and I really feel he should've had that 2-1 goal from Marleau.  Such was not to be though, and Detroit now sits at 5-3-0 after winning their first 5 games, their best start in almost 30 years.  The Wings have wasted a great opportunity to pad their place in the standings when the inevitable injury list piles up as it always does through the regular season.  On tap tonight is a date with the Wild, where the Wings will meet the former Sharks Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi.  More on that later tonight, for right now the focus is on where the Wings are going performance-wise.

Somebody help me out here, what do you think is the best solution to the flash-meltdown the Red Wings are having all of a sudden? I'm not pressing the panic button, of course, but this is still a little bit of a concern.  2 of the last 3 games were definitely winnable games, which would have had us sitting at 7-1-0 to start the season, 14 points in 8 games.  Do you think a shuffling of the lines would spark something? Is the reported waiving of Fabian Brunnstrom and return of Mike Commodore enough to stir Detroit from their recent slumber?

Feel free to give it some thought and leave a comment, I'm curious to see what people feel is the key problem at the moment.

Class dismissed.