Wings Fall Prey to Themselves, Hand Nashville the Win

Well, we sort of got what we wanted: The OT/Shootout streak is over.

Best part of last night. Bet Cheli was glad he got
off the ice for the rest of it...

What is there to say, really? Detroit played a very mentally weak game last night against a Nashville team riding a young goalie and turned what should have at least been a close game into a write-off.  Shea Weber's knuckle-puck was the game-winner, but the Red Wings didn't make winning all that difficult, showing all the same problems they've had over the course of this season: bad or errant passing, terrible reading of the play in all 3 zones, and still not enough quality shots on net to test netminders.

On top of losing in regulation, Detroit also lost young defenseman Danny DeKeyser to a separated shoulder, which will likely have him sidelined for the next couple weeks.  It couldn't have been Quincey, could it? The hockey gods are fickle.  On the upside, Brendan Smith returned and...wasn't terrible! He admitted to keying in on watching Nik Kronwall during his stint in the press box, and it seems like he's starting to finally identify and correct some of the flaws he was harboring in his game.  He picked a good time to do so, because we need him playing well while Kaiser is in the shelf.

I do feel the question needs to seriously be asked, though: At what point does this become an issue not of the roster, but of the people in charge of that roster?  I'm starting to feel more and more each game like Mike Babcock is just preaching the same crap he always does just because he likes to hear it, and not because it's actually making a difference in the locker room between periods.  We've watched the Wings do everything exactly the same over this winless skid like they're expecting something to change. Nothing will change unless they do, the mindset, the game plans, SOMETHING internally needs to change.  We've never taken it easy on weak teams in the past so, with the tables turned, Detroit cannot expect any better treatment during their struggles.

The Red Wings return to action on Thursday against a similarly struggling Carolina team whom we have already beaten once this year.  If we can't get our shit together for this game, it may just be time to dig out that panic button.

Maybe don't press it just yet, but certainly keep it close.

Winged Wheels Fall Off Again, Washington Edges Detroit in SO

Life was good in Hockeytown last night in the Red Wings' match against the Washington Capitals.

Then the 3rd period happened, and proved that shit really does roll downhill.

Detroit came into what should have been the final frame of a 3-1 hockey game on the right side of the scoreboard.  They had found a way to silence the mighty Alexander Ovechkin and just had to keep things under wraps and cruise to the W.  Instead, an admittedly skillful goal by Ovechkin began the counter-attack, and Washington never slowed down, forcing us later into a 3-3 tie and into Overtime.  As if in response to the Wings' struggles, they found themselves scrambling in an Overtime PK situation which they somehow managed to survive until the Caps took a call of their own. After a short demo of Ken Holland's vision of 3 on 3 OT, the Wings got their greatest chance to close out the game with their own powerplay in extra time.

Once again, the Red Wings found a way to squander their opportunity when it mattered most.  OT would solve nothing, and back to the dreaded shootout we went.  The first two rounds were stalemates, Jimmah standing firm for his 2 saves, but Pavel Datsyuk and Johan Franzen both looked uninspired in their attempts and Capitals goalie Braden Holtby made short work of both forwards.  Todd Bertuzzi went next and obviously learned nothing from watching Holtby, as he tried to pull a spin-o-rama way too close to the net of a guy who had a really active stick, and a quick poke-check had us on the brink.  Nicklas Backstrom was the 3rd shooter for Washington, and he won the battle of wills with Howard, slipping the puck by and in.  For a closer look at the game, check out the boxscore here.

Now Jimmah has had some rough times over the last few games, and I won't defend him for everything that's happened, but I'll tell you one thing: for all the bitching I'm hearing on Twitter and elsewhere about Howard in the shootouts, chew on this--we shouldn't even be GOING to OT or a shootout.  Many of the last few games could have and SHOULD HAVE been won in regulation.  The Red Wings as a whole are not committing to 60 minutes of serious, balls-to-the-wall hockey.  Why did we really lose last night against the Caps? Simple, they played for 60+ minutes, not mailing the rest of the game in when they came into the 3rd down 2 goals, but we were content to believe that they would.  The Wings got lazy, and the Capitals...well, capitalized.  Hockey is a game like any other: if you stop playing the game, you can't expect to win.

Yes, there were positives, I'm not saying that there weren't, but does that not warrant playing a full game and not slacking off so that you can better savour and appreciate those accomplishments with a win rather than scrambling to right a suddenly sinking ship!?  Points are great and all, but OT and SO games are going to hurt us like hell come season's end when tiebreakers start getting tabulated. Regulation points take precedence, and even if we win some of these games going into extra time, it may end up being meaningless.  The real objective is to beat your opponent within 60 minutes, and the Red Wings need to get their act together and start playing to do just that.  The coaching staff need to lead by example and prepare these guys to do just that.  Ken Holland needs to fix his own mistakes with the cap and roster issues we're now suffering under so that we can put forth the best possible team to do JUST THAT.  Hockeytown is starting to take on a very 'Ce la vie' attitude, and I'm not buying into it.  The Red Wings are a better team than the product we are seeing on the ice, and they need to start proving it.

Datsyuk vs Ovechkin : Russian the Offence

Ovechkin visits Hockeytown, Red Wings are ready to get the winning streak down

With Alexander Ovechkin and his high-flying offense, averaging 3 goals a game, knock down the Wings? Will a high-powered power-play from the Capitals, clicking at 25.6%, over-power the 7^th leading penalty kill from the Red Wings? Will we see the Braden Holtby that let in 3 goals on 14 shots against Calgary or the one that played amazing in the last couple of games? Will Kyle Quincey finally be a + player in a game, a feat he’s only done twice this year?

These questions and many more will be answered tonight at the Joe-Louis Arena at 7:30 ET.

The Capitols are 6-3-1 in their last ten games, while the Red Wings are 3-2-5. The starting goaltenders are Holtby for the Capitals and Howard for the Red Wings.

Projected Lineup for the Washington Capitals:

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
Martin Erat	Nicklas Backstrom	Alex Ovechkin
Brooks Laich	Marcus Johansson	Troy Brouwer
Jason Chimera	Mikael Grabovski	Joel Ward
Aaron Volpatti	Michael Latta	Tom Wilson

Left Defenseman	Right Defenseman
Nate Schmidt	Mike Green
Karl Alzner	John Carlson
Alexander Urbom	Steve Oleksy

Projected Lineup for the Detroit Red Wings:

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
Henrik Zetterberg	Pavel Datsyuk	Todd Bertuzzi
Tomas Tatar	Johan Franzen	Daniel Alfredsson
Daniel Cleary	Joakim Andersson	Justin Abdelkader
Drew Miller	Darren Helm	Mikael Samuelsson

Left Defenseman	Right Defenseman
Niklas Kronwall	Jonathan Ericsson
Kyle Quincey	Danny DeKeyser
Brian Lashoff	Jakub Kindl

Game notes – Red Wings

• ·     Patrick Eaves cleared waivers today and has been sent to Grand Rapids;
•     Tomas Tatar returns to the line-up, so does Jonathan Ericsson after being on the LTIR;
• ·  Jimmy Howard will try to win his sixth game: he is 5-5-5 after 15 games with 2.67 GAA and a .910 SV%.

Game notes – Capitals

• ·        The Capitals have recalled defenseman Tyson Strachan from Hershey. If he playes, he’ll be the 10^th defenseman to do so for Washington this year.
• ·         Jason Chimera has 2 assists in 3 games after being signed to a two-year contract extension on November 8^th.
• ·         Alexander Ovechkin has 6 points in his last 5 games.

Where will Wings Find Inspiration?

Detroit will be hosting Washington tomorrow in an attempt to avoid losing their 7th consecutive home game, Patrick Eaves has gone on waivers, and Tomas Tatar is getting sat for Dan Cleary.

What the hell kinda bizarro world did I wake up to today?

The Red Wings are having a hard old time in many regards recently.  Guys outside the top line aren't scoring, the defense is incredibly suspect, and on top of all that, the cap crunch is killing Detroit's options for who to plug into the lineup to try and stir up some chemistry.

I'll admit it's hard as a loyal fan of a team to watch that team struggle, but what makes this particular situation harder to swallow is the fact that, by all rights, this team is better than what they've shown so far this season.  Weiss has been a complete bust, with a pitiful 3 points in 17 games.  This was the guy meant to replace Valtteri Filppula, and realistically WOULD have.  Daniel Alfredsson was a surprise acquisition this offseason and has been what I would deem decent. No one expected the Alfie from 10 years ago, the fanbase knows he's getting up in age, but  at least he's putting points up with 3 goals and 11 assists.

When you look at the Red Wings' depth chart, then look at their current standings and point production, it simply doesn't add up.  Something needs to change.

This is mostly a venting session for me.  I also need to apologize to the loyal followers of The Geek for what has been a lackluster start to the season for us here, too.  I promise you will see this rectified and just want to let you all know that I and the other writers here at TDG appreciate you all and look forward to sharing our passion for Red Wings hockey with all of you.

The old saying does state that "It's gotta get worse before it gets better".  Things will turn themselves around.