Powerless at the Pond, Detroit Defeated by Ducks

The yo-yo season continues for the Detroit Red Wings.

After a great showing against the Kings on Saturday, the Wings had a chance to end the California road trip with a majority of wins, but all that determination seen in LA was wasted in Anaheim as Detroit simply could not pull the trigger against the Ducks.  Despite many excellent chances, a good number of them went by the wayside as Wings players did not converge and own the middle of the offensive zone the way they needed to against a Ducks team that kept Detroit neutered along the perimeter.  Petr Mrazek got the start in net for the Red Wings and made this one a game Detroit could've taken hold of but they never did, losing 1-0 and gifting the hot-handed Jonas Hiller with a shutout and his 14th straight victory.

The biggest concern of the evening, however, had to be the Red Wings' impotence on the powerplay.  Detroit is now 0 for its last 21 PP chances, and it has seemed to matter little whether all the big guns are on the ice for the man advantage or not.  The struggling powerplay for the Wings has been a constant problem and Assistant Coach Tom Renney seems to have done almost nothing to change the flaws in the system.  We still see too much passing, not enough puck retrieval after an initial shot, and sparse movement by the defense to open up the middle of the ice.  Just last night in Anaheim, the Wings went an unacceptable 0 for 5.  Teams cannot squander that many PP opportunities and expect to go far and if this, as well as the number of other obvious problems this team has faced all year, are not addressed at the trade deadline then this may end up a very depressing year for Wings fans.

Detroit is off now until the 16th when they travel to New York to face the Rangers.  They will be without the valuable services of Tomas Tatar who will be in Slovakia to attend his father's funeral.  Hopefully we will get word in the meantime that other Red Wings, such as Pavel Datsyuk and Darren Helm, will be ready to go by then.  All we can do till then is believe in the team and hope things start getting consistently better.

Red Wings earn Emotional, Valuable Win in LA

Detroit Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard found a piece of himself and forward Tomas Tatar paid a fitting tribute to his recently deceased father in what was easily one of the most satisfying wins of the year.  Howard made 44 stops and Tatar scored the game winning goal as the Wings downed the Kings 3-1 Saturday night.  Riley Sheahan netted his first NHL goal to open Detroit's scoring and Dan Cleary also contributed a goal, rounding out the Wings' offense for the evening.

After a dismal performance in San Jose, Howard needed a strong comeback game to build some confidence and momentum.  Unfortunately after having done so, news broke that Petr Mrazek will get the start tonight as it seems Jimmy tweaked his hip flexor, even though he himself suggests he is fine.  Hopefully this effort is not squandered and can be built upon after he returns, unlike the night-and-day showings between Dallas and San Jose.

Tatar undoubtedly played last night with a heavy heart, with news of his father Jan's passing still fresh.  In an emotional show of character, however, Tatar endured and played, and was instrumental in the win over the Kings.  Not only did he score what ended up being the game-winning goal, but he also assisted on Sheahan's opening goal for Detroit.  The sight of Tatar pointing to the sky after his goal will not soon be forgotten.

With last night's big win behind them, the Red Wings now move on to Anaheim, where the Ducks will host Detroit.  Can Detroit hold onto the energy from last night and propel themselves deeper into playoff contention?  I believe they can, and they will.

Does Jimmy Howard Need the Chris Osgood Vacation?

It's no secret that Jimmy Howard has struggled this year.  It's a case of a great goaltender simply having what is quickly turning into a season for the Hall of Shame, with his lackluster finishes far exceeding his stand-out performances.  Things between the Hockeytown pipes are scary right now.

But haven't we dealt with this before?

Journey back to the year 2008.  The Wings rode the tandem of Chris Osgood and Dominik Hasek confidently into the playoffs, and when Hasek lost his touch, Osgood was there to steal the show, taking the Wings to the promised land.  Now, jump forward to the next season.  2009's regular season was not nearly as kind to Osgood.  His play became inconsistent and erratic, and he was his own worst enemy.  It got to a point where management had to step in, giving the starting spot to Ty Conklin while Chris Osgood was sent away for ten days to get his head screwed on straight again, working constantly with goalie coach Jim Bedard.

I hope I don't need to remind Wings fans how that season ended, and how close we came to seeing a repeat.  Needless to say, the Osgood vacation certainly made a difference.  Could this same thing not possibly help to get Jimmy back to his old form?  At this point, I feel anything is worth a try.  We're currently a point away from being on the outside looking in.  If Jimmy drops the game tonight against the Kings, we will almost certainly be on the wrong side of the standings by tomorrow.

Coach Babcock has himself said that we will go only as far as Howard takes us.  Does it not then behoove us to give him every chance as early as possible to get this fixed?  If we simply say "Steady on!" and hope that it works itself out, in a month or two's time it could be too late.

Just don't send him on the Larry Murphy vacation of beer and all-day dollar hot dogs.

A Classic Case of Depression

I'm gonna put this out there right now.  It's been 2 days since the Red Wings lost the Winter Classic to Toronto, and I'm still shaking my head over it.  Call me a blasphemer if you will, but that loss kinda ruined the whole allure of the Winter Classic for me.

Now to be fair, I am a long ways away from where the Hockeytown Winter Festival took place.  I did not have a chance to go--much to my chagrin...at the time.  Looking back on it, though...I'm not sure I would have felt like it was enjoyable to go all the way out there, get all wound up over all the hype, all the build-up...just to watch Detroit blow it in (SURPRISE!) a shootout.  I will tell you one thing, though: feeling that way doesn't make me a bad fan like I'm sure some will want to denounce me as for saying it.

My disappointment in the loss has been so great that it's taken me this long just to drum up the will to write about it!  This was supposed to be the big, legendary, once-in-a-lifetime triumph, and what did we get instead? We got placed in the record books for the largest hockey game EVER...as the other guys who lost to the goddamned Maple Leafs.

Really? What reason do I have to look back on THAT with anything resembling fondness?

Again in all fairness, the game itself was quite good: back-and-forth action, saves, hits, an almost playoff-like atmosphere at times...and then it also had the shootout.  I should have known better than to get my hopes up when we got to that point, the last 12 we'd been in gave you a pretty good indication of what to expect at that particular juncture.

On the bright side, Datsyuk scored in the shootout! ...And he deked, too! He beat the goalie so bad that Datsyuk left him outside in the-waaaaaait a second...

But yes, in all seriousness, I don't look back on the Winter Classic fondly, nor do I believe I ever shall.  My one big regret is not being able to see the alumni games, seeing Yzerman skate in the Winged Wheel one last time, or seeing the Russian Five reunited...that one would have done me in.

The Red Wings need to make this up to me by winning some damned games and making sure we get into the playoffs, because that loss, I should remind you, dropped us below Toronto to the final Wildcard spot in the East.  Our asses have never been so close to the flame this year as they are right now.  Don't let the result of the WC be a portent of what's to come from here till April...