Wings Post-Game: Don’t Stop Believing

In what turned out to be one of the most disappointing games of the season, the Detroit Red Wings fell to the Boston Bruins by a score of 5-2. Just how exactly did this happen? Where the heck was the defense?

What time did the game start again? Was it a 7:30 start? I am not even sure if the Red Wings would have been ready at that point. Needless to say, the beginning of this game was not the high point for the Wings by any means. 

The first period really couldn’t have started any worse for them. Only a minute and twenty-five seconds into the first and David Pastrnak found a way to put the puck into the back of the net.

 

The first period was filled with a lot of puck-watching on the Wings end and it started off with a lazy play by Mike Green, who for all of his offensive acumen left a lot to be desired on that goal.

Little more than a minute later the Wings found themselves flat-footed once again and left one of the most prolific goal scorers of the season wide open.

 

I will never know what Justin Abdelkader was doing on this play and I hope to forget it after this game. What an absolutely clinical finish on Marchand’s part, nothing Howard could have done.

Jimmy Howard after saving the Wings collective buns the night before was hung out to dry early and often in the first period and deserved much better support. Lucky for him though after the initial barrage he was able to settle in and finish the period strongly.

The second period looked like more of the same with a Krug goal that I will save from all of your eyes. After the aforementioned goal, the team needed a bit of luck and found it in the form of Alexey Marchenko. Yes, the defenseman. 

 

A couple of power plays were swapped during the period but the most telling stat may be shots on goal, where the Bruins outshot the Wings by a 12 to 5 margin. Ouch. The game wasn’t terribly out of reach. Maybe, just maybe, the Wings could stage a comeback.

As the third period begins, I only have one word to say: NOPE. 

This comeback is not happening. Lee Stempniak scoring twenty seconds into the period is a tough pill to swallow to make the game 4-1. It didn’t stop there, though, Loui Eriksson wanted to put a big stamp on this butt kicking with the Bruins fifth goal of the night.

Absolute, soul draining goal. You can see the disappointment in everyone’s body language there.

One of the only other highlights of the game was a fan who threw an octopus on the ice.

Athanasiou is making a case for more ice time and has been doing so for awhile but lets all hope that this gives Blashill something to think about before Saturday’s game.

There is a point in time there where it looks like the Red Wings decided to leave the ice for a bit. I can neither confirm nor deny whether that took place. Only one line was in the positive tonight in the Corsi battle and that was the Helm, Richards, Datsyuk line. They all found themselves above 52% ES CF, a good mark considering the next closest player on the team was 45%. Ouch.

Tonight the Motor City MVP is the concept of time. The Red Wings only actually played two of the 60 minutes this evening. Thankfully for the team, they had a finite amount of time on the ice. This was easily one of their poorest performances of the season. Good news! They can only go up from here.

This Saturday, the Detroit Hockey Red Wings will be playing the New York Rangers with a shot at the playoffs. 

You can watch it on Fox Sports Detroit or listen to it on 97.1 FM/1270 AM.