WINGS POSTGAME: ?

It’s Family Day (in Canada) and Presidents’ Day in the United States, so most of us have some time off, so I’m going to make this quick. To be honest, even if it wasn’t a Holiday I would make this quick, because there isn’t much to talk about. Coming into this afternoon, I don’t think a lot of Red Wings fans expected big things out of the Wings in this game. They looked sloppy but got two points yesterday and then had to travel from Detroit to Brooklyn and play less than 19 hours later. That would be hard on any team.

The first period actually offered some promise. Both teams were held scoreless and Jimmy Howard looked strong, especially on a John Tavares breakaway attempt less than seven minutes in. For the most part, it was an uneventful first period, but one with some positives to take into the second frame. 

For the first eight minutes of the second period it was much of the same. However, the Islanders finally broke though. 

 

This goal is garbage in my opinion. First, Brock Nelson tugs Xavier Ouellet down in the neutral zone, then bats it on net with a blatant high stick and then taps in the rebound. Without sounding too bitter, I’ll forgive the missed interference call because that happens, but the high stick ruling is outrageous. Red Wings’ head coach Jeff Blashill was visibly upset with the call and rightfully so. The refs apparently said it was fine because the stick wasn’t over Nelson’s shoulders…but it was an attempt on net, so if it is above the crossbar, it is a high stick no? Basically what I got out of this was if Howard would have moved out of the way it would have been no goal. But…because he did the right thing and stopped it, it is a goal. OK then. Moving on. 

After that goal it was all over for the Red Wings. Six minutes later the Islanders drew a penalty, Howard gave up a juicy rebound and Josh Bailey made it 2-0. If you’re nuts and want to put yourself through it, the goal is below. If not, just skip it and keep reading because it’s almost over. I promise. 

 

The second period meltdown continued when former Red Wings’ defenseman and frequent healthy scratch Marek Zidlicky potted his fourth of the season. I’ll spare you the replay on this one. 

Heading to the third period with seemingly no hope, Darren Helm did something pretty cool, but Ouellet couldn’t cash. 

 

After that stop, the vast majority of my focus shifted back to DailyFaceoff.com, so the rest was pretty much a blur. The positive news? Pavel Datsyuk scored 9:31 into the third, which gives him six goals and three assists (nine points) in his last six games. However, the good news and comeback stopped there and less than three minutes later a gloriously awful defensive breakdown allowed Tavares to spin a no luck pass to Ryan Strome for a lay up. 

Need you know more? We lost 4-1. It was bad. Howard has now given up at least three goals in eight straight starts. Yup. Eight games in a row of at least three goals. Good lord.

A lack of sleep. Oh and here’s a chart. 

It is worth noting that only Jurco and Athanasiou started in the offensive zone as much as the defensive zone. The other five started at least 66% more in the defensive zone.

After playing eight games in 13 days since the All-Star break, the Red Wings will get Tuesday and Wednesday night off before taking on the Penguins in Pittsburgh on Thursday at 7:00 p.m EST.