Larry Murphy said in the postgame show that there are a lot positive things in that the Wings can take away from the game even though it didn’t end well. That’s nice and all, but that’s how mediocre teams think. I expect better from the Wings.
Every time I start to feel good about this team, they go and blow the game. This time around, they tried a new style of play. They would come out and play solidly for the first half of each period, and then sleep walk through the last ten minutes. Someone needs to inform them that there are twenty minutes in each period. And while they’re at it, they should also mention that there are three periods in the game. Although you’d like to think that, like line changes, that would be the kind of thing that professional hockey players wouldn’t need to have explained.
Pavel Datsyuk made his return to the lineup and immediately made his presence felt. He was absolutely dominant through the first two periods, but he (like most of the team) disappeared for most of the third. Likewise, Ozzie looked solid throughout the whole game and made several huge saves to keep the Wings in the game. Then he let in an awful goal during overtime.
The Flying Circus line was looking good for most of the night, and the Euro Twins teamed up for assists on both of the Wings' goals. Homer scored his team-leading fifth of the season to tie up the game at the end of the first period. I absolutely believe that Tomas Holmstrom in top form is still the best in the business at what he does. Now he just needs to stay healthy.
As soon as I heard that our good buddy Brad Watson was working the game, I had a bad feeling about things. I’ve really tried to move on and get over the Goal that Wasn’t, because I have visions of myself still wallowing in bitterness sixteen years from now a la Down Goes Brown and Kerry Fraser. However, the Coyotes’ tying goal did nothing to bring him back in my favor. While I agree with the other folks on Twitter that they never should’ve been in a position to tie the game at that point, I kind of feel that all star referee Watson should’ve lost sight of the puck while it was sitting there in the crease. Regardless of that, Brett Lebda gets the blame for that goal. He managed to erase whatever goodwill he’d generated with his tally in the second period with that turnover.
In other words, it was another pathetic and inexcusable effort from the Wings. I really expected them to start this season with a lot of jump in their collective step, but so far I’ve been completely unimpressed. They’re now .500 through eight games. At some point, they’re going to need to get serious about winning some hockey games. I have other thoughts, but I’ve been up since 6 AM running on five hours of sleep, and I’m done for the night. It’s best to call it a night before I start to rant.
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