Red Wings 1, Stars 4: Post Game Snipes...

• Well that was pretty ugly. I'm sure it's not exactly the way Mike Modano wanted to make his return to Dallas.
• It was a weird game in the sense that if you glanced at the stats in the box score, you'd probably think the Wings did a pretty good job. They vastly outshot the Stars, only took three penalties, and had plenty of powerplay chances. Those numbers don't tell the real story though.
• It was nice that the Stars honored Modano during the first commercial break. Of course, it would've been nice if they'd showed him a little more respect during the summer.
• The Wings took a penalty within the first minute of the game and allowed a goal seconds later. It pretty much set the tone for the rest of the night.
• The turnovers were coming fast and furious and the entire defense looked terrible.
• The Wings looked a little better in the third period, but that's not really saying much.
• Ozzie didn't look good, but you can't really pin this loss on him.
• My reaction to seeing Johan Franzen go down in the first went something like this: “NONONONONONONONONONONONO!!!!” It was nice that the elbow to the face he took went uncalled. Hopefully we get good news tomorrow, unlike the last October injury he had.
• Pavel Datsyuk, Tomas Holmstrom, and Brad Stuart were all -3 tonight. Nick Lidstrom and Henrik Zetterberg were both -2. Ouch.

Hat Trick:
1. I want to see a solid game from Ozzie.
Oy vay.

2. The Wings are done being paraded around like the Harlem Globetrotters for home openers now, right?
No, no they're not. It turns out that it's Phoenix's home opener on Saturday, too.

3. How will the crowd treat Mike Modano in his return to Dallas?
They treated him well and the standing ovation he got was quite nice.

I've Got My Eye on You:

Patrick Eaves: 0-0-0 +/-0, 0 PIM
Eaves had some shifts toward the end of the game and kept some pressure on the Dallas defense. He logged a lot of time on the penalty kill and did his job pretty effectively.

Tom Wandell: 0-0-0, +/- 0, 0 PIM
One of these times, I'm going to pick a guy who does something really notable that I can write about here. I'm just waiting for that to happen. I vaguely remember hearing Ken Daniels call his name and thinking, “hey, that's the guy I'm supposed to be keeping an eye on,” but then Nick Lidstrom made a turnover and I went all bug eyed with disbelief and confusion and that was the last time I noticed Wandell.

Hero: Jakub Kindl
He actually stood out as someone who looked good on the blueline. He definitely made some mistakes, but I like what I'm seeing from him.

Villain: Mark Fistric
He knocked Franzen out of the game with an elbow to the face without even taking a penalty. Those are some serious super-villain skills.

Final Thought:
It always amazes me how the entire team can seem so out of sync on the same night. I could understand one or two guys having off-nights at any given time, but the way the whole team can come out and sleepwalk through a game baffles me.