Red Wings vs. Kings GP...

Red Wings: 9-7-1

Kings: 10-6-3

Season Series: 0-0

Red Wings Zen:

Point and Laugh:

Video Candy:

Red Wings vs. Kings GP...

Red Wings: 39-19-8

Kings: 36-25-5

Red Wing Zen:

Brian Rafalski

4-33-37, +/- 14, 18 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Dustin Brown

21-23-44, +/- 17, 59 PIM

Red Wings vs. Kings GP...

Red Wings: 38-18-6

Kings: 35-23-4

Red Wing Zen:

Niklas Kronwall

10-19-29, +/- 5, 30 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Willie Mitchell

2-4-6, +/- 7, 15 PIM

Red Wings 0, Kings 5: Post Game Snipes...

• My little sister and I braved the weather to head down to the Joe tonight (Huge thanks to Petrella and Sara) to watch that disaster. After risking life and limb venturing out onto the roads, we would've appreciated it if the Wings had at least scored a goal.
• I didn't realize that the game was on Versus until after I got home. Driving down to the Joe was worth it just so I didn't have to sit through their telecast.
• This third-period picture of Salei pretty much sums up the game.
  
  
  
• I'm currently riding an 0-2 streak at the Joe. The Wings have been outscored 10-2 in those two games. This makes me sad.
• I noticed Jiri Hudler doing decent things a few times tonight. Interestingly, he and Dan Cleary were the only two Wings who didn't have negative +/- ratings in the game.
• This was one of those games that just kills me. The Wings had 51 shots on Quick and not a single one of them went in the net. Every season, the Wings have one or two games that play out just like that and it still frustrates me to no end.
• Going into the third, it was nice feeling like the Wings had a legitimate chance to tie the game up. Last season, I would've written the game off as a sure loss at that poing. What a difference a year makes.
• The building was half empty tonight thanks to the weather. It was the sparsest crowd I've ever seen there, pre-season included. While it's always nice to see the Joe full, I have to admit that I enjoyed the short lines for bathrooms and concessions. Think about this: we had time to hit the bathroom, take a whole lap of the building, visit the concession stand, and make it back to our seats for the start of the next period. Those of you who are familiar with the Joe know that that should be physically impossible.

Hero: N/A

Villain: Jonathan Quick
There's nothing worse than seeing your team get shut out in their own building.

Final Thought:
There was not nearly enough butter on the popcorn we bought during the second intermission. It just added another layer of fail to the game. At least the donut we got from Timmy's was good.

PS. I wish post #FIVE-HUNDRED would've been about something happier.  I can't believe I made it this far.

Red Wings vs. Kings GP...

Red Wings: 19-6-3

Kings 16-10-1

Red Wing Zen:

Brad Stuart

2-9-11, +/- 10, 24 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Wayne Simmonds

4-4-8, +/- -3, 38 PIM

Red Wings 2, Kings 3 (OT): Post Game Snipes...

• Draper and Ozzie both came back from injuries tonight. Ozzie played well. Draper didn't get much playing time, so it's hard to pass judgment.
• The Kings have yet to give up a powerplay goal while at home. That's crazy considering that we're more than a quarter way through the season. I was hoping that the Wings would be able to end that streak, but they sadly did not.
• Ozzie got called for a trapezoid penalty. We can all pretty much agree that this is one of the stupidest things the NHL has ever come up with, right? If we're going to restrain the goalies, at least add some humor to the game by using a shock collar or chain.
• Another road game, another LGRW chant by the Wings faithful in attendance.
• Brad Stuart drilled someone late in the first period. Later on in the game, he knocked Davis Drewiske down. He followed that up with a little nod at Drewiske as he was down on the ice. I love the swagger.
• Ericsson started the scoring with a goal late in the first. I didn't see the puck go in the net at first because I was focused on Zetterberg who looked like he was going to slam into the endboards. Datsyuk picked up the assist on the play while Homer was causing his usual mayhem in front of the net.
• Rig looked dangerous in the offensive zone all night. He had several good chances after scoring his goal. It was definitely one of his better nights.
• Justin Williams tried to stickhandle past Datsyuk at one point and ended up just looking silly. Homer finished the play by coming in and knocking him down. It amused me.
• I was still settling onto the couch for the second period when LA tied up the score.
• Luckily, Bertuzzi put the Wings back in the lead shortly afterward. Ken Daniels yelled, “Snipe!” when he scored. Personally, when I hear the word “snipe” associated with Bertuzzi, I assume it involves a rifle and ghillie suit. After the game, someone asked him about his snipe, and Bert responded by asking for a lawyer.
• The Wings started out with a strong first period, but gradually faded as the game wore on. You could tell that they were feeling the effects of playing back-to-back games. They looked a little more lively during overtime, but the Kings ended up winning on a goal that came off of a Lidstrom turnover.
• Any team that doesn't have two syllables in its name should ban its fans from doing the, “Let's go, ______!” chant. It just sounds stupid.
• After the game, the Kings' mascot rode an ATV out to center ice and pretended to be having a seizure. This was after the Kings celebrated their OT goal in the same fashion that teams usually use for Stanley Cup clinching goals. It's still December, sunshines.

Hero: Jonathan Ericsson
He had the Wings' first goal, but more importantly, he looked good tonight. I kept noticing him for positive reasons, instead of after mistakes. I wish he could play like that consistently.

Villain: Anze Kopitar
He got the Kings' goal in OT to seal the win.

Final Thought:
I'll take 5 out of 6 points on a roadtrip all season long.

Red Wings vs. Kings GP...

Red Wings: 17-4-2

Kings: 14-10-0

Red Wing Zen:

Chris Osgood

2-2-0, 2.76 GAA, .893 SV%

How fitting is it that the random number generator landed on #30 for his return from injury tonight?

Point and Laugh:

Davis Drewiske

0-5-5, +/- -2, 13 PIM

2010-2011 Player Profiles: Jimmy Howard...

Hey, kids, guess what? Hockey's almost here. That means it's time for me to get back into this whole blogging thing that I've neglected during the off-season. Since I lack the creativity to come up with a new gimmick, I decided to continue the Player Profiles series I did last year leading up to the season. I'll be taking a look at a different player (almost) every day between now and when hockey starts. By my count, there are 16 days until the Wings open the regular season. Get excited. Today's subject:

Jimmy Howard

2009-2010 Regular Season: 63 GP, 37-15-10, 3 SO, 2.26 GAA, 0.924 SV%

2010 Playoffs: 12 GP, 5-7, 1 SO, 2.75 GAA, 0.915 SV%

Season Highlight: His brilliant game against LA. His facewash of Sidney Crosby comes in a close second.

Season Lowlight: The first month of the season

Nobody was a bigger surprise last season than Jimmy Howard. I entered the year with very low expectations for him and figured he was a stop-gap solution until one of the Wings' younger goaltending prospects was ready to relieve Chris Osgood. Instead, Howard ended up taking over the starting job and playing brilliantly during the second half of the season. He should've won the Calder. I'll believe that for as long as I live.

This year, he'll face the dreaded sophomore slump. He's much older than your typical NHL sophomore, and he's had plenty of college and pro experience, so I'm optimistic that he'll be okay. That being said, goaltending is my biggest concern heading into this season. The Wings need him to play like he did down the stretch last season, not like he did at the beginning of the year. The team's stacked enough that they don't need hom to stand on his head every night, but he needs to make the stops that count.


What he needs to do to make me smile: Avoid the sophomore slump.

Red Wings vs. Flames GP...

1. Jimmy Howard has struggled a little since the Olympic break. The layoff seems to have left him a little rusty. Can he hold up in this key game against Calgary?
2. Datsyuk and Bertuzzi both missed practice today. Both are supposed to be ready to go on Tuesday, but if I’ve learned one thing from this season, it’s that the worst-case scenario almost always happens. Will their nagging issues affect their play significantly? It would be a shame to see Datsyuk’s post-Olympic tear suffer because of a flu bug.
3. Over the last little while, the Wings’ powerplay has slowly started to become respectable. Will their special teams keep up the good work, or will one of them start to falter? In the recent past, either the PK or the powerplay seems to be strong, but not both at the same time.
4. From what I read today, Jonathan Ericsson is going to be returning to the lineup tomorrow. How is he going to respond to his benching? Getting sat in favor of Brett Lebda has to be demoralizing for anybody, but especially a guy like Ericsson with his Adonis-like qualities.

It’s looking more and more like it’s going to be a three-horse race for the 7th and 8th seeds in the West. Five points separate the 5/6 teams from 7th place, and there are 4 points between Calgary in 9th and St. Louis in 10th. There’s a pack of teams from 10th to 13th that could definitely challenge if they put together a strong run (Anaheim *cough* Anaheim), and catching up to LA, Colorado, and even Vancouver and Phoenix isn’t out of the question for the Wings if they get going, but I’d put my money on the boys fighting with Nashville and Calgary for those last precious playoff seeds. Losing to Calgary tomorrow isn’t an option for the Wings, but you already knew that. I just hope that they do too.

Red Wings vs. Blues GP...

1. Obviously, the big story is the long-anticipated return of Johan Franzen. How is he going to look shaking off all those months of rust?
2. Can the Wings, for once this season, play a full 60 minutes? No sleepy starts. No collapses. No heartbreaks. Just a full 60 minutes of Red Wing hockey.
3. How many players are going to go down with injuries? I really wish this one was a joke.
4. I’ve seen a lot of potential line combinations tossed around, but nobody really knows what we’re going to see. There’s a pretty good possibility that Mike Babcock doesn’t even know since so many guys are day-to-day. How is the lineup going to shake out?

It’s been a couple of days since the loss in LA, and I have to say that it still hurts. There’ve been a lot of candidates for worst loss of the season so far, but I really think that one takes the cake. I didn’t want to say that in my recap because it felt like the same dramatic overreaction that I’ve had numerous times this season, but after stewing about it for 48 hours, I’m willing to let that label stick. Let’s just please move on and look forward to something for once.

Red Wings 3, Kings 4: Post Game Snipes...

Instead of the usual bullet points, I’m going to describe my feelings about this game at various points during it.
1st period: Hey look, the Wings are actually playing hockey today…Two goals 16 seconds apart? This never happens FOR the Wings…OMG, I love you Henrik Zetterberg! I love this game! I love hockey! Oh, this is so much fun. I want more.
2nd period: Um, guys, you know there are 40 minutes left, right?...Oh crap. Well, whatever…The Wings need to wake up…Why, Jimmy, why?...Yeah, saw that coming. I hate everything.
3rd period: Ok, well this isn’t terrible yet. Maybe the Wings will come out strong…Maybe they can take it to overtime and at least get a loser point…Yeah, I saw that coming…@#$%^&*&^%$#%^&*#$%^&^%$#$%^#^&*^%^&*#$%^&*@#@$%%$#@#$%^!!! I hate this team. I hate this season. I hate hockey. I’m never watching ever again. Ever. God I can’t wait to see Franzen play on Tuesday.
To sum things up: The Wings lost their lead, they lost the game, they lost two points, they lost ground on Calgary and Nashville, and they lost THREE forwards to injury. In all honesty, that’s a little bit incredible.

GP Answers:
1. The Wings need these two points to tie Calgary and Nashville for 8th place in the West. Are they going to look like they actually know that?
They fooled me. During the first period, they looked like a team that got it. They were skating, and scoring, and looking like an NHL team. And then…well, you know what happened.

2. Is Filppula going to be able to bury one of the chances that he’s inevitably going to get? I swear he could’ve had 16 goals over the last two games.
He did indeed score, although to be fair, it was kind of a lucky bounce. I really don’t care how they go in though, as long as they count for the Wings.

3. Will the Wings find a way to solve Jonathan Quick? They have a really bad habit of making opposing goalies look phenomenal when they play them.
They scored 3 goals during the first 20 minutes and he looked decidedly human. Then he more or less got a 40-minute vacation as the Kings skated circles around the Wings.

4. The Ducks’ first goal bounced in off of Stuart’s foot, and another one was batted in off of a glove “legally.” What ridiculous bounces are going to go against the Wings this time around?
The Wings actually got a good bounce to go in for them in the first period on the abovementioned Filppula goal. They could have and should have won this game. It wasn’t about bounces or luck or anything like that. it was about the Wings deciding that 20 minutes was enough and giving away 2 points for approximately the 847th time this season.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Henrik Zetterberg
Even though he didn’t get us curly fries, he played well.

Jimmy Howard gets the Golden Facepalm
I hate to do this because this game was not his fault, but the Kings’ second goal was horrific. When that puck went in the net, I got one of those nasty feelings we’ve all grown accustomed to this season and fully expected the game to go downhill.

What I Learned:
The Wings don’t miss Ville Leino one bit. It was business as usual for the boys this afternoon.

Red Wings vs. Kings GP...

1. The Wings need these two points to tie Calgary and Nashville for 8th place in the West. Are they going to look like they actually know that?
2. Is Filppula going to be able to bury one of the chances that he’s inevitably going to get? I swear he could’ve had 16 goals over the last two games.
3. Will the Wings find a way to solve Jonathan Quick? They have a really bad habit of making opposing goalies look phenomenal when they play them.
4. The Ducks’ first goal bounced in off of Stuart’s foot, and another one was batted in off of a glove “legally.” What ridiculous bounces are going to go against the Wings this time around?

~The Wings got rid of Ville Leino in a trade to Philly today. They got a 5th rounder in 2011 and Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, who is notable for being Norwegian and injured. Tollefsen is expected to be waived by the Wings. All I have to say about Ville is good riddance.
~It’s my daddy’s birthday today, so I may or may not get to see all of it. Anyway, it’d be a nice little present from the Wings if they could pull off a win today…

Red Wings vs. Sharks GP...

1. Are the Wings going to show up tomorrow, or is Jimmy going to be standing alone again?
2. What kind of impact will Homer’s return have on the offense?
3. Much has been made of the Wings’ lack of killer instinct this season. Blown chances, sitting back on leads, lack of intensity, you name it… Can the Wings for once look like a team that knows what it’s doing?
4. Two games ago, the problem was the defense. On Sunday, it was the offense. What part of their game is going to give us fits against San Jose?
5. The powerplay has been looking more functional lately, but it’s still not converting as regularly as we would like. While they boys are able to establish control and cycle in the zone, but the pucks just aren’t going in. Getting Homer back should help in that regard theoretically. Can they start to get that sorted out tonight?

LA just went on a 5-0 roadtrip and managed to pull away from the Wings. The Wings are on their own five-game trip right now. They’ve already dropped one point, but there’s absolutely no (logical) reason that they can’t win the rest of the games on the trip. If they’re serious about making the playoffs this year, now would be a really good time to show it.

On a non-hockey related note, because this is the most public forum to which I have easy access, I need to thank UofM Health Services. When I hurt my ankle last weekend, I was more worried about being able to pay for treatment than the actual injury. I somewhat grudgingly headed over to UHS (our free clinic for students), making the usual wisecracks about it being...well, UHS. They took x-rays there, but still couldn't tell if it was broken or not. The only way to know for sure was to do a CT scan, which I flat out told them I wouldn't/couldn't pay for. The next day, I got a call from their Managed Care department saying that they had found University funding to pay for me to have the scan done at the hospital here. The Rackham school here apparently runs an emergency medical fund for grad students, and while I hardly think my bum ankle qualifies as an emergency, I'm extremely grateful. Now that we know for sure that it's not broken, I can continue "cheating" by not using my crutches and not worry about making it worse. Anyway, the point of this story is that several people went out of their way last week to make sure that I got the best possible medical care, and they were really under no obligation to do so. Since I'll probably never meet any of them, thanking them here is the best that I can do. I've said it a million times before, but it really is great to be a Michigan Wolverine.

And now back to your regularly scheduled Red Wings nonsense...

Red Wings 2, Kings 3: Post Game Snipes...

• Another chance for the Wings to climb the standings, another lackluster effort from the boys. Yawn.
• There was apparently a man up in the rafters at some point during the game, so they cleared an entire section of the lower bowl. I’m still confused about this. It was never mentioned on FSD’s broadcast, but I remember seeing a shot of the Wings’ bench during the second period when they were all staring at something up above. I assumed it was something on the big screen, but I guess they were looking at the guy.
• Filppula’s goal was beautiful, but so was the hard work Dan Cleary put in beforehand.
• Bertuzzi’s goal came on a fun deflection off of his knee. I was amused by it.
• After the first period, things were looking good. The last minute of play was dominated by the Kings, but the Wings had a two goal lead and looked like they could stay in control.
• The Wings actually scored on the powerplay. It was a 5-on-3, so there was no excuse not to. The second penalty that the Kings took was brutal.
• And then the rest of the game happened. Just out of curiosity, when was the last time you saw this team play a full 60 minute game? It’s been a while.
• One positive trend that I’m noticing is that the Wings’ defensemen are getting more shots through to the net from the blueline. Earlier in the season, they were passing more or getting them blocked. This will be even more important when Holmstrom returns.
• Stuart made another awesome goal line save that seemed huge at the time. It went to review, but even though the replays clearly showed that it didn’t go in, I held my breath. You never can tell how they’re going to rule anymore. Someone on FSD (I can’t remember who) said, “That was a goal last week against Dallas.” And he was right.
• Meech had a breakaway. There’s nothing else to say about that. I’m sure you can guess how it ended if you don’t already know.
• The Kings’ first goal was ugly. Ericsson made a bad turnover, and then Howard tried to grab the rebound but missed. The rebound itself wasn’t bad, but he should’ve been able to cover it up. He just whiffed on it.
• At one point during the broadcast, Mickey Redmond took it upon himself to announce that Lilja could be back as soon as next week. Everyone was astonished because nothing had been said about his progress recently. Ken Holland (and common sense) refuted that. Part of me wonders if Mick got a little telestrator happy and circled the wrong guy on the graphic FSD had up at the time.
• Mick also jokingly suggested that players use blood capsules a la WWE to draw the extra minor on highsticking calls.
• I really wanted to go down to this game, but I’m glad I didn’t make the trek. I would just be more angry.
  

GP Answers:
1. Can the Wings pull it off today? This game needs to be won, and it needs to be won in regulation. None of that OT/SO nonsense this time around. I don’t care about any of the trivial stuff I usually ask about in these GPs, as long as the Wings come away with two points, and LA gets none.
No. They had a chance to pass LA in the standings and continue working their way into a solid playoff spot, but they couldn’t be bothered to play more than one period of hockey. Again. Wasn’t this team supposed to be angry this season? Weren’t they supposed to have something to prove? I know they’re still missing important guys, but missing talented guys is not an excuse for lack of effort.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Valtteri Filppula
He showed some great hands and patience on his goal to open the scoring. It was a pretty good-looking goal.

An Extra Stick Tap for Brad Stuart
That puck he scooped out of the net was millimeters away from crossing the goal line. It turned out that it didn’t matter much, but it was huge at the time.

Jonathan Ericsson gets the Golden Facepalm
He made the turnover that led to the Kings’ first goal. It was a costly mistake, and he can’t be making turnovers like that in the defensive zone.

What I Learned:
The Wings haven’t really turned a corner after all.

Red Wings vs. Kings GP...

There’s only one question today, because only one thing matters. I really wanted to go to the game tonight, but stuff got in the way. Maybe it’s better this way. I won’t have to be seen in public while watching, which is good for everybody involved.

1. Can the Wings pull it off today? This game needs to be won, and it needs to be won in regulation. None of that OT/SO nonsense this time around. I don’t care about any of the trivial stuff I usually ask about in these GPs, as long as the Wings come away with two points, and the Kings get none.

Red Wings vs. Capitals GP...

1. The last time the Wings played Washington, we barely noticed Alex Ovechkin. Thanks largely to Nick Lidstrom, he just didn’t look threatening very often. The box score says that he got an assist, but the Wings did a great job limiting his chances. Will they be able to repeat that performance?
2. The Eurotwins were in vintage form on Sunday. They were the best players on the ice, and I think we’re all still trying to piece our minds back together after Datsyuk’s shootout goal. If the Wings want to gain any ground, they’re going to need efforts like that from them on a consistent basis. Are they going to live up to our lofty expectations?
3. I haven’t heard who’s slated to start in net yet. Will Ozzie finally get a chance to redeem himself? He played the first game against Washington this season, and since it’s against an Eastern Conference opponent, a potential loss would hurt less, I suppose. You’ve got to figure that he’s going to get a start one of these days. I know Howard’s on a hot streak and is young, but at some point he’s going to need a break.
4. The Wings have a chance to break into the top 8 with a win against the Caps. They’ll need LA to lose to San Jose, but it’s within reach again. They’ve had a few chances to do that over the last few weeks, and haven’t been able to put a good effort together. Can they finally get over that hurdle and start working their way up the standings?
5. The Chicago game on Sunday was by far the best hockey I’ve seen since the playoffs. The Wings dominated for large stretches and controlled the play. They looked like the better team out there despite still missing some key guys from the lineup. I know we won’t be treated to that kind of hockey every minute of every game, but can the Wings keep up that level of intensity and drive on a regular basis? It sure would make moving up in the standings a lot easier.
6. Will Ville Leino or Brad May be in the lineup? Does it matter?

One other note: Ville Leino did this the last time these two teams met. Remember when we thought he’d actually be good? I’m pretty sure that was the last time he’s been anywhere near the crease.

Red Wings vs. Stars GP...

1. The Wings are once again sniffing at a playoff spot tonight and they also have a chance to put some distance between themselves and a team that’s coming up behind them in the standings. They’ll need some things to fall into place for them, since both LA and Vancouver are also playing today, but by night’s end, the Wings could potentially be tied for 7th place in the conference. You’d like to think that this would be the kind of game the boys could get motivated for, so which version of the Wings will we get treated to this afternoon?
2. The Wings’ powerplay actually served its purpose a couple of times on Thursday night. This was quite an exciting change of pace for us Wings fans. Is there any chance that we’ll get to see a little more of that today?
3. Now that Lidstrom’s little scoring drought has been ended, I’ve decided to pick on Pav. He looked better last game than he has of late, but he’s had a tendency to fade away for a couple of games at a time before roaring back to life. Can he follow up Thursday’s effort with an even better one, or will we be wondering if he even played a shift by the end of the game?
4. Drew Miller had an amazing game Thursday night. If he keeps it up, he’s going to enter the realm of the unbenchable. Is he going to be able to follow that up with another remarkable effort?

Anyway, the one good thing about the LA and Vancouver games today is that they’re against teams in the East. I know the Western Conference is much better than the East, but at least if the results are favorable to the Wings, the two points will be going out of conference, and any potential 3-point games won’t hurt as much. Are you ready to root for Pittsburgh (and Boston, although that doesn’t hurt as much) tonight?

Red Wings 2, Kings 1: Post Game Snipes...

• It was nice to see Zetterberg throwing a hit on the opening shift. Well, really, it was nice to see him on the ice at all.
• The Wings did not start particularly well. I don’t know why I even bother pointing that out any more.
• I really, really liked Cleary’s goal. It was hard-working and “ugly.” In hockey, that equals beautiful.
• The Wings’ first PK was phenomenal. I’m pretty sure they had more chances during those 2 minutes than LA did. They had 3 or 4 good breaks into the Kings’ zone. What a turnaround the PK has had since the start of the season and last year.
• The play that led to the Wings’ second PK was ridiculous. I’ve seen the replay numerous times now, and I still can’t figure out how the puck didn’t go into the net. While that was going on (as well as a similar play on the Kings’ ensuing powerplay), I kept wondering where Brad Watson and his intent to blow were. Seriously.
• After their last-second goal to end the first, the Wings kind of went to sleep and left Jimmy Howard out to dry.
• During one of the intermission shows, Mickey York announced that we were under a, "severe cuddle alert." I'm not making this up.
  
• Howard nearly gave me a heart attack in the third when he got stung by that shot.
• Brad Watson, I still hate you. Just so you know.
• Oh boy was Jimmy Howard on fire tonight. He got lucky on about a bazillion plays, but like Mickey always says, “you have to be good to be lucky, and you have to be lucky to be good.”
• Darren Helm is the fastest man alive. I don’t care about Usain Bolt. I’ve decided.
• Was Ville Leino even on the ice tonight? I think I saw him once. And he gave the impression of potentially being useful before disappearing without doing anything.
• You'd like to think that the Wings would be feeling like their backs are against the wall with the standings looking the way they are. The sure didn't look like it with their play through the last two periods tonight. All the recently-healed guys in the world won't make a difference if the team doesn't show up to play every night.
• If ever there was a game the Wings didn’t deserve to win, I’d say it was this one. I don’t recall that happening once this season. It was a nice change from what was happening a while ago when the Wings were playing well and still not winning.
• I’m really glad I stayed up to watch the game. I suspect I’ll feel differently tomorrow at work. Thank you, Darren Helm, for preventing it from going to OT.
• I wonder how Team USA's feeling now about choosing Quick over Howard.
  
• Winning this game was huge, especially since it didn't turn into a three-pointer. It places the Wings only 3 point behind the Kings for the 8 spot.
  

GP Answers:
1. Obviously the big news is the return of Zetterberg and Cleary. Filppula’s return a couple of weeks ago gave the team a boost, so what kind of effect will getting two key guys have on the team?
Well, Cleary kind of made an impact, I’d say. Memo to the other injured Wings: now that’s how you make a comeback from IR. Z was pretty noticeable in the first period, but seemed to fade afterward. It was nice to actually have a legitimate second line for a change, though.

2. When is Nick Lidstrom going to score a goal again? It’s been the better part of a decade since he put one in the net, and I’m going to copy/paste this into every GP until he does.
No. I should probably just start copy/pasting my answer here too.

3. Not only did the powerplay not help the Wings on Tuesday against Anaheim, it hurt them when they gave up a shorthanded goal and completely lost their focus. I asked this before that game too, but when is the powerplay going to become an actual advantage for the Wings again? Hopefully the return of Cleary and Zetterberg will spark things since there’ll actually be a legitimate second unit. At least up front anyway.
The powerplay still makes me sad. That’s all I’m going to say about that.

4. Datsyuk sleepwalked through the last game (and several others before that). He’s starting to try my patience, which is kind of a feat because he’s one of my favorite players. Will Zetterberg’s return give him the spark that he’s been lacking?
He definitely looked livelier during the first period, but faded after that. I thought he might have some of that Eurotwin synergy going with Z there, but he was largely invisible for the second half of the game. He did manage to take two penalties, although the second one was a pretty weak call.

5. Babcock’s going with Howard again tonight. I’m not particularly surprised about it. He looked shaky on Tuesday, but I had kind of a feeling that Babcock would go back to him to show that he still has confidence in him. Otherwise it sends the message that the first time you screw up, you’re out, and I don’t think that’s the kind of pressure he wants to put on his rookie goalie. However, if Jimmy falters again, I’ll be looking to see Ozzie in net next time around. How will Howard rebound from his first less than stellar game in a while?
Oh, I’d say he rebounded pretty darn well. How about you?

Cookies and Cupcakes for Jimmy Howard
Good? Lucky? I don’t care. He stole the show tonight. I’m going to go ahead and proclaim this his best game ever. I know he was scrambling and doing numerous Hasek impressions, but…good lord was he good tonight. I really wanted him to get the shutout. It would’ve been amazing.

An Extra Stick Tap for Darren Helm
He made the play with his ridiculous speed racing in to prevent Quick from playing the puck in the corner. He then managed to finish for a change. He’s had a great string of games. What an effort on that shift.

Todd Bertuzzi gets the Golden Facepalm
He took the penalty that led to the Kings’ goal late in the third that broke Jimmy's shutout. It was his second penalty of the game.

What I Learned:
Mike Babcock is a genius. I mean, we all kind of knew that already, but I know there were a lot of people questioning his goalie decision today.

Red Wings vs. Kings GP...

1. Obviously the big news is the return of Zetterberg and Cleary. Filppula’s return a couple of weeks ago gave the team a boost, so what kind of effect will getting two key guys have on the team?
2. When is Nick Lidstrom going to score a goal again? It’s been the better part of a decade since he put one in the net, and I’m going to copy/paste this into every GP until he does.
3. Not only did the powerplay not help the Wings on Tuesday against Anaheim, it hurt them when they gave up a shorthanded goal and completely lost their focus. I asked this before that game too, but when is the powerplay going to become an actual advantage for the Wings again? Hopefully the return of Cleary and Zetterberg will spark things since there’ll actually be a legitimate second unit. At least up front anyway.
4. Datsyuk sleepwalked through the last game (and several others before that). He’s starting to try my patience, which is kind of a feat because he’s one of my favorite players. Will Zetterberg’s return give him the spark that he’s been lacking?
5. Babcock’s going with Howard again tonight. I’m not particularly surprised about it. He looked shaky on Tuesday, but I had kind of a feeling that Babcock would go back to him to show that he still has confidence in him. Otherwise it sends the message that the first time you screw up, you’re out, and I don’t think that’s the kind of pressure he wants to put on his rookie goalie. However, if Jimmy falters again, I’ll be looking to see Ozzie in net next time around. How will Howard rebound from his first less than stellar game in a while?

Lidstrom's Latest Milestone...

I was going to write a post about Lidstrom’s 1,000th point last night, but I’d been up since 5:30 that morning, and I felt like he deserved better than the incoherent ramblings that my brain would’ve created at that point.

The Wings started out slowly in the first period, and I was pretty convinced that it was going to be another ugly game. After the first few minutes, they started to turn things around, though. (I think I’m just going to copy these two sentences and paste them at the beginning of every post that I write this season.) They didn’t look great, but they were much better. Not that it would’ve taken a whole lot to improve from the previous game, but it’s a step in the right direction. There are enough game recaps out there that I’m not going to waste my time writing one of my own. Some notes, though:

• Mike Babcock kindasorta called out Hank. Hank responded by scoring his first goal of the season. Maybe that was just the kick he needed to get himself going. (I say kindasorta because in the grand scheme of “call-outs,” that one was pretty low key.)
• For all that talk over the summer about making up for the “lost goals” that the free agents took with them, I bet nobody thought Kirk Maltby would be picking up the slack. He’s currently tied for second on the team with two goals. In fact, he, Lidstrom, Rafalski, and Abdelkader are the only four Wings who have positive +/- ratings at this point. I think the competition for playing time is good for him. I’ve noticed many times that he tends to play better when he’s fighting for a job. Maybe the occasional benching or two will be a good thing for him.
• Datsyuk sitting out the game worries me. So does the fact that nobody’s saying what the mysterious injury was. I’m used to the playoff mindgames about hiding injuries, but this is much too early in the season to be messing with my head. The last thing the Wings need is to lose him for any measure of time.
• Todd Bertuzzi continued to not make me gouge my eyes out. To date, he’s only picked up a couple of assists, and he hasn’t displayed the offensive touch he once had (ie. firing a shot clean over the glass on a great scoring chance in close), but he’s been much, much better than I expected defensively. And for now, I’ll take that. As an avid holder of grudges, I don’t know what to make of this.
• I like Ville Leino more and more each game. He’s been as good as advertised offensively, and way better than I expected defensively. He had a couple of really good plays on the backcheck last night.
  

And finally, Nick Lidstrom. He recorded points #999 and 1,000 with assists on Homer’s and Hank’s goals respectively. As much as I hoped he’d hit the mark in Sweden, it was nice to see him do it at the Joe. I’ve always felt like he’s been underappreciated, and that’s a shame. I really believe that if he were on a different team with a less renowned offense, he would’ve been recognized for his greatness earlier. For so many years, names like Yzerman, Fedorov, Shanahan, Hull, and now Zetterberg and Datsyuk have been headlining the team, and the media often tends to focus on the scoring stars and their offensive flash. Lidstrom doesn’t deliver bone crushing checks (although he was credited with two hits last night) that attract attention and more often than not makes defensive plays so perfectly that folks don’t even notice that he made an effort to do it. There’s a reason his teammates call him The Perfect Human. Remember how nauseous you felt last year when it was announced that Lidstrom would be missing a playoff game for the first time in his career? That says all you need to know about how much he means to the team. So congrats to #5. He’s been a class act since day one and he’s right up there with the best of all time.