Wings are in trouble (as any team is) when you take three major players out of the lineup. Missing Draper and Maltby once or twice is no big deal, but over time, it forces you to over play guys or give time to those that just aren't as good. The Wings start paying the price as other teams wear the the Wings down.
Missing Holmstrom is a real killer. He makes so much happen by keeping pucks a live in the offensive zone and gathering in rebounds, let alone his play in front of the net. If Holmstrom misses 10 games, I could easily envision the Wings going 6-4.
Look, Hasek hasn't been strong. But he has been much improved since he "got back into the rotation."
Improved or not, Osgood still has been better. I don't think it's fair to the guy that he doesn't get more starts, because his play has been some of the best in the league. Until he starts doing poorly, or Hasek has a couple spectacular games in a row, it should be Osgoods job to lose.
Osgood has done nothing except dominate. Not one bad game. Not one poor performance. Not one hiccup in his game (every goaltender in the league has a bad goal now and then, they dont count, and to be honest, I dont remember a goal Osgood allowed this year where I said "Ewww...").
Granted, I agree with you as well, Wingtory. Watching Samuelsson on the top line made me appreciate Holmstrom more than I already do. It goes to show how much D+Z actually rely on Tomas' board play to be as effective as they are.
Dont get me wrong, Z was spectacular last night. Datsyuk was a no show. But Holmstrom just makes their jobs so much easier. Screw Ryan Smyth, I'd take Holmer any day.
I also agree with the absence of Draper and Maltby. Draper especially. The speed and defensive recognition of those two are sorely missed. Our 4th line was abysmal outside of their first shift. A victory for them was clearing their own zone for a line change without icing it. Score one for moral victories.
Anyway, to me, it falls on Hasek. 3 goals on 25 shots. Plain and simple. Once again, Hasek gets the same benefit of any goaltender, sometimes you let a bad one in. But overall your save% is at least 0.900. Hes not there. The more I watch him fall down and immediately go into a snow angel makes me think he wont "get there" ever again.
A really nice goal there from the wings to tie it up at 2 with the Capitals. Good vision pass from Datsyuk, brilliant positioning from Zetterberg, and an even better one-timer shot.
__________________
Wear this signature if you want a chatroom back at HF!
A strong indication of Holmstrom's worth is that in his return the stats follow him around like a lost puppy:
Holmstrom - 2 Goals
Datsyuk - 3 Assists (although I don't think Homer was on the ice for Z's ripping slapper).
Zetterberg - 1 Goal, 1 Assist (again, not sure Homer was on for the goal)
Lidstrom - 2 Assists.
That's 9 points (or maybe 7) for the ZDH + Lidstrom group. He is such a catalyst with his play on the puck and off of it.
The Caps were strong, but I think part of the problem the last two games is the lack of Draper. He'll be back soon, hopefully fully healthy. I don't think Babcock would have used Dats and Z agaisnt Ovechekin and Backstrom every time if he could have relied on Draper. Having a second defensive line will help the Wings offense tremendously.
A strong indication of Holmstrom's worth is that in his return the stats follow him around like a lost puppy:
Holmstrom - 2 Goals
Datsyuk - 3 Assists (although I don't think Homer was on the ice for Z's ripping slapper).
Zetterberg - 1 Goal, 1 Assist (again, not sure Homer was on for the goal)
Lidstrom - 2 Assists.
That's 9 points (or maybe 7) for the ZDH + Lidstrom group. He is such a catalyst with his play on the puck and off of it.
The Caps were strong, but I think part of the problem the last two games is the lack of Draper. He'll be back soon, hopefully fully healthy. I don't think Babcock would have used Dats and Z agaisnt Ovechekin and Backstrom every time if he could have relied on Draper. Having a second defensive line will help the Wings offense tremendously.
That top line is just crazy, they just compliment eachother so well. Its a mark of how much Holmstrom is underrated that it was said he was overpaid when he signed that extension.
I saw the match yesterday against Washington.Not a great game overall but Zetterberg/Datsyuk/Lidstrom are so good that you still win.
Yeah, the Wings did not look good because Washington was able to avoid the forecheck and really disrupt the breakouts. And that's a trend that carries over in the last couple games. I think it is a direct result of Maltby and Draper being injured.
I'm going to the Wings game tomorrow against the Kings. I was wondering DR, do you have any suggestions for taking the tunnel bus? I don't feel like finding a place to park in Detroit.
Red Wings really manhandled the Kings in that game. There was a stretch of about 5-10 minutes in which the Kings played well, and scored their 2 goals, but otherwise they had nothing on the Wings. Kopecky was a real monster in this game, despite not showing up on the score sheet, and Kronwall showed us a flash of why he was so hyped earlier in his career, offensively and defensively.
Lilja was normal, in that he sucked.
The top line was nothing special. It was really secondary scoring that ran this game for the Wings, and thats great. I hope the game in January I'm going to against the Stars will be this entertaining, but somehow I doubt it, with how the Stars love defense first hockey.
The confusing thing about the Kings is that they are not a roster devoid of speed and talent. They've actually got some really good players.
I blame their record on their coaching staff (I hate Crawford anyway, so its not hard). Obviously, the players are either doing exactly what the coaches want and losing, or they're not doing what the coaches want them to do and losing.
Either way, the coach is at fault. For a bad system or not getting buy-in.
Red Wings Game Day/General Discussion
> NHL
Linear Mode
