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Disaster In LA: Wings Lose Three-Goal Lead, Game, And Three Players

At the end of the first period, the Detroit Red Wings had a 3-0 lead, having played one of the best periods of hockey they'd play all year featuring a pair of goals by Henrik Zetterberg.

It may well have been the last happy moment for a while.

The Los Angeles Kings scored three goals in the second period, then Michal Handzus scored his second goal of the game with 2:21 left in the game to complete a stunning comeback and reach a franchise-record nine-game winning streak with a 4-3 win.

To make matters worse, three Red Wings players left the game with injuries. Tomas Holmstrom left the game with a leg injury late in the first, then Patrick Eaves and Drew Miller both missed the entire third period after blocking shots with their bodies. While it was unclear at the end of the game what the extent of the injuries would be or if the three players would miss any more time, the losses in addition to the absence of Niklas Kronwall for the second straight game makes Wings fans even more jumpy.

It was three distinct periods of hockey: the first dominated by Detroit, the second dominated by Los Angeles, and the third with the Red Wings having far more chances, but the Kings managing to put one of theirs into the net.

Jimmy Howard made 23 saves, but one huge misplay that lead to the Kings' second goal. For the Kings, Jonathan Quick recovered from a rough first period where he made only five saves on eight shots to blank the Red Wings the rest of the way with 20 saves.

Pavel Datsyuk started the scoring when brought the puck from the far blue line diagonally to the near corner to the left of Jonathan Quick. He waited for a couple seconds, then put the puck straight across to Zetterberg, who was camped out on the right side of the crease. Zetterberg's quick shot gave Quick no chance. Brian Rafalski picked up the second assist on the goal.

Just 16 seconds later, Valtteri Filppula came in across the crease from Quick. After getting to the right of Quick, Filppula spun around and fired a backhand that beat Quick for his fifth of the season. Dan Cleary and Todd Bertuzzi each picked up assists on the goal.

As the first period came to a close, Nicklas Lidstrom put a shot that was well to the right of Quick, where it came to Rafalski. Rafalski's shot was glove saved by Quick, but Quick couldn't hold onto it, and Zetterberg put the puck back into the net for his second of the night and 16th of the season, giving him the team lead with just 4.7 seconds left in the period.

In the second, Cleary turned over the puck behind the net, where Jarret Stoll found it and gave it over to Scott Parse. Parse went behind the net with the puck, brought it out the right side, and gave it a shot that Howard stopped, but Alexander Frolov brought the puck from the opposite side of the goal line and jammed it in along the post for his 13th.

Then, on what was a routine dump-in, Howard lost control of the puck playing it to the right of the net. Handzus was there, and he was able to push it past Howard to get his 14th unassisted.

But the Kings weren't done in the second. Wayne Simmonds took the puck from behind the net to the right of Howard and pushed it into traffic in front of the net. Ryan Smyth somehow found it amongst the sticks and legs and went through Howard for his 18th of the season, while Matt Greene picked up the second assist.

Frolov had Brad Stuart covering him as he skated out from behind the net. He passed the puck to Parse, who was moving towards the front of the net and put a shot on Howard. While Howard was able to stop that, the puck dribbled to his right, where Handzus was waiting to put it in the lower far corner for his second of the night and 15th of the season to complete the comeback.

The Red Wings are off until Tuesday, when they face the St. Louis Blues in St. Louis.

Player of the game: Henrik Zetterberg. On top of his two goals, he had 15 attempts on net (including nine shots), two of which hit posts in the third period.

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Comments

Display:

kind of glad i decided to go to hooters

but im not even surprised anymore. but for real. i swear i think i can never get any worse. and some how it keeps getting worse.

lets go for a 4 goal lead blown tuesday!

draft micah johnson

by dhall25 on Feb 6, 2010 6:25 PM CST reply actions  

im done

this injury crap and the wings defense is becoming bs to me.
this isnt the year for them. i am a die-hard wings fan…but
i cannot see them in the playoffs if they keep blowing 3 or 2 goal leads.
this is way too painful. we need to make trades ASAP

by forever_rednwhite on Feb 6, 2010 7:40 PM CST reply actions  

Sometimes it goes that way

It is tough to watch the wings lose leads and games the way they are, but just think of all the personnel changes that have occurred. Add to that the injury situation, and it is amazing that they are still contending for any PO position. Face it, and it is difficult to believe of the wings, they are lacking “talent” right now.

by nostradamas on Feb 7, 2010 9:51 AM CST up reply actions  

Watching the wings latley is almost like watching the Lions....

 I still think they could be a sleeper in the playoffs, that is if we make it.. Not sure who will agree with me, but I’m a huge fan of Jimmy Howard.. but it pisses me off that this kid plays his heart out, and our D cant even give him some help!…and as good as he’s been, just imagine if our D was some what good, we’d have a chance to be alot higher in the standings then we currently are.. Keep up the good work Jimmy… just hope u can hang in there long enough to see some good players in front of you..lmao other then that the only thing else i have to say is that if the wings are still looking to clear up some cap space for when franzen comes back i could fill a spot and i wouldnt even ask for that much!.. and i think i’d be able to turn the puck over just as good as anybody else on the team…lol for a lot less money tho.

by Wyte529 on Feb 6, 2010 8:45 PM CST reply actions  

I think they’re good for Franzen’s return (on Tuesday!), but still too high for Lilja’s return. If the new injuries are short-term. Big if.

by bleep bloop on Feb 6, 2010 11:06 PM CST up reply actions  

oh and one more thing...

Dont get me wrong, Lidstrom is a great player.. but if he doesnt step up his game and do what the captain of a team should do, then the C needs to come off his jersey, cuz obviously there is no leadership on this team right now… He should be more pissed then Babcock about they way the defense plays, and he’s part of it… Just my opinion tho.

by Wyte529 on Feb 6, 2010 8:52 PM CST reply actions  

you said it

yep need a captain who can kick ass, lindstrom too kind.

by Jim P on Feb 6, 2010 10:52 PM CST up reply actions  

Lindstrom?

"While there's life, there's hope." --Cicero

by Baroque on Feb 7, 2010 6:20 AM CST up reply actions  

Thank you very much. ;)

"While there's life, there's hope." --Cicero

by Baroque on Feb 7, 2010 8:03 AM CST up reply actions  

Yep, ever see him hit anyone? Defense have to be bangers, I’m sure the opposition love to play against him, they have no fear of getting their bones rearranged.

by Jim P on Feb 9, 2010 9:38 AM CST up reply actions  

Lidstrom and Rafalski were +3. Everyone else sucked. Stuart was -4 and Ericcson was -3. That about sums it up.

by bleep bloop on Feb 6, 2010 11:09 PM CST up reply actions  

don't get me started

Lidstrom has been tremendous and does not deserve to have the C removed – wait until he retires and isn’t there to be the reliable steady defenseman that has spoiled the fans for years and see how much importance he brought to the team.

The problem isn’t who wears the C, it’s who has been in and out and in and out of the lineup – namely almost everybody.

"While there's life, there's hope." --Cicero

by Baroque on Feb 7, 2010 6:20 AM CST up reply actions  

I'm trying to decide

If I should resort to drinking before/during games. I mean having a steady buzz before the puck drops and maintaining it throughout. Or perhaps a drinking game based on blown leads. Argh.

by Brobz on Feb 6, 2010 9:06 PM CST reply actions  

Ken Holland read this......

For the sake of the team you have got to fire Babcock. I’ve watched the games and he looks like a babbling idiot behind the bench, his mind must be in the olympics since he got picked. Watch the other coaches, they are into the game and show some interest. It may not be popular but the Red Wings are more important than coaching in the Olympics (poor Canada). We need a new coach after the olympic break to make the playoffs. Our players are good the coaching is terrible, I blame the coach for todays disaster. He should of sat Stuart for that stupid giveaway, for the rest of the period. When Howard kicked it in he should of pulled the rookie, sat him on the bench until he dealt with it, it would have broke the momentum, and then later, even next period put the kid back in. Babcock is coaching like he is taking the year off, man this team needs a kick in the ass for all the points they are giving away. I say Babcock has got to go to jolt the team back into the playoffs, get rid of his assistants too, bring up the Grand Rapids crew they know these guys.

by Jim P on Feb 6, 2010 11:08 PM CST reply actions  

If Babcock isn’t doing his job because he’s concentrating too much on the Olympics, then how does it make sense to fire him after the Olympics? I like how you followed up “Our players are good” with two examples of players’ bad play.

by bleep bloop on Feb 6, 2010 11:12 PM CST up reply actions  

No I mean fire him now, he sucks. Canada won’t even make the medal round. I’ll bet Stevie Y is already thinking of demoting him to an assistant. The Red Wings are still a talented hockey team, but supposedly the tough Babcock has gone soft. I’ll bet there is more Olympic talk in the dressing room than playoff talk. What a freaking year, I was offered a couple tickets to see Nashville in March, no way I can’t take these types of loses, getting a lead and then playing to lose….that’s coaching. No way, I’d rather lose like Minnesota or Dallas, just outgunned.

by Jim P on Feb 6, 2010 11:38 PM CST up reply actions  

and hire who, exactly?

Who is available who could come in without any background with the team, mid-season, with the current injuries, and magically get Osgood to play better and prevent any more guys from getting hurt and get the team winning?

Don’t propose a firing unless you have someone in mind as a replacement. Head coach can’t be left vacant until the perfect candidate emerges. Babcock has done as well the last few years as any other coach, and better than most – he has one Stanley Cup on his resume and could easily have had three in his career.

"While there's life, there's hope." --Cicero

by Baroque on Feb 7, 2010 6:17 AM CST up reply actions  

I’m assuming the comment about bringing up the crew from Grand Rapids was a joke, because most of the Wings they don’t know that well – Lidstrom, Rafalski, Stuart, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Eaves, Miller, Draper, Maltby, etc. etc. etc. are players they have no experience with.

"While there's life, there's hope." --Cicero

by Baroque on Feb 7, 2010 6:23 AM CST up reply actions  

No Joke, they know the organization and the players, a perfect fit for now. I think the whole Red Wing organization has Olympic fever, maybe they think they can magically straighten it out after and make the playoffs and salvage the year. Definitely changes are needed, behind the bench.

by Jim P on Feb 9, 2010 9:33 AM CST up reply actions  

it has been a bad year when

every time we lose game like this i always say man this is the worst loss of the year by far but no no no then a few games later they TOP the last one every fucin time…unreal year

TULO = 2010 MVP!

Troy Tulowitzki: "When people think of the Rockies, I want them to think of a winning organization."

LETS GO WINGS!

by TuLoRocks2008 on Feb 6, 2010 11:14 PM CST reply actions  

Guy's, we're okay

There’s another game against the Sharks before the Olympics and it’s even on a day when the Red Wings are over 50%. So they’ll win at least one more before the Olympics.
And I think things will look a bit better after then.

by bleep bloop on Feb 6, 2010 11:15 PM CST reply actions  

Keep the faith

I know its hard to watch whats been going on, blowing leads and not being able to score, but all we can do is keep the faith!

by nighthawk55 on Feb 7, 2010 1:57 AM CST reply actions  

Stuart is terrible

Holland needs to tap the museum of ancient history and bring Chelios back. At least you have a hall-of-famer teaching Ericsson how to do things right.

by Elfuego51 on Feb 7, 2010 7:14 AM CST reply actions  

he is terrible at times

And looks dreadful when his job is to babysit for Lebda or Meech instead of playing with his normal partner Kronwall. Most of this season he’s been very solid to excellent.

No Chelios. Time to move on from someone who can’t play the kinds of minutes and at the kind of speed that this team needs.

"While there's life, there's hope." --Cicero

by Baroque on Feb 7, 2010 7:21 AM CST up reply actions  

Lebda's been fine on his own

Honestly, after Lidstrom and Rafalski, he’s been our best defenceman as of late.

by eight_legged_freaks on Feb 7, 2010 9:00 AM CST up reply actions  

lately, yes

But for a while there, yikes – you could just tell sometimes that the words going through Stuart’s head were “WTF, Lebda?” Thank goodness he has settled down.

"While there's life, there's hope." --Cicero

by Baroque on Feb 7, 2010 9:09 AM CST up reply actions  

Too kind to the Kings

Joehass, you comment in your article about the 2nd period comeback of the Kings where it should have read the 2nd period collapse of Detroit (once again). Here is the recap… bad giveaway in our own zone, who else… Stewart. Poor handling of a puck from a shoot in… Howard, and finally, Jonathan Ericsson not utilizing his god given size to clear the crease for the 3rd and tieing goal. This was a gift from the Wings and the Kings need to be thankful. Their roll could have easily stopped yesterday. Take nothing away from the Kings, they are on a roll but all the NHL banners about Kings win 9th straight, should read Kings dodge a bullet…

by Deke13 on Feb 7, 2010 10:20 AM CST reply actions  

Baroque

You are a welcome voice of reason.

by Brobz on Feb 7, 2010 1:52 PM CST reply actions  

that's only because

I don’t start typing until after I’m done yelling and throwing stuff. :)

"While there's life, there's hope." --Cicero

by Baroque on Feb 7, 2010 2:15 PM CST up reply actions  

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