This mornings X Ways is currently experiencing technical difficulties.  Please bear with us while we find someone to turn the power back on.

Ah, that's better.

Last night was just full of quality from the building crew at the Honda Center.  First the power goes out, then they cut Detroit's audio feed, resulting in 30 seconds of Assinine Anaheim Announcers followed by Ken Daniels putting his cell phone on speakerphone.

The result, despite Anaheim's maintenance shenanigans, was the Wings managing to make it look pretty easy and get out of there with a 4-2 win.

Follow me after the jump for some of the highlights (and dim lights) from yesterday.

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Now THAT is what we've been expecting out of the Wings.  They played a full 60 minutes and they hounded Edmonton the entire time.  Khabibulin was back to his normal "stop everything I can see and more" self, so the Wings made sure he couldn't see much (including a blistering slap shot from Kronner).

I like seeing the Wings put pressure on teams like this.  They established a forecheck early, and their backcheck was even better.  They didn't give those young whippersnappers from Edmonton any time to get set up, and I'm pretty sure at one point, Jimmy was motioning for the Beer Man.

If they can play like this more often than not, we'll have a playoff spot wrapped up in early March.

Follow me after the jump for your X Reasons....

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Good afternoon and welcome to a new feature we're doing here at WIIM where we take a quick peek at the week ahead for the Red Wings and give a snapshot of what you can expect in the coming days.

It's been a very consistent season so far for the Wings, as they began with 5 straight wins and then followed that with 6 straight losses. The pitchforks have been put down as the angry villagers have retired to their homes, but they're still casting a wary eye at this team in anticipation of another prolonged losing streak.

Thankfully, they put an end to that crap with a convincing 5-0 win on Saturday night against the Ducks. Jimmy Howard recorded his 3rd shutout of Anaheim in his last 5 games against them, so maybe if he had faced them more last year we could have avoided the unpleasant situation of having Corey Perry be celebrated for something other than crying because someone mentioned his name in a not negative way.

Can the Wings use Saturday night as a springboard to another winning streak? Or was it just a flash in the pan. Follow the jump as we take a look at the coming week for the Wings.

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There are a multitude of little lies that parents tell their children in order to make childhood more fun.  Santa Clause. The Toothfairy.  I do love you more than your brother/sister.

But I just found out about one that I've been told since I was a little kid.  Detroit has a long and rich musical history.  It's a lie.

Bob Seger?  He's no Detroiter.

Aretha Franklin? Queen of Soul, but not the Queen of Detroit.

Kid Rock?  He may be an American Badass, but he didn't grow up in the metro area.

How do I know this?  How did I uncover this carefully constructed lie?

Nickleback is scheduled to play halftime of the Lions Thanksgiving Day game.

Yes, the same Nickleback that even Winnipeg begged to not have play for their first NHL game in 15 years.  Their own country doesn't even like them.  So the only reason they could possibly be chosen to play at Ford Field during a Lions game would be that there were no other options.  There are petitions circulating.  But who would you replace them with?  There just isn't a rich history to pull from.

What does this have to do with the Wings game last night?  Aside from the fact that Detroit played like Nickleback, nothing.  I just didn't feel like talking about it.

Follow me after the jump for the latest X Reasons.

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It's like the Lions and Wings have switched places.  The Lions are finding new and interesting ways to win games this season, and the Wings are finding ways to lose them.

It's M-I-N-N-E-S-O-T-A for Christ's sake, we should have better than 4 goals in 3 games against them.  The good news is that we only have one more game against them, and it's at home.

In the last 5 games we've (1) been blown out, (2) lost to a winless team, (3) lost to a nemesis, (4) been shut-out, (5) blown a last minute lead.  Seriously, how much worse can it get?

Follow me after the jump as we take a look at what the hell is going wrong.

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With this morning's great news that newly-appointed alternate captain Niklas Kronwall had signed a 7 year extension carrying just a $4.75 million cap hit, one thing was certain — Ken Holland has expertly placed the Red Wings cap-wise.  The Wings still rank 19th in the league in total salary and will have nearly $5 million in cap space to play with this season, possibly getting a rental or even something more long term.

What is really shocking, however, is where we are long term.  With the cap currently at $64.3 million, and expected to rise yet again next season, we are looking at nearly $25 million to re-sign players and, for just the third time since the lockout, attempt to make a splash in the free agent market.

After the jump, we'll take a look at our free agents for next summer, our needs after these free agents are signed or let go, and who there is for Ken Holland to look at.

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What happened to lazy weekends?  They used to take forever, now it feels like I just left work yesterday evening and I'm already back.

The Wings had a nice lazy weekend though, even after not playing for the week prior.  They got their powerplay figured out against a downright BAD Columbus team, and then forgot everything else on Saturday against a not-so-downright-bad Capitals team.  Though, that's kinda how Vancouver looked when they came into our building a couple months weeks ago.  But they had played Philadelphia, not COLUMBUS!!!

Follow me after the jump for a combined weekend X Reasons.

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When I wake up in the morning

And the 'larm gives out a warning

And I don't think I'll ever make it on time.

By the time I grab my books,

And I give myself a look

I'm at the corner just in time to see the bus fly by.

But it's all right because Jimmy's Saved By The Horn.

Follow me after the jump for your buzzer friendly X Ways.

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