I really considered making that gif the whole recap. Like, for longer than you’re probably thinking I should have. Still not over this one but let’s rip out some more hair that I don’t have cuz why not.
1st Period
The Wings got outshot 14-6. By the team with the worst points percentage in the league heading into this game. It was not a good period. There, I said something positive about this frame.
What the fresh hell was this team doing? From puck drop, it looked like San Jose was doing what they wanted, when they wanted, how they wanted. Husso kept us in the period (thankfully) but the Sharks were getting too many golden opportunities. The game flow for the period was mostly in their favor with a bit of Wings pressure sprinkled in, but nothing fantastic. This period was the kind of uneventful where the main NHL site had zero highlights for it. None.
2nd Period
After 10 minutes of better hockey, the Wings finally make it matter. Klim Kostin banged home a point blank shot off a face-off scramble to make it 1-0, and then it all got weird in a hurry.
12:51 – 2-0
13:04 – 3-0
13:40 – 4-0
My God that Raymond goal was a beaut. That kind of effort from the whole team… surely the Sharks are tanked now. Right? RIGHT?!?!?!
14:08 – 4-1 SHG
14:46 – 4-2 SHG ON THE SAME POWERPLAY
15:52 – 4-3 JUST AFTER THAT SAME POWERPLAY
19:37 – 4-4
I have so many words that I actually have no words.
3rd Period
OK time for a fresh start! It’s the same as if nobody had scored at all and that whole second period never happened. “We can pull this out still, I can feel it” I thought to myself.
The trouble is, the Sharks could smell blood now. The period would pass with good chances back and forth until Dylan Larkin decided he was tired of this crap.
Cue the Sharks extra skater as the clock winds down…
It was at this point, I knew we were in trouble.
Overtime
And, just to match the feeling of the rest of the night, 00:37 in we get our result as Larkin blows a tire:
Takeaways
This was a gut check game, and the Wings failed. And I mean HARD. They basically gave up 3 shorties on the same powerplay. 2 blown tires led to Sharks goals. And there was 1 goalie left hung out to dry in the whole effort.
I can’t even bring myself to break this one down goal-by-goal to see where the problems were, because they were everywhere. From blown tires to high pinches to Husso getting beat CONSISTENTLY (even if you can make the argument that the majority of the Sharks’ tallies weren’t his fault), even to the coaches for not calling a timeout during the powerplay collapse or pulling Husso to send a message to the team… this was 5 minutes of good hockey and 56 minutes of WHAT THE FRUITCAKE hockey.
Is this the Hockey Gods smiting us? Knocking us down a peg for having the smugness to chase Patrick Kane (who, actually, didn’t play poorly even if he wasn’t spectacular either)? Does Larkin need to ask these guys what kind of team they want to be again? I don’t know but they’d better figure it out quick. This team can be better than what they were last night – they shouldn’t get clowned on bad positioning and opposition speed like that. Getting a point takes some of the sting away, but not enough of it.
Ottawa looms large on Saturday. These boys had better find their way to playing like men again before that puck drops.
LGRW
