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If I Could Turn Back Time: Rangers 3 – Red Wings 0

At least they got the loss out of the way early, right?

The Red Wings, fresh off an offensive explosion against the Devils Friday night, put up one of their most lackluster performances of the season, getting shut out by the New York Rangers in relatively easy fashion 3-0. It was one of those games where you never really felt like the Wings were in it, and the final score may have flattered Detroit.

You know, we get it. There are injured players, like, really important injured players, and those guys would definitely make the Wings a better team if they were in the lineup. But, they’re not, and if Detroit is going to get in the playoffs, they are going to need more consistent production from more players in the lineup. This can’t be the Johan Franzen-carries-the-Wings-to-the-playoffs show; Mule is a very good player but he’s not that kind of player. You also can’t rely on the kid line to do all the scoring because, while they’ve been very good, they’re not quite ready to assume that role.

At the end of the day, the Red Wings without Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg are a middle-of-the-pack team who could do some damage in the playoffs or finish bottom 3rd in the league. Anyone who thinks they can accurately predict what is going to happen needs to pass what they’re taking.

  • It was discussed at length in the gamethread and on Twitter, but NBC’s coverage of the Red Wings is downright embarrassing. I have no problems with pointing out missed calls on a team, but the consistent discussion about the Wings getting away with “legal interference” has jumped the shark. I live in Chicago and I find Ed Olczyk to be less biased when he’s calling Blackhawk games as a Blackhawks commentator.
  • Jimmy Howard’s thought-process on the third goal was probably “if they’re not going to try, neither am I”. Words can’t express how much he over-played that goal, but make no mistake: without him that goal is even more irrelevant because the game would already be over.
  • Thinking back, I’m finding it hard to pick out players who had what could even be described as a “decent” game. Todd Bertuzzi had some jump, Danny DeKeyser looked pretty solid as usual, and……yep.
  • Daniel Alfredsson needs to not be with Luke Glendening and Justin Abdelkader. The two of them just don’t play the kind of game that works with Alfie, so it’s going to be up to Babcock to tweak the lines and make him effective again.
  • Ken Holland needs to kick the tires on Brian Rafalski and see if this comeback thing is really over. Because someone needs to be brought in to fix the Wings’ power play.
  • At the end of the day that was likely the worst game the Wings have played in a very long time. I’d chalk it up as a one-off but the Wings need points and can not afford to put up stinkers like this one. Otherwise we’re all going to have free time in April for the first time in a very long time.

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