Well then, that didn’t exactly go as planned.
It is a shame really that tonight’s game had to end in the fashion that it did. The Wings played a solid first two periods, but then it all seemed to collapse.
Outside of Ben Smith’s second period goal, Marian Hossa’s third period goal, and Jonathan Toews‘ late-goal, the Wings played an overall good game. There were plenty of hits, a good intensity in the Wings, and Teemu Pulkkinen looked impressive. But, there were also turnovers, a lot of turnovers.
The always wise Graham summed up game for us:
The Wings’ defense is bad. The Wings’ offense can’t score. Jimmy Howard can’t stop everything, and some people think that’s his fault but others realize that is wrong.
While you can pin the Wings’ defensive woes on the Quincey – Smith pairing, everyone has been equally at fault for the Wings atrocious defense this season.
Never has Zetterberg’s, Datsyuk’s, and Helm’s two-way play been more evidant than now. Forget their offensive contributions, those guys are as important to our defensive success as Kronwall and Ericsson are.
The season is not over. The playoffs are not out of reach. The flame hasn’t been extinguished. Yet.
If the Wings can just start winning some games, anything can happen. Losing to Chicago isn’t a bad result, they are the reigning Stanley Cup champions for a reason, but we can only have so many more of these games before we start having a problem.
J.J. will have more of the game details coming up later on tonight in the CSSI.
Next up for the Red Wings are the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday, which is a game that we have to win.
Let’s Go Red Wings!
