Ducks Outplayed Us

Submitted by the_big_house 500th on
Last night's 3-1 loss to Anaheim was tough especially coming off a 4-2 win over the 2nd place San Jose sharks Tuesday. Ducks just completely shut us down and I have to take my hat off to Jonas Hiller, this man made some incredible saves to keep Anaheim ahead by 2. I was impressed with a couple of things I saw from Detroit. 1 was winning the races to the puck, something Datsyuk, Helm and Cleary did a great job of. 2 was some of the saves that Howard made despite the 3 that got past him. Ducks had a lot of chances to make that score worse had it not of been for Howard keeping his net minding up. It was a frustrating loss thought. Only one pp goal out of 3 and thats just not getting better as the season goes along. I think once Franzen finally returns to the lineup the Wings will have the scoring threat that they need to complete their offense going into the Olympic Break. I can tell you this though Wings fans this season is not as bad as the CBJ are having. Hitchcock is gone and they in reality need a whole new team at this point. Detroit completes their Pacific road trip with a road to LA to play the 3rd place, (Pacific Division) Los Angeles Kings. Detroit is currently 2-1 against LA this season.
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Hannibal.

February 4th, 2010 at 10:06 AM ^

I came to the conclusion last night that the Red Wings are going to miss the playoffs. They just don't want it enough. They are getting outworked almost every game. You can't blame it on injuries anymore, because the only guy out of the lineup now is Franzen, and the Red Wings were playing better when they were relying on Drew Miler, Patrick Eaves, and Justin Abdelkader to win their games. I can't believe what has happened to the Selke twins Datsyuk and Zetterberg. It's like they are completely different players. That end-to-end domination that they used to show is completely nonexistent now. They disappear for long 10-20 minute stretches of time and sometimes go three or four shifts where they hardly touch the puck. That never used to happen. They are both playing their worst season of their careers. Datsyuk's funk extends all the way back to the end of last regular season and through the playoffs. They are still good defenisvely, but their scoring is way, way down. I'm going on the record. Red Wings miss the playoffs.

Joined: 09/09/2008

MGoPoints: 9051

NorthSideBlueFan

February 4th, 2010 at 10:47 AM ^

I tried last week after they blew the game the night we lost to Sparty in Bball and he will not waiver in his support that they are a good team and just need to get healthy. I personally feel like they are up shit creek without a paddle, I'm thinking first round elimination to SJ/Chicago is the best they can do this season.

Joined: 08/28/2009

MGoPoints: 4750

kriegers

February 4th, 2010 at 2:09 PM ^

Give me some concrete examples of them playing poorly - like Calgary (2-6-2) or Boston (1-7-2) who were playoff teams before they went downhill and I'll change my tune. The Wings have just as many points as the 8th and 7th playoff team. Does this mean they're in? Of course, not. But, counting them out this early is silly. No need to rehash our discussion from last week, but glad it was noteworthy.

Joined: 05/23/2009

MGoPoints: 217

kriegers

February 4th, 2010 at 5:02 PM ^

It's basically .500 hockey. Not great, but some of the OT losses could have easily been wins if a shootout goal went in here or there. I still think there is a difference between playing poorly and losing and playing well and losing (though, I do seem to be in the minority with this view).

Joined: 05/23/2009

MGoPoints: 217

Blue In NC

February 4th, 2010 at 11:42 AM ^

Weird, after seeing the games against SJ and Anaheim, I am convinced the Wings will make it (absent other major injuries). Howard continues to be outstanding, the Wings battled most of those two games and the PP started to look better. After getting out-shot and outplayed last week, they responded with strong efforts in CAL. That Ducks game could have easily been 3-1 for the Wings. Oh and Datsyuk has been very good the last 6-10 games (about 1.5 points/game). Other than Hiller, I thought Dats was the best player on the ice, although I agree his year as a whole has been subpar. Zetts played pretty well last night. And Lids is finally picking it up.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 8569

kriegers

February 4th, 2010 at 10:05 AM ^

Not necessarily the whole team. We did, afterall, have over 40 shots on goal. Huge win against SJ two nights ago. Down 0-2 and then winning 4-2 was great. Especially after all the 2 goals leads we have given up this year.

Joined: 05/23/2009

MGoPoints: 217

mstier

February 4th, 2010 at 11:48 AM ^

It'll be tough for the Wings to make it. I think the top six through Colorado will be fine. Calgary and Nashville are barely holding on, and either one may swap with someone below. If that happens, I honestly see Anaheim making a push. They have a rocky start, but they're an extremely talented team. Detroit could make it, but it'll sure be interesting.

Joined: 09/18/2008

MGoPoints: 258

Adrian

February 4th, 2010 at 12:17 PM ^

I hope we make it and play San Jose Sharks in the first round. They just cant seem to win against us. That would be a huge boost for our team.

Joined: 08/12/2009

MGoPoints: 5829

Red_Lee

February 4th, 2010 at 4:09 PM ^

That "unintentional" hand-slapping-puck-into-net goal was complete BS and made sure we couldn't turn things around. I think that rule needs to be looked at.

Joined: 01/24/2010

MGoPoints: 7106