Posted by Ty Conklin, who for so many people has become the answer to Detroit’s goaltending woes, watched five pucks blow past him in the Red Wings’ 5-4 loss to St. Louis on Thursday night, four of which came off the stick of David Backes. One of those goals came at such an odd angle Backes was nearly standing on Jefferson Avenue.
And defense? Detroit simply isn’t showing any. How many times does a team have to cough up the puck before someone on the bench leans over and says:
“Hey, we should probably stop turning it over. They score like that you know.”
Make all the excuses you want, but if the Wings don’t get it together within the next two or three games this team will be out of the playoffs faster than you can say Cheli’s Chili.
Click here for game highlights.
Sure, the Wings are ace at coming from behind (sure does make for suspenseful viewing), but when the opposing team retakes the lead within seconds of Detroit tying it there’s nothing one can do but shake his head.
Detroit tied the game 2-2 on a power play goal by Nicklas Lidstrom, but 24 seconds later Backes shoved the puck back down their throats for his third goal of the night. Niklas Kronwall would later tie the game again at four, and this time it took Backes a little longer (36 seconds) to regain the lead. This has been a sickening yet recurring theme for Detroit lately, so Babcock’s going to have to stop rationalizing and wake up and realize that something just isn’t gelling when it comes to defending their own net.
The playoffs are less than two weeks away and Detroit is looking less like a Stanley Cup champion and more like a bunch of guys that are ready to call it a season. You can see by the way they’ve played recently that they just don’t care. They’re losing battles along the boards, making sloppy passes and turning mediocre teams into Cup contenders. It’s all unacceptable, especially coming from a team with the talent and depth of the Red Wings.
This is Detroit’s third straight loss, all of which came at home, and as much as I hate to say it all indications are these last few games are going to be more filler than fine-tuning.
Here’s to Detroit proving me wrong.
Paul Benvin covers the Detroit Red Wings for The Hockey Writers. Feel free to contact him with tips, video, or general dissension.
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I would have thought that Detroit would have made a move for a goalie at the trade deadline. It looks like that might have helped them. If they keep playing this way, I just don’t see them going that deep into the playoffs. I would love to see a Detroit/Columbus match-up for the Conference Finals. That would be one heck of a series!
You would think as a Blackhawks fan I would be excited to see the Red Wings struggling, but to be completely honest, them not playing dominant hockey kind of makes me feel weird. I think they can still turn it around with guys like Hossa and Zetterberg, and Ozzie/Conk could still very well kick things up a notch. I’m not counting the Wings out yet, but I’m starting to question their Cup credentials.