WING THINGS: SAME OLD STORY Saturday’s loss to the Islanders brings the Red Wings winless streak to a lengthy six games. While the game against the Islanders may be considered a solid point deserved, given the Winged Wheel’s struggles over the past two weeks, it’s simply another opportunity to get into the win column lost.
Five out of the last six games have been lost in extra time, three in shootouts and two in overtime. Optimistically, one could look at the latest losing skid and point out that at least the Wings are picking up points but the bottom line is one five straight opportunities, the Red Wings could have won but instead forfeited a point to the opposition.
On paper, when a game gets put to a skills competition, a shootout lineup featuring Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, and Todd Bertuzzi should be the odds-on favorite to win. Lately, however, the stars are not shining in the shootout.
In the three games decided by shootout, Datsyuk is 0-3, Bertuzzi is 0-3 and Zetterberg is 0-2. In fact the only Red Wing to score a shootout goal at all this season (there’s been 4 shootouts) is Daniel Alfredsson.
Excluding this season, Pavel Datsyuk is an impressive 33 for 72 (45.8%) since the inception of the shootout in 2005 and a good portion of those 33 goals are still played regularly on highlight reels. There aren’t many other players in the league I’d rather watch in a shootout than Pavel Datsyuk but could it be time to shake up the shoot out lineup?
The shootout is an important aspect of the game today but at the same time it can be difficult to place too much emphasis on the results. The best scorers aren’t always the best shootout scorers and even shootout experts go through slumps (right Pav?). With all the skilled firepower through the Red Wings lineup, it’s increasingly frustrating when they drop games in the shootout.
Not to make a mountain out of a molehill but picking up even one of the points the Wings squandered by losing in the shootout would move them from fourth to second in the division. It’s early to stress too much about the standings but the points lost in extra time over the last 5 games could have some major ramifications in April.
GET IT DONE EARLY
The obvious solution to a poor overtime winning percentage is to win in regulation. Over the course of the slump, the Wings have blown leads, allowed weak goals and missed opportunities in the first 60 minutes to ultimately place themselves in a situation where they have to win in OT or a shootout.
There have been positive aspects to the way the Wings are playing over the last six games but there is plenty of room for improvement. Lets play a little game of “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly… to cover the last two weeks of winless Wings hockey.
THE GOOD
The Winged Wheel has finally found some secondary scoring. Johan Franzen has five points (3G, 2A) in his last three games including a three point outing against Washington. Rookie defenseman Danny DeKeyser has four points in his last four games and also put up a strong game against the Caps.
In Saturday’s game against the Islanders, Datsyuk buried the equalizer with less than a minute left to push the game into overtime to earn the Wings a point. They also had a strong penalty kill, killing five of six penalties on the night.
The powerplay has been effective over the last five games. The Wings have capitalized on the man advantage on five occasions over the last three games. They are 7th in powerplay percentage (21.5%).
When in the midst of six game losing streak, getting 5 points out of it is far better than getting none.
THE BAD
It might be harsh to throw Jimmy Howard into the “Bad… category. The fact that Jonas Gustavsson also suffered the same result against the Islanders may indicate that goaltending isn’t even the issue but good goalies make big saves at key times and lately that just hasn’t been happening.
To be fair, defensive breakdowns have led to many goals against Howard in which he didn’t have much of a chance. Brooks Laich’s goal, for example, in the game against Washington may have been a bobbled rebound by Howard but Laich beat both Kyle Quincy and Johan Franzen to the puck to tuck it by Howard.
To snap out of this slump, Howard is going to have to bail the team out when mistakes were made. Call it unfair, but it’s the burden goalies bear when they strap on the pads. The last line of defense has to be there to make the save, even if the team in front of him has made his job difficult.
THE UGLY
Only two wins in November. Seven straight loses at home. Six games in a row without a win. Five losses in a row in overtime or shootout. The record speaks for itself and it’s ugly.
There are a lot of positives going on for the Red Wings right now but for one reason or another, things aren’t going their way. The Wings need to find a way to win when they return home on Tuesday night to host Nashville (9-9-2).