Post-Game Talk: hi mrazek, welcome back

[Frk It]

For as much as people think our defense is terrible, we're in the middle of the pack for goals against and shots against. It's not like people are scoring against us at will.

We are, however, 29th in shots for and 21st in goals for.

I know, I know.... that's probably the defense's fault too.

When you can't get the puck out of your end it's typically harder to score goals.

 

[ap3x]

So, awful 1st, good 2nd and an underwhelming 3rd again? As I've said before, couldn't see it. Glad they got those points though. Hope they keep it up vs. the cats.

 

[Filppula]

Enjoyed the game. A few quick thoughts.

Actually liked Tatar's game and thought he looked as engaged as he has for a while. He was unlucky and could've had a couple of points. I thought he competed real well, fought for the loose puck, and if he plays that hard every night the points will come.

Really impressed with Jurco's first game back in a long time, looked quite comfortable and definitely quicker having lost some weight. The 4th line with he and Sheahan and Ott looked good. Zero reason to bring back Miller.

Green is becoming one of my favourite players. Is so good with the puck, and I love his attitude. Sproul played real well too I thought, and even XO looked good.

Mrazek was sensational, lets hope he can build off that and gain some consistency.

Mantha is the real deal. So exciting.

Larkin was good, he's got his trademark speed back which creates so many chances, but I wish the embellishing would stop.

 

[DanZ]

So, awful 1st, good 2nd and an underwhelming 3rd again? As I've said before, couldn't see it. Glad they got those points though. Hope they keep it up vs. the cats.

I don't think it was an awful 1st.

 

[Konnan511]

I don't think it was an awful 1st.

Agreed. We were also on the PK for the entire 3rd period.

 

[Frk It]

When you're playing a lot of one-goal games there aren't a lot of opportunities to sit him.

I mean, is that the right call with how immobile he is now a days? I don't doubt that he knows where to be on the ice, but I do doubt his ability to get there when it matters.

 

[Dotter]

I liked this game. Wings were feisty and found a way to win. There were some bumps through the game (as to be expected), but they never gave up and got 2 very valuable points against Jim Nill's club.

Is it just me or do Wings seem to be better against western teams?

 

[ap3x]

I don't think it was an awful 1st.

Agreed. We were also on the PK for the entire 3rd period.

Thought someone wrote about the shot differential being 17 to 3 in favor of the Stars. But just saw that it was the 3rd. Okay.

 

[Number1RedWingsFan52]

Mrazek and Mantha were great. Z is really showing his age.

But yet Z still leads the Wings in scoring, Go figure he's still an excellent setup man though that was a beauty to Mantha for the game winning goal.

 

[Bench]

When you can't get the puck out of your end it's typically harder to score goals.

Right. The team also goes through long periods of playing very conservative offensively, which is a direct result of not being able to trust your defenders.

We saw Blashill comment on a more open game plan after the NJ game, so maybe that will change ultimately, but so far it's been pretty rough to watch.

 

[Flowah]

Right. The team also goes through long periods of playing very conservative offensively, which is a direct result of not being able to trust your defenders.

We saw Blashill comment on a more open game plan after the NJ game, so maybe that will change ultimately, but so far it's been pretty rough to watch.

He's talked about it 2 years in a row. What happens is we do it in preseason and regular season but when it doesn't work, because we lack the talent on the back end to free up our forwards, we revert back to the conservative stuff. Out of necessity.

 

[KasperTheGrittyGhost]

Would like to move Tatar down the line-up.

Z-Nielsen-Mantha
Vanek-Larkin-Nyquist
Tatar-Sheahan-Jurco
Ott-Glendening-Abby

Helm+AA take over for Ott/Sheahan/Glendening when they're ready.

 

[jkutswings]

Why would there be a directive to purposely burn Zetterberg out by the all star game?

I meant a directive to continue to play the vets to death in general. Streak must be preserved and all.

 

[jkutswings]

I liked this game. Wings were feisty and found a way to win. There were some bumps through the game (as to be expected), but they never gave up and got 2 very valuable points against Jim Nill's club.

Is it just me or do Wings seem to be better against western teams?

This season, Detroit is 6-7-2 against the East and 5-3 against the West. Small sample size, but true thus far.

 

[joe89]

But yet Z still leads the Wings in scoring, Go figure he's still an excellent setup man though that was a beauty to Mantha for the game winning goal.

We should be happy for that because there's definitely a universe where Z is just a $6M cap death at this stage considering his physical status.

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

I meant a directive to continue to play the vets to death in general. Streak must be preserved and all.

I think this is more right than wrong. I do think Blashill is pressured from the brass and ownership and I do think they want him to stay in the playoff race as long as possible to preserve as much revenue as possible. When the team falls apart the seats will be empty. If you need to burn out Z while doing so, so be it. What exactly are you saving him for? A long playoff run If you are Blash and you rest Z a bunch and you are out of the playoff picture before Christmas, you will be out of a job.

While I do think they should cut his minutes at some point, I can understand why they feel compelled to play him a lot.

 

[ap3x]

This season, Detroit is 6-7-2 against the East and 5-3 against the West. Small sample size, but true thus far.

Last season it's been 26-20-8 vs. East & 15-10-3 vs. West. They started pretty bad (OTW vs. Canucks, OTL vs. Flames and three Regulation
losses vs. Oilers, Stars, Sharks) but won seven out of ten until the end of the year (vs. Kings, Blues, Oilers, Coyotes, Preds twice, Flames).

 

[14ari13]

Putting annoyance aside, its probably because Blashill was just playing the match-ups. Dallas is very top heavy with Seguin and Benn at the top (both played 22+ minutes tonight), so he was probably subbing in defensive-minded players for Mantha, Larkin (and Nyquist too). This would be a bigger indictment if we were playing the typical team that has a trio of solid forward units instead of one that has two elite guys, a good guy, and a bunch of leftovers.

For Tatar, its probably a matter of trying to get him going. He's become an anomaly at this point.

Edit: Also very curious to see how Tatar's contract negotiations would come out at this point.

I think that is the case, he tries to get him going.

Keep Mantha and Sproul in the lineup, demote Tatar to line 3.
The biggest surprise for me this season is Ericsson. YUUUGE improvement over last year.

Different role can do wonders.

Z lacks the speed to win matchups against guys like Seguin and Benn. Sorry. Maybe his smarts can keep up but his body cannot. He made a couple bad turnovers tonight because the game's just moving too fast. He's a PP specialist with 3rd line matchups and minutes ideally.

He is still our best forward.

Larkin's played 15+ minutes 15 games straight before tonight, 9 of which were 17+.

5 PPs can do that. Plus like was said before Seguin was out there with Benn forever, Blash was trying to match up Abby/Nielsen/Glenny against them as much as possible. That is to be expected as long as they are a line. TBH I think a pretty decent shutdown line in theory that has looked pretty darn okay on the ice.

Yes.

Smith hasn't been great at all this season (although I did think he was passable on the PP most nights - certainly better than Ericsson there) but I think its not so much about Smith being out as it is (1) The competition between Sproul and XO being real and (2) Blashill largely calling a spade a spade when it comes to the defense. If there's one thing I can appreciate about Blashill this season, its how hes dealt with the defense. Outside of sitting Sproul for too long, I agree with pretty much everything else:

1. He's resting/scratching Kronwall. And when he's playing him, he is auto-bottom 4.
2. Ericsson has been largely the #5 guy, but has seen stints as high as #3 when required. And that's how he should be used. Its given Ericsson new life but Blash also hasn't let himself get carried away, thinking Ericsson is worthy of the top pair religiously.
3. He's giving the most minutes to the lo-fi veteran Green, instead of the hyped "#1" (as one newspaper called it) in Dekeyser.
4. Once Sproul got back in the game, he gave him his due after good games, and reeled him back in after bad games, but still kept him in the lineup. It wasn't a matter of one bad shift sealing your fate for the next game.
5. He forged a great competition between Sproul and XO (and maybe even Smith, once he returns), when he gave the offensively-inclined Sproul time to shine after a good game. IMO, this led to XO having one of his best games tonight.
6. He's ridden a nice line between scratching Smith and keeping Smith in the lineup to try and find a way to make him productive. In a season like this, I think its important to give Smith a wide berth. We need to give him a final chance before cutting him lose, and any games he gets (instead of sitting on the sidelines) makes him more marketable.

I think Dekeyser plays more

I just don't think this game in particular is the game to argue this point. No, Zetterberg shouldn't be playing that much nightly, but tonight, I think there's something to be said for deploying Zetterberg in the 3rd in a defense-primary role against Seguin/Benn. In fact, as much as I like Larkin, of all the centers, I think Larkin is the last I would rely upon to defend Seguin/Benn (or even Spezza) in the late-going. Why? Because I don't want him on the ice for that goal, should it happen. That's both a confidence killer and it brings the henchman down on my star-to-be (I hope, if Im coach/GM/owner). Larkin in that role does little for me both now and in the future, but its irrelevant for all my other centers, who are either afterthoughts or have long since secured their potential HHOF bid.

Great point.

I liked this game. Wings were feisty and found a way to win. There were some bumps through the game (as to be expected), but they never gave up and got 2 very valuable points against Jim Nill's club.

Is it just me or do Wings seem to be better against western teams?

I think so too. We are far better vs west.

So, awful 1st, good 2nd and an underwhelming 3rd again? As I've said before, couldn't see it. Glad they got those points though. Hope they keep it up vs. the cats.

How do you know this if you did not watch the game?

 

[Flowah]

He is still our best forward.

I do not agree with this. I think Vanek has been our best forward. He even backchecks pretty hard.

 

[Bench]

I do not agree with this. I think Vanek has been our best forward. He even backchecks pretty hard.

I agree. Which is crazy, because there we so little expectations on Vanek this year. I expect him to slow down, but he's been more like the guy I remember in Buffalo than I anticipated.

Unfortunately, it also shines a fairly negative light on the Wings forward group, which was supposed to be an area of strength moving into this year.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

We should be happy for that because there's definitely a universe where Z is just a $6M cap death at this stage considering his physical status.

Some believe it is already here....

They are wrong in my opinion, but it has been said by several that he is not a good hockey player anymore with a huge cap hit.

 

[One Blurred Eye]

How do you know this if you did not watch the game?

The poster didn't know, and so was asking for confirmation from those that did watch if the game aligned with his or her expectation of Detroit's contemporary haiku format for a hockey game: terribad--hmm, there's hope yet!--geez louise.

Answer: Yes, it did.

 

[SpookyTsuki]

Record with vanek in the line up?

 

[Reddwit]

I liked this game. Wings were feisty and found a way to win. There were some bumps through the game (as to be expected), but they never gave up and got 2 very valuable points against Jim Nill's club.

Is it just me or do Wings seem to be better against western teams?

Had that same thought during the game. Not sure if the stats back it up, but it sure seems that way.

 

[Reddwit]

I mean, is that the right call with how immobile he is now a days? I don't doubt that he knows where to be on the ice, but I do doubt his ability to get there when it matters.

I agree with this when the game is going at a natural pace, and the teams are exchanging chances, but I don't mind it as much when he's out there in a scenario where the directive is to play a defensive game and the field becomes smaller.