19 replies to this topic

[YzerFan19]

The Red Wings close out their three-game road trip in St. Louis tonight, looking to rebound from their first loss in seven games.

They'll have to do it without Valtteri Filppula, who will miss the game recovering from a deep cut to his leg suffered on Sunday night in Colorado. Filppula had hoped to play but couldn't find a way to make his skate comfortable enough to wear through the game. Cory Emmerton will jump back into the lineup in Filppula's spot, leaving Mike Commodore as the team's only scratch.

Jimmy Howard will return to the crease after his first game off in 18.

One piece of statistical bad news: The Red Wings haven't had one win or loss "in a row" this season. A five game winning streak was followed by six losses, then four wins, then two losses, then seven wins. A loss tonight would continue that trend and drop Detroit back below .500 on the road this season.

Game time is 7:30 PM. FSD has the TV locally with Versus broadcasting nationally.

[Mathieu_Datsyuk132351]

I don't know what they're doing in St. Louis right now but the Band of Brothers theme brought a tear to my eye.

I miss Ken and Mick so much.

[YzerFan19]

No way the Wings' power play should be that quiet against the Blues' PK. Bad sign early.

And Sheppard just makes this game sound weird.

[SYfanSD]

Why does DirecTv always shaft us with the national broadcast? Since we pay all of this money, why can't the subscriber choose the feed they want to see? I know the answer to both questions but the situation irritates me because of the technicalities involved.

I echo your thoughts on the quiet PP early on.

Darren Helm always amazes me with his speed! I love how he passes to himself or, how he quickly recovers a take-away by an opponent.

Any bet takers on Kronner lighting up Stuart?

[SYfanSD]

Not looking good on the PP are we?

[YzerFan19]

Ooh, blown call. Ouch.

[YzerFan19]

Glove save Stuart! Wow.

[SYfanSD]

Glove save Stuart! Wow.

Impressive indeed!

[YzerFan19]

That could have been much worse of a period. Awful call on Miller, Blues almost score. Maybe Stuart's great play will wake the Wings up. Don't want to waste something like that.

[YzerFan19]

Two awful calls to start the second.

[YzerFan19]

Jimmy with the massive stop when the Wings miss the guy coming out of the box. Dangerous mistake.

[YzerFan19]

Great individual effort from the Mule. Drove to the net and roofed it.

[YzerFan19]

Aww damn, hell of a shot by Steen.

[YzerFan19]

That got boring to end the period. Yawn. No idea what to expect in the third.

[YzerFan19]

Stupid penalty to start the third. Wings really in this one. Ugh.

[YzerFan19]

"Backes gets position on Ericsson." No kidding.

[YzerFan19]

Could get ugly fast. Wings need to wake the hell up.

[YzerFan19]

Good news is that was a really good PK.

[YzerFan19]

I'll be damned. Wings have some life here.

[YzerFan19]

Well, much like the last time these two teams met, the Red Wings deserved the loss. I don't know what it is about the Blues but Detroit has just had absolutely nothing going against them the last two times they've played.

Looking at the Wings' pair of goals... Franzen's was just a fantastic individual effort. That's not the team doing well, it's Franzen putting the team on his back. Good to see but not something you can count on. The second goal, whether finally given to Hudler or Cleary, was a bit of a mad scramble. Again, not something you can coach.

The bottom line is that Detroit had nothing going, either from their own laziness or St. Louis' puck pressure. Or a combination of the two. Neither is a good thing, as the Wings can't afford to be lazy and they have to be able to outwork a team putting that much pressure on them.

Their weak play in the offensive zone wasted what was mostly a good night defensively. Brad Stuart's goal-line glove save in the first was particularly fantastic but in the end, futile.

The Wings have got to get better on the road as they've dropped back below .500 away from the Joe. That's not good enough to go very far. There's plenty of time to rebound but this was a bad night.