The Wings won last night in a shootout when they should have won in regulation, making it one of those wins that feels like a loss. After the game, Chris Osgood said that they’d played a first 30 minutes, but lost their touch in the second 30. That about sums it up. The Wings were dominant for the first period and much of the second, but gradually seemed to lose interest and allowed Nashville to mount a comeback that never should have happened. During the second intermission, Larry Murphy described the reaction on the bench to Jiri Hudler’s late second period goal as a sigh of relief and said they could relax some as a result. They took his advice a little too seriously.
… Chris Osgood continues to play some of the best hockey of his career. His glove hand is as quick as ever and he just looks to be in a zone out there. He made a number of big stops last night on plays I was sure would be goals and was great in the shootout. It’s been said a lot lately, but the Wings really do have the best backup in the league.
… Jiri Hudler has four points in four games and he’s now a fourth liner. The disconnect continues.
… Henrik Zetterberg’s point streak continued as he earned the second assist on Hudler’s goal, thereby breaking the record held by Norm Ullman. The new Red Wing record for best individual start is at least a point in the first 15 games. At the beginning of the season, I thought Hank wasn’t playing his best despite racking up the points and I’m starting to think that again. He gets many chances, but the majority of them are spent making pointless trips around the back of the net or making pointless long shots on net. The wrap-around tactic almost never works and I’ve yet to see him score on one of those pad-tester shots. Of course, he’s not like that every night and he still racks up points, so it’s hard to complain.
… Pavel Datsyuk was as entertaining as ever last night. He is so slick with the puck that it sometimes boggles the mind. On more than a few shifts, he cycled the puck virtually on his own through 3-4 Predators along the boards, despite falling down, getting held or interfered with in the process. Although he was held pointless last night, I thought he played a strong game.
… Bruce MacLeod thinks Derek Meech is a top six defenseman already and I can’t really argue that. He looks like a veteran out there and I can’t remember a glaring mistake on his part to this point. MacLeod suggests that he could eventually edge out Lebda, but I think it’s more likely he’ll take Lilja’s place if anything.
… Ken Daniels spent all of the second intermission analyzing Jiri Hudler’s goal in HD. He was sure it went in off Chris Mason’s stick and didn’t touch Hudler, but as soon as he came back and tried to demonstrate that to us, FSN showed a replay that definitively showed it had gone in off Hudler’s knee after all.
… Henrik Zetterberg used a deke other than the Forsberg Shootout Move™ last night. It looked like Mason was expecting Hank to go for it again, which would explain his positioning at the end of the play. I think Hank used the Move so much on purpose, to lull goaltenders into thinking it was the only one he had. Now he has that full body shiver, head fake+forehand deke thing or whatever it was, too. Psychological games. It looked too easy.
… Pavel Datsyuk’s shootout goal was a pretty one, too.
… Good to see Dan Cleary so active offensively last night. His goal was just the kind you want to see from him, right in Mason’s face, off a rebound. He came close to scoring again later in the game, but ended up putting himself in the net rather than the puck.
… The net in the Wings’ end came off a good three times last night. Once, it came off and play continued and headed to the other end. Chris Osgood dutifully put it back in its place, but the whistle went inexplicably a short while later. It’s a minor thing, but they might want to check that thing. It seemed a little lose.
… Jordin Tootoo was a non-factor. I don’t know if it was because Aaron Downey gave him a talking to periodically or because Tootoo really has toned it down this season, as I read recently on a Predators message board. Either way, it was nice to hardly notice him.
Anyway, the Wings have had better wins. They get some slack because they’d had a long break and getting a little rusty in those circumstances is understandable, but I hope they’re sharper Friday against Columbus. The Blue Jackets are looking good this year.