… First, the third period. What you need to know: first Detroit shot at 19:18, allowed three goals in 2:02, gave up 17 shots. Horrible. That kind of performance should not still be happening, if it ever should have. How does a team go from nearly making Miikka Kiprusoff pass out in the first period with 28 shots to managing just two in the third?

… The first period: a mess from a hockey standpoint, thanks to the Flames’ trademark meltdown. Their post-play thuggery was ridiculous. I don’t know what they were pissed about. It was Phaneuf who laid the dirty hit on a Red Wing, not the other way around. Must have been the five-minute major for boarding, a call I thought debatable (the major part, not the boarding part), but not one worth taking about 100 penalties in five minutes over.

… I guess the age-long power play and multiple 5-on-3′s provide the answer to the 28-shot question. And they also offer something else to be disappointed about. With 20+ shots on that power play series alone, they managed just one goal.

… Not much stood out in the second, apart from the goals, in my mind, but it was mostly the Wings’ game at that point.

… Kipper’s fatigue was evident throughout the game, probably no more so than on Filppula’s goal. Fil’s got a scoring touch occassionally, but that one should have been stopped.

… Lundmark’s goal gave the Flames something to work from and the horrible icing call not long after that gave them even more. How Filppula couldn’t beat Iginla on that faceoff is beyond me. Two minutes later, the Wings were looking at a 5-4 loss in a game they’d led 4-1. Fortunately, Dan Cleary is a bulldog and found a way to get the puck in the net.

… Pavel Datsyuk had a nice night, with a great second-period rush standing out as his most memorable play. It indirectly set up the Lidstrom goal because it resulted in off-setting penalties and was followed up with another Flame penalty. Nick scored on that power play.

… Jonathan Ericsson looked pretty good once again.

… There were a number of solid individual performances last night, but that’s sorta the point: individual performances don’t win a team game. While the Wings were busy being a collection of individuals there in the third, the Flames were busy playing as a team.

… They still could have pulled it out on overtime, but couldn’t beat Kiprusoff, who to be fair is one of the best goalies around. Still no excuse, however. They had the game in the bag and rather than keeping the foot on the gas, they let up. Not a good sign.

… A word on the shootout: Zetterberg needs a new move. Every other shootout he uses that stupid Forsberg deke that maybe three goalies have been fooled by since 1994. And Ty Conklin got beat on every shot, and was bailed out by the post on one.

… I’m with John W., who said this in the comments of my snap-reaction post last night:

To me this game was worse than the 2 8 goal games, when you get down a big early, it can get ugly, but when you dominate the first 40 minutes, that just can’t happen.

A great point. This wasn’t a bad start that got out of hand. It was a blown lead, and not to a team with guts that earned it. No disrespect to the Flames, but they wouldn’t have gotten even a point if the Wings had played like the third period mattered at all.

John also points out the role of faceoffs in the game. The Wings weren’t that far behind in overall FO percentage, but lost a number of key drops that definitely put them in bad positions at various points. Not exactly clutch on the part of the centers.

… The Wings lucked out again, as the St. Louis Blues managed to beat the Sharks last night 3-1, giving the Wings the West lead for the moment. They certainly didn’t earn it, however, and I hope they think about that today as they get ready to play that same Blues team tomorrow. They’d better be asking some tough questions of themselves.

At this point, it’s hard to see this team doing anything in the postseason, but they get the benefit of the doubt because of their track record. It’s just getting harder and harder to give it, you know? My confidence and optimism is cracking.