I don’t have a lot to say about it. I will say that I think this one bothers me more than the loss to the Sabres. Teams have their off-nights and as sucky as they are, the Sabres game could have been written off as one of those off-nights. Not this game. Through two periods, the Wings looked as they should: in command of the puck, up there in effort, in control of the game. Call it 85%-90% of what they’re capable of.

Then, the third period. Total collapse. Total. Teamwide. Collapse.

The turnover and sequence of play that led to the Avs’ first goal? Horrific hockey right there. Abdelkader should be ashamed of himself for that turnover. Ericsson should be embarrassed at his chosen way of playing defense on the ensuing rush. The only skater who did his job on that play was Lebda.

Stuart’s play on the Avs’ second goal? Powder-puff. Give him all the space he needs, Brad! Thanks.

The line change on the Avs’ third goal? How does that happen? They made Galiardi look like Genius, Starter of Breakouts, Destroyer of Apathetic Defenses. Disgusting.

Where was the offense? Congrats to Filppula for making it 3-2. Give the kid a medal. Now, who else? Where was the leadership when the game was obviously collapsing around the team’s ears? It was Zetterberg’s best game of the season. But where was he in the third? Lidstrom? That was the kind of situation, where rookies are throwing the game away and the young guys are scrambling, to step it up and take command. But it didn’t happen. Not cool.

So, I’m angry and over-generalizing. But this lead-blowing crap has to stop. I’d rather they play like crap the whole game than have to watch this.

As a side note, I’m sick of them leaving Osgood out to dry and then having to hear about how Osgood sucks and how he’s being exposed. The only thing about Osgood that was exposed last night was how much he sucks at shootouts. But we already knew that. You can’t blame him for this loss because it never should have gotten to that point. He showed up in the third, even when his teammates decided they didn’t have to.

I’m absolutely with George here: this group needs this road trip. They need to get away and spend their days together, bonding or whatever the heck professional athletes do on the road. They need to get away from whatever distractions are infringing upon their ability to play basic hockey and start getting their heads on straight. Fast. Yes, it’s only seven games in, but if they don’t handle this now, we’ll be saying “it’s only 20 games in,” then “it’s only half way through the season,” then “they’ve still got 20 games,” and then what?

I know this team can get it in gear and I know they will. But they need to get on it. Use this trip, guys.

Turns out I had more to say about it than I thought. The power of Rant…