That’s more like it, eh?
Osgood: I thought he acquitted himself well with a solid 20-save performance. All of the frantic goaltending talk this past week was pointless—assuming he’s still got plenty of games like that left in the tank. And I think he does.
Zetterberg: No points, but I thought he had a very strong game. His line may have been the Wings’ best and his hustle was second to none. They need more than hustle out of him, but the points’ll come if he continues to play like that.
That said, it made me sad to see the Flames’ goal go in off him.
Helm: Being scratched obviously made an impression him. He was impressive last night, especially when he drew a penalty with an insane burst of speed-induced breakaway while shorthanded. His line was maybe the Wings’ second best throughout the game.
Eaves: I think scoring the other night shot his confidence through the roof. He looked markedly better in this one. I hope he can make something of it.
Williams: His big contribution to the game was nearly costing Brad May an eye during a fight for the puck along the boards. May was an unsuspecting bystander minding his own business on the bench when Williams’ stick caught him in the face. Fortunately, May’ll be okay, but it was an unfortunate incident, for sure.
First minutes: A disturbing trend that started during the trip was the Wings’ startlingly weak play in the first minute of games. The Flames were nearly yet another team that leaped out to an early lead with a major chance in the first 30 seconds last night. Fortunately, Osgood was awake this time or else we could have been in for another fun ride. That kind of play early has to stop.
Meech: Derek was for the sick Jonathan Ericsson and really the only positive development of his being in the lineup was Babcock’s decision to mix the pairings up more than he had been. Lebda and Meech were both out with Lidstrom at least once each.
That’s the way: … to respond to an opposition goal. 35 seconds after the Flames got on the board, the Wings did, too. That’s exactly what they  need to do if they give up the first goal: come right back. They’ve been too guilty of retreating into a shell lately. Even better: scoring a second goal less than a minute after that.
Holmstrom: What a season he’s having. Keep it up, Tomas.
6 of 10: That was the team’s baseline goal for points on the trip. They accomplished it. Yay. Moving on to (hopefully) better and loftier goals.
Another start: They need to follow it up with another strong game, and then another, and then another, and so on. They’ve played isolated strong games before this season. It’s time to stretch the strength across a string of games.
Next up: Boston, on Tuesday. A Versus game. Should be fun.
“All of the frantic goaltending talk this past week was pointless—assuming he’s still got plenty of games like that left in the tank.”
Wow, that was quick. If Jimmah has a good game, does that wipe away all the negative stuff about him too?
And if Ozzy has one bad game, does that wipe away all the positive stuff about him too?
Wings above 0.500 for the first time this season.
Garth,
The difference is Osgood has proven himself over and over again, while Howard has just shown a frustrating inability to live up to himself. I’ve seen Howard play in Grand Rapids so I’m not just going off the few games he’s played in Detroit, and I’m married to a Griffins season ticket holder who has watched him ever since he entered the AHL. Howard beats himself up too much when things get tough and is notoriously streaky. It’s time to stop thinking, “Well, with just another year and added maturity, those issues will go away,” and realize that they’re here to stay.
One good game would not wipe that away. I got a little carried away after the Canucks game.
After Osgood’s performance against Vancouver, I kept seeing crap about how the Wings’ goaltending situation is horrendous and that no matter what they do, they’ll lose because their goalies suck. After one. Bad. Game. Yes, it was awful, but Osgood’s had awful games before and followed up with a Cup in the same season. My point with that comment today was that Osgood shouldn’t be counted out yet.
Justin,
If the history of fan reactions to his play the entirety of his career are any indication? Yes.
“Wings above 0.500 for the first time this season.”
Ahh the good ole NHL, the only sport where you can play 12 games, win 5 and be over .500!
Didn’t watch much of the game. Was following along online and then watched the replay until the 3 goal burst in the 2nd. Looked a lot more like Red Wings hockey, but I’m not getting too excited until they prove they can do it more than once a week.
“The difference is Osgood has proven himself over and over again, while Howard has just shown a frustrating inability to live up to himself.”
Yeah, last year I would’ve bought that argument, but this is the second regular season in a row that he’s been inconsistent at best. Yeah, he played well last night, but of course he did. It was his start following that disastrous 2 goals on 4 shots game. Anyone in his position would’ve done anything possible to rebound after a game like that.
I’m a huge Ozzie supporter, and it will be great to see him turn it up when the playoffs start, but if we didn’t have Conklin last year he might not have had the CHANCE to turn it up in the playoffs. In fact, on a lot of other teams Ozzie wouldn’t have been the playoff starter.
While I was nowhere near ready to write off the Wings after a bad start, I can’t believe how easily some people have found it to apparently forgive all because Ozzie had a good game.
My point is that one game proves nothing, and neither does his play in the post-season forgive his play last regular season.
“Ahh the good ole NHL, the only sport where you can play 12 games, win 5 and be over .500!”
Yeah, I love how, when then the NHL introduced this OTL and SOL bull, “winning percentage” ceased to mean winning percentage…
Yeah, now it should be called point percentage, has nothing to do with wins anymore.
Garth,
I disagree. To me, Osgood’s been one of the better Wings thus far. He hasn’t been outright stellar, not by a longshot, but he’s been good. His horrible stats, to me, are more a product of the skaters’ sucking it up and leaving him out to dry than any truly awful play on his part (Vancouver aside). He’s never been a goalie like Hasek was in his prime, able to win games on his own while his team does little to support him.
He’s let in a few softies, but at for the most part, he’s been the only reason the Wings had a chance in the games they’ve lost.
He hasn’t been in playoff form, but he’s not the issue here. The Wings’ lack of committment to defense thus far has been most at fault for their troubles and that’s the responsibility of the skaters. It won’t matter how well he’s playing if the rest of the team can’t find it within themselves to step it up.
I’ve not been riding Osgood all season, which is why it’s easier for me to forgive him for the Vancouver game. If anything’s just “one game,” it was that one.