Deserved, undeserved: On the one hand, the Wings didn’t deserve to even get one point: they did a great imitation of a steaming pile of crap for like 99% of the game. But they overcame a two-goal deficit, albeit with goals you’d find in the dictionary next to “garbage.” I guess that counts for something. But I definitely fall more on the undeserved point side of things.

Jimmy: A waste of another strong performance. At this point, if they’re going to lose anyway, why bother starting the hot guy? Why continue to subject him to this complete lack of support?

Leadership: I can’t shake the feeling that this season would be a lot worse had the calls of some been answered with the removal of Babcock. It seems clear he’s the reason the team’s even doing as well as it is. The players are sleepwalking at best or near-comatose. There’s only so much even the best coach can do about that. You can say “if he’s lost the players, it’s time for a change,” all you want, but who would do better? Babcock is the best bench boss out there. Anyone less isn’t a long-term solution, even if we see a short-term improvement from the babies in uniform. It’s not coaching, or at least, it’s not mostly coaching. It’s leadership.

I get flak for calling out the Lidstroms, Zetterbergs, Datsyuks, Rafalskis, Kronwalls, etc. on the team, but to me that’s where the issue lies. The men with the the letters on their chests or the big bucks need to step it up here. They need to lead by example. They’re not doing that. Here and there, you see above-mediocre shifts from those guys, but when’s the last time you saw any of them flat out dominate over an extended period in a game to such a degree you got excited and stayed that way? Datsyuk threading the puck through a couple guys isn’t what I’m talking about here. There used to be magic in those names. There isn’t any more.

Those players need to dig deep and lead the team out of this wilderness.

Two more: Two more games before the Break. The Wings can choose to float through those like they’ve floated through so many games so far this season, or they can go into it having made a statement. Which is it going to be, Lidstrom? Zetterberg? Datsyuk? Rafalski?

Postscript- Franzen: A solid start, for sure. He looked pretty good out there for a guy who hadn’t played in four months. With a little more rust shaken off, he could start chasing pucks into the net. Maybe The Mule needs to take the team on his back.