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Wings stumble on the Island |
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There’s trouble in Hockeytown.
One day after they supposedly (again) rectifying what’s been ailing them, the Detroit Red Wings turned right back into the inconsistent mess they’ve put on display for the majority of the month of March, squandering an early 2-0 lead to fall 5-4 on the road to the New York Islanders.
Likewise, the thought that Detroit had resolved its erratic goaltending of late also went up in flames when Petr Mrazek was chased to the bench early in the second period after allowing four goals on 11 shots.
“I thought our team played hard from start to finish,” said Detroit coach Mike Babcock, clearly exasperated at how often the red light is illuminating behind the Red Wings net.
“The puck went in our net way too easy. We’ve talked about this lately. That part was disappointing but I liked our preparation, I liked our effort.
“We’ve just got to get past this one and get ready for the next one.”
It’s the next two games that could go a long way toward determining where the Wings might end up in the standings when all is said and done. Currently third in the Atlantic Division with 92 points, the Boston Bruins, Detroit’s opponents Thursday at Joe Louis Arena, closed to within three points of the Wings via their 2-1 overtime decision Sunday over the Carolina Hurricanes, although the Wings do hold a game in hand on the Bruins.
Detroit’s other nearest pursuer, the Ottawa Senators, took at step back on the weekend, falling in overtime Saturday at Toronto and losing 4-2 Sunday to the Florida Panthers.
With 86 points, the slim playoff hopes of the Senators could be all but extinguished should they lose Tuesday in Detroit.
The Wings are well aware of what lay ahead for them this week.
“It’s playoff games,” captain Henrik Zetterberg explained bluntly. “We did that last year, we did that two years ago. We had those games to win our way into the post season.
“It’s nothing different this year. You always want to play in the playoffs and now we’ve got a chance to do it a little earlier.”
With a 4-7-1 slate in their last 11 games, the Wings recognize that the status quo won’t get the job done now or in the playoffs.
“We’re not blind,” defenseman Kyle Quincey said. “We can see what’s going on. We see them coming. We know we’ve got to start winning.
“Playoffs or no playoffs, if we keep doing this, it doesn’t matter. If we keep playing like this it doesn’t matter who we play.
“We’ve got to fix the issues in this room before we’re able to think about other teams. We’ve got enough to worry about.”
There’s no time like the present to find out what the Wings are really made of and whether anyone should suspect they’ve got a long playoff run inside of them.
“They’re huge,” goalie Jimmy Howard said of this week’s slate of games. “Tuesday night against Ottawa is a huge game. A win in regulation would be great for us, give us a chance to jump up and be a little more comfortable in the standings.
“We want to feel good about ourselves going into the playoffs. These next two games will tell a lot about us.”
Goalie Gaffes
For the second time in three games, Detroit’s starting goalie wasn’t the Red Wings’ finishing goalie.
Howard, pulled after allowing three first-period goals in Thursday’s home-ice loss to San Jose, relieved Mrazek just 16 seconds into the second frame after a weak shorthanded goal by Franz Nielsen leaked through Mrazek.
“Short side, I have to be there,” Mrazek said. “I thought I had it but I don’t know if it hit a piece of my stick or something and went in.
“I should have that one.”
Howard, who’d been working in practice to improve his tracking
of the puck, believes the issue has been resolved.
“I felt better,” Howard said. “I focused on the puck, nothing else. It didn’t matter if there were guys in front of me. I was just finding it.
“That’s why I’ve had success in the past and what I need to do now in the future.”
One day after shutting out Tampa Bay, the NHL’s most productive team, Mrazek sought to flush the memory of Sunday’s debacle from his memory bank as quickly as possible.
“Yesterday was yesterday and today I let in four goals,” Mrazek said. “When the game is over you have to think about a new game and that’s what I did yesterday after the game and what I will do now after today.”
Babcock Loses Father
Mike Babcock Sr., father of the Wings coach, died Saturday night in Saskatoon, Sask. at the age of 78.
“My dad’s been sick for a bit,” Babcock said. “This summer we knew that he was in big-time trouble. He had congestive heart failure and he had bad lungs.
“I went back a couple of times on off-days to see him and in the end we were praying for him to join my mom. Those prayers were answered. So he’s in a better spot.
“Obviously, anytime you lose a parent, it doesn’t matter how old you are, it’s a blow. On the off day after the Ottawa game I’ll fly to Saskatoon for the funeral.
“My dad was a huge hockey fan and a huge Red Wings fan and he would have been cheering for us tonight. So he wouldn’t have been very impressed we didn’t get the job done.”
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