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St Louis had their way with Detroit, beating the Wings 5-2. The beating was both on the ice and on the scoreboard. We may not know until tonight who is going to be available. Here is a quick summary and some thoughts on where Detroit stands.
Cossa learned a tough lesson last night. The shots come quick, and you can get in a hole quickly. Of the three St. Louis goals in the first, the second 2 were in the, “should have had those” category. Those three were enough for the win, but St. Louis added 2 more in the 3rd.
I commented yesterday that this will embolden the “never pick a goalie in the first round” voices. If you’ve followed the blog, you know that I’m not one of them. I also said that it was a rough night and all goalies have those. The decision now is whether you put Cossa back in to try and redeem himself. The 2nd period was his best, and he showed flashes of solid net minding. The other side of this is that Brattstrom may have gotten injured in game one. He was almost taken out of the game, and his play went a bit south in the third.
Speaking of injuries, I almost expect Berggren to sit out today’s contest. He didn’t return after the first, and his injury history warrants a certain amount of caution. St. Louis gave Detroit plenty of after the whistle bruises and stick work. More than one Wing will be stiff today. The Centre Ice refs just didn’t do enough to shut it down. The Wings didn’t make good on 4 straight power play attempts, and the PK was not good either. Special teams are the bane of the organization right now.
This team has been “worked over” for 2 straight games. Dallas focused mainly on the goalie, while St. Louis focused on pretty much everyone. One of the benefits in all this is learning to avoid soft plays. Berggren and Raymond had some giveaways in game one that were the result of soft drop passes. The skills are there, just need to respect that smaller surface and increased physicality. Last night saw far too many passes go between the blue liners on the power play (and all the way down the ice). Positional awareness would help a great deal there.
For the positives, Joe Veleno is playing a lot stronger (possibly 10-15 lbs stronger). McIsaac is holding his own, and Raymond is logging a lot of minutes. Sebrango has tried to match physicality, as well as standing up for his teammates. This squad just doesn’t have enough muscle quite yet. Raymond has 3 goals in 2 games, and it would be nice to see that streak continue today. Definitely a fun player to watch. Tyutyayev was moved to the top line with Berggren down, but Ellis was solid in net for the Blues.
Regardless of today’s lineup, if the Wings can come out sharp, dial in the intensity, and get solid goal tending it will be an important set of lessons learned. Early in his career, Pav got harassed. Eventually guys would just bounce off of him. He didn’t give up skill, just gained one of the most solid cores in the league.
Hopefully the team can end the tournament on a high note. Hoping also that no one will miss any extended amount of time. The refs need to be a lot sharper in terms of tossing players (and even watching benches). It can get out of control way too quickly. Most of the players in these tournaments won’t be NHLers (per my comments yesterday which were a projection, not current status indicator). If you’re not a top 6 pro, the other way you can get a job is by being physical. It’s up to the refs to keep it under control.
I’ll have the stream posted again. Tonight’s game is at 6:00, with the broadcast starting around 5:40.
Check out my previous posts:
St Louis had their way with Detroit
Pregame Detroit vs St Louis
Soderblom and Edvinsson combine for GWG
Detroit is looking for a 2nd straight win,
Detroit won its first game of the prospects tournament
Frolunda won 2-0
Detroit is streaming the prospects tournament
Word on Woodward talks prospect tournament
Givani Smith signs 2 yr 1 way deal at 750k
Up Close with Jared McIsaac
Griffins TV packages are available
Frolunda Drops opener, Oesterle on Wings TV
Word on Woodward with Robby Fabbri
Prospects Camp Roster and Denver Wings
Cholowski signs with Kraken
Simon Edvinsson is picking up points
10 Days Until Prospect Camp
The Atlantic Division is a bit of a gauntlet for a rebuilding team.
Filip Hronek’s 3 year extension
Who’s your newbie? 
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