I was wrong. We're not better than Chicago. Greiss did his job. That's about the only positive from this game. Scoring goals is going to be HARD for us. Mrazek had the easiest shutout of his life. Did he even have to make one tough save?

I was wrong. We're not better than Chicago. Greiss did his job. That's about the only positive from this game.
- gergeswillems

its going to be the same as last season. when ur horribly bad and u improve a ur still bad.

for me , next season is when it starts to get interesting with Seider,Veleno and perhaps Raymond on the team.

Also, the bottom two lines are offensive black holes, if they are going to lose like this id rather see Rasmussen/G.Smith in there.

its going to be the same as last season. when ur horribly bad and u improve a ur still bad.

for me , next season is when it starts to get interesting with Seider,Veleno and perhaps Raymond on the team.

Also, the bottom two lines are offensive black holes, if they are going to lose like this id rather see Rasmussen/G.Smith in there.
- wingz4life

Me too. Play the kids.

Sven, valid argument...BUT, it’s the SOG as a direct result of FOW. The thing I saw tonight was a direct correlation between CAR FOW resulting in SOG or a good scoring chance, or heavy pressure for CAR in the O zone. We have to win at the dot. If not, the opposing team controls the ice. So in that sense, losses at the dot are crucial.

BREAKING: Red Wings are still bad.

Okay, we all knew that. And I think they will continue to really struggle to generate offense.

But they hung in there. Last season it really seemed like we were getting blown out 6-1 every other game. The Wings are going to get outplayed a lot more often than not, but if they can keep it close consistently they will be able to steal some.

BREAKING: Red Wings are still bad.

Okay, we all knew that. And I think they will continue to really struggle to generate offense.

But they hung in there. Last season it really seemed like we were getting blown out 6-1 every other game. The Wings are going to get outplayed a lot more often than not, but if they can keep it close consistently they will be able to steal some.
- Sven22

They only hung in there because of Greiss.

BREAKING: Red Wings are still bad.

Okay, we all knew that. And I think they will continue to really struggle to generate offense.

But they hung in there. Last season it really seemed like we were getting blown out 6-1 every other game. The Wings are going to get outplayed a lot more often than not, but if they can keep it close consistently they will be able to steal some.
- Sven22

plan for this season- lose a lot,grow Zadina/G.Smith/Rasmussen,hopefully get Owen Power in the lottery to pair him with Seider for the next 10+ years.

Ok guys, i put up my summary

I’m not going to go too deep on this loss. 310 days off against a team that is close knit and had some post season play is going to be tough. Carolina is loaded with talent. Mrazek only faced 14 shots, many not high danger. Detroit needs to feed off of how fast and powerful the ‘Canes are and use it to get their tempo up. It has to be faster, stronger, better decision making with passes. And for Pete’s sake work on faceoffs.

its going to be the same as last season. when ur horribly bad and u improve a ur still bad.

for me , next season is when it starts to get interesting with Seider,Veleno and perhaps Raymond on the team.

Also, the bottom two lines are offensive black holes, if they are going to lose like this id rather see Rasmussen/G.Smith in there.
- wingz4life

Player management is going to be critical for sure. The bottom 2 lines had issues tonight. I think having Smith in tonight may have helped a bit, but if we end the night with 12 SOG, what would he change? I dunno, honestly. Glenny had some pretty strong plays, I watched him break up plays & kick some better outlet passes than last year. Brome was great tonight; he’ll be an impact player for sure. Imagine him with Raymond or Veleno?!?!?

Ok guys, i put up my summary

I’m not going to go too deep on this loss. 310 days off against a team that is close knit and had some post season play is going to be tough. Carolina is loaded with talent. Mrazek only faced 14 shots, many not high danger. Detroit needs to feed off of how fast and powerful the ‘Canes are and use it to get their tempo up. It has to be faster, stronger, better decision making with passes. And for Pete’s sake work on faceoffs.
- Jeremy Laura

Hronek had the best scoring chance but he tried pretending he's Al MacInnis. Trying to shoot the puck into next week. He instead missed the net completely. Bailing out Mrazek from having to actually face a quality shot.

Player management is going to be critical for sure. The bottom 2 lines had issues tonight. I think having Smith in tonight may have helped a bit, but if we end the night with 12 SOG, what would he change? I dunno, honestly. Glenny had some pretty strong plays, I watched him break up plays & kick some better outlet passes than last year. Brome was great tonight; he’ll be an impact player for sure. Imagine him with Raymond or Veleno?!?!?
- mcmastermike1968

We lack the high end skill to beat defensive teams like Carolina. Last night the Leafs were mostly outplayed by the Habs but had the skill guys like Nylander to bail them out and they won. We can't win any games when we're outworked. Greiss showed up. His teammates didn't.

Player management is going to be critical for sure. The bottom 2 lines had issues tonight. I think having Smith in tonight may have helped a bit, but if we end the night with 12 SOG, what would he change? I dunno, honestly. Glenny had some pretty strong plays, I watched him break up plays & kick some better outlet passes than last year. Brome was great tonight; he’ll be an impact player for sure. Imagine him with Raymond or Veleno?!?!?
- mcmastermike1968

the bottom 6 disaster is what it is. it will get better as u start improving the forward talent on this team because you start slotting players into their correct forward grouping. only solution is time..

same for the defense .

the bottom 6 disaster is what it is. it will get better as u start improving the forward talent on this team because you start slotting players into their correct forward grouping. only solution is time..

same for the defense .
- wingz4life

I don't think Filppula, Erne, Nielsen should all be playing in the same game. Marc Staal was giving the puck away all night.

Ok guys, i put up my summary

I’m not going to go too deep on this loss. 310 days off against a team that is close knit and had some post season play is going to be tough. Carolina is loaded with talent. Mrazek only faced 14 shots, many not high danger. Detroit needs to feed off of how fast and powerful the ‘Canes are and use it to get their tempo up. It has to be faster, stronger, better decision making with passes. And for Pete’s sake work on faceoffs.
- Jeremy Laura

I’m disappointed but not surprised by the result. If Howie’d been there 🤢🤮. Gotta look at the positives: Greiss was lights-out, 6+ to 0 without him. Brome... Wow. D looked better and worse, Merrill looked good, DD looked stronger than I figured he would. LARMANZZI seemed off a bit, 2d line is forming & norming, we need them performing.

When building a team, there are stages that it goes through: storming, forming, norming, and performing. But those stages can be accelerated with the impact of leadership.... Players can set the tome for each other, follow Larkin, Brome (he seemed jazzed just to be playing, and it showed). There were good points, evidence of positive growth, the PK looked ok at first, good coverage & shots being blocked; 2d PP seemed stronger than the 1st. Interesting that Namestnikov was on PP1 on the second PP...methinks it’s a little early to juggle lines already 🙄.

Look, we knew from the start that this wasn’t a SCF team, we’re going to steal some because of Greiss (and THAT’S a proven fact now), but we also have, at times, said we were looking for improvement. I’m looking for those little bits of improvement, and saw some good things. Gonna take time for the entire team to go through the team-building process after 10 months. Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water, guys. We’ll get there.....How does Power look???? 🤔🤔🤔🤔

I don't think Filppula, Erne, Nielsen should all be playing in the same game. Marc Staal was giving the puck away all night.
- gergeswillems

they are all offensive black holes. they dont generate much.
if ur not gonna score u better be out there throwing hits or making a lot of defensive stops and give up minimal to zero scoring chances/goals.they dont do any of that, they are just bodies there for the time being.

Same for Staal. hes not part of the long term plan for this team.

Brome showed more than anyone else in the bottom 6 and he was playing in his first nhl game.says all you need to know about the other guys in the bottom 6.

its just a indictment of the overall talent level of the team. Yzerman is working on that via the draft but again, time and drafting well will fix all of this.

I don't think Filppula, Erne, Nielsen should all be playing in the same game. Marc Staal was giving the puck away all night.
- gergeswillems

Very true statement there. I was floored that Nielsen 1. has an “A”, and 2. Played against Carolina. It comes down to knowing the strengths & weaknesses of your players and how to pair them to accentuate the aggregated positives.... you know, an insightful coach. But, players have to play regardless of leadership. Yeah, those 3 shouldn’t be on the same bus, let alone ice....

While we're on the topic of faceoffs:

Fabbri: 2-12

Everyone else combined: 21-22

We'll see how much of that is just rotten luck and how much of it is Fabbri not having played center since juniors.

The caveat to the "nobody is much better or worse than 50-50 on draws at the NHL level" is that anybody who can't win at least 45 percent or so in the dot consistently will very quickly find themselves moved out to the wing. We will, uh, see how long Fabbri lasts up the middle.

Laine ups his value, GWG in OT

I don't think Filppula, Erne, Nielsen should all be playing in the same game. Marc Staal was giving the puck away all night.
- gergeswillems

Marc Staal is not an NHL-caliber defender. That was clear long before we traded for him. Like, years before. He really should not be in the lineup unless there's a raft of injuries.

Marc Staal is not an NHL-caliber defender. That was clear long before we traded for him. Like, years before. He really should not be in the lineup unless there's a raft of injuries.
- Sven22

get Lindstrom in here. get G.Smith and Rasmussen in here.
Staal, Erne and Nielsen can sit.

they are all offensive black holes. they dont generate much.
if ur not gonna score u better be out there throwing hits or making a lot of defensive stops and give up minimal to zero scoring chances/goals.they dont do any of that, they are just bodies there for the time being.

Same for Staal. hes not part of the long term plan for this team.

Brome showed more than anyone else in the bottom 6 and he was playing in his first nhl game.says all you need to know about the other guys in the bottom 6.

its just a indictment of the overall talent level of the team. Yzerman is working on that via the draft but again, time and drafting well will fix all of this.
- wingz4life

Lines should be...

Bertuzzi-Larkin-Mantha

Zadina-Namestnikov-Ryan

Brome-Rasmussen-Fabbri

Gagner-Glenny-Smith

Lines should be...

Bertuzzi-Larkin-Mantha

Zadina-Namestnikov-Ryan

Brome-Rasmussen-Fabbri

Gagner-Glenny-Smith
- gergeswillems

Helm deserves to be in a healthy lineup somewhere. He is overpaid but definitely not terrible.

Helm deserves to be in a healthy lineup somewhere. He is overpaid but definitely not terrible.
- Sven22

He's not available right now.

He's not available right now.
- gergeswillems

Yeah, true. I was confused at first because you had Ryan in your lineup, but I guess he's hoping to be in for Saturday.

Yeah, true. I was confused at first because you had Ryan in your lineup, but I guess he's hoping to be in for Saturday.
- Sven22

I'd actually play Helm over Gagner when he's available. But I think Rasmussen and Smith need to be playing to give us more size and grit in the bottom 6.