Jeremy Laura: Dallas Vs Detroit part 2 - game day blog

As long as I see effort from this Red Wings team I'm happy. Sure it's nice to win. But I don't really expect it. That's why the 2 games against Chicago were so disappointing for me. They literally mailed it in both games.

But the Red Wings battled hard against a very good Dallas Stars team. Maybe the Stars brought their B game. But who cares? This Red Wings team came up a goal short in overtime but that game was up for grabs. It could've gone either way.

Maybe tonight we get our doors blown off. Or maybe we'll get a few bounces go our way and we'll get a much needed win. Mantha is really struggling right now and I miss seeing the guy who came out of the gate last season Red hot. He's not the only Red Wings player who's struggling.

But he's a key player for us because we really struggle to score goals. It's tough sledding right now. The power play is pathetic. I honestly wish we could decline power plays. I'm not being sarcastic. I feel bad for Tommy Greiss. He's playing his a$$ off and keeping us in games and we can't score any goals for him.

Can we please sit Filppula and Nielsen? Talk about giving your team no chance to win. Poor Hronek is going to be worn out by the Ides of March at this rate. Et tu, Jeff? I know Hronek is young but he's not Nick Lidstrom.

Larkin needs to stop trying to be Superman. I appreciate the effort. I really do. But you're Dylan Larkin. Not Jack Eichel. Know your limitations and focus on your strengths. Use your teammates and stop trying to do everything yourself.

Hopefully we'll get Fabbri and Zadina back at some point to give us some kind of depth. Can we please shoot the puck ON the net? We're not the 95-96 Red Wings. Stop pretending you have X-Men like hockey skill. Stop bailing the goalies out! KISS. Keep it simple stupid. No that's not a Jeff Blashill reference. It certainly could be though.

The Marc Staal Experiment can end now please.

Rest yourself Jeremy, tonight the Hockey Gods may look over the Wings and keep them on a good path or maybe because Dallas isn’t starting Khudobin. I have a feeling Bertuzzi will set pace tonight.

LGRW's!!!!!

Chicago was an embarrassment, both games. Call it whatever you want, there was no desire to stay in the race for either game.

From what I heard (am forced to listen to the games while in VA because Center Ice isn't viewable outside of your home DTV network, I need to break down and pay for NHLTV....) there was MUCH more effort. I think the major hurdle is the Line-O-Matic that is Blash's nightly line-up. No, if you throw something against a wall and it sticks, you cannot call it art. Just sayen. Another issue is how the team bonds. Team-building is an art, and dealing with the current protocols has rendered that need unavailable. So, the boys have to figure it out on their own, get to the rink earlier, more hackey-sack competitions, I dunno...get creative.

I'm struggling with Mantha. When he finally clears his head, he'll be the beast we all know he is. Right now, he's good on an other-wise regrettable PP. Visualization exercises, audio-books, something needs to be done for him to "see' success. Video coaching needs to be the most-reliable method of visualization right now, I think. He needs to clear his head. He's a monster. Good players deal with slumps efficiently, and routinely His injury record over the past couple of years may have weakened his ability to develop a coping mechanism to deal with the current slump. He needs help, for sure. I have faith in him; I've seen the beast before and know it's still in there.

PP is abysmal. Steady lines routinely playing, doing routine things routinely will enhance development and cohesion. I cannot stand the constant juggling of lines. I know COVID happens, so do injuries, so guys need to develop that reliance on each other, and I know that was taken out of training camp (mini-camp, really), so that development has to take place in-season. We've seen some incredible play thus far, and some play that was not-so-credible.

Tyler Bertuzzi -- Dylan Larkin -- Mathias Brome
Bobby Ryan -- Vladislav Namestnikov -- Anthony Mantha
Valtteri Filppula -- Luke Glendening -- Darren Helm
Taro Hirose -- Michael Rasmussen -- Givani Smith

Patrik Nemeth -- Filip Hronek
Marc Staal -- Troy Stecher
Danny DeKeyser -- Christian Djoos

Nielsen scratched and Smith/Hirose in again. They're developing well, need more ice time. Still seeing Staal....reckon we're trying to squeeze every $ of the $5m+ salary he's being paid, to the detriment of the team. I'm looking for the 2d line to start firing; Larkin cannot continue to try to carry the team on his back, he needs help.

These Dallas jerseys are hideous. I think I'm going blind.

These Dallas jerseys are hideous. I think I'm going blind.
- gergeswillems

Well, glad I can't see them!!!

man,this team is tough to watch. I hope it gets better next season.
DAL is missing Seguin and Benn too.

man,this team is tough to watch. I hope it gets better next season.
DAL is missing Seguin and Benn too.
- wingz4life

It's like swallowing a bag of nails.

man,this team is tough to watch. I hope it gets better next season.
DAL is missing Seguin and Benn too.
- wingz4life

we have to bide our time, make sure there's improvement, and roll into 21-22 with a compliment of talent and eager to win......

Maybe we get to see Kevin Boyle this week-end.....(eye roll)5 games of NHL experiance...

4-2....Bert!!

PP for da Wings.......1st unit first....go Raz!!!

Gross.

WTF last I checked it was 3-1 stars. Just checked the final and all I can say is WOW!!
What happened, the wheels fell off quick.

WTF last I checked it was 3-1 stars. Just checked the final and all I can say is WOW!!
What happened, the wheels fell off quick.
- mplackitt

I don't even know what to say anymore.

WTF last I checked it was 3-1 stars. Just checked the final and all I can say is WOW!!
What happened, the wheels fell off quick.
- mplackitt

What. The. Literal. (FRANK)???!???!! 🤬🤮🤬🤮🤬🤮🤬🤮🤬🤮

Same problems we've talked about ad nauseam: the powerplay is atrocious, the top players (except arguably Bertuzzi) are struggling to get going, Staal is not good.

Further observations:

- Bad night from the goaltending, particularly Greiss in relief of Bernier.

- Detroit is not built or coached to play come-from-behind hockey. The entire strategy is to lock down the game, keep it close for 60 minutes and try to win on the bounces. It worked really nicely in the first game against Dallas (despite the end result being an OTL), but when they go down a couple of goals early it becomes really, really difficult to adjust, adapt, and get back in it without also making some backbreaking mistakes.

- The losses of Fabbri and especially Zadina really hurt. Not an excuse, but those are really our only two "legit" second liners (with the possible exception of Ryan) and without them the secondary scoring moves from "concerning" to "basically non-existent."

- This is two straight "series" where the Wings got noticeably worse after the first game. Not encouraging.

- Somebody please get Staal off the ice. Would like to see Biega or Lindstrom (i.e., an RHD) so Djoos can actually play on his correct side.

I have nothing to say.

Good observations, Sven.

Some very glaring shortcomings in the current structure of the Wings. Be it from biding time with grizzled veterans or bloated contracts or lack of motivation to lack of coaching ability, we could definitely use some new attitudes, fresh outlooks thoughts & ideas...