Wings Slip Up On Washington's Ice

What a game, and opportunity, to let slip away. The Wings doubled the Washington Capitals in shots on goal (46) but could not get enough past Jose Theodore for the win in D.C. They shut down the most exciting, entertaining, and all around best player in the world (in this writer's opinion), holding Alexander Ovechkin to zero shots for just the third time this season. They controlled the play for most of the game and scored tough, timely goals.

And yet they skated off the ice without a point to show for their efforts. C'est la vie, such is life, in the NHL.

Just One Game, No Big Deal

Coach Mike Babcock always seems to find a diamond in a pile of crap. Here he discusses his team's good play and what it means for the near future:

“I feel good because I thought our team played real well, real hard. We basically dominated from start to finish. They’re an opportunistic team. They got real good offensive flair and they were able to capitalize. Their goalie was outstanding. But I like the way we played. We played fast, we were on top of them. If we continue to play the way we’re playing we’ll be just fine."

For such a surly looking dude, I am often surprised by his optimism and positiveness, especially after his team blew a chance to leap frog its way into a playoff position.

Coming into the game with 56 points, the Wings sat just one point away from the Los Angeles Kings for the eighth and final playoff spot, and only two points behind both Vancouver and Calgary. Both the Canucks and the Flames were idle on Tuesday, and the Kings were spanked by the Sharks 5-1. The loss negates an opportunity for the Wings to slide into the seventh seed, thusly knocking the Kings out and jumping ahead of Calgary (the Canucks have a game in hand on the Wings).

Now, all of this is moot; fodder for the fans, media, and banthas to chew on. But sitting on the outside looking in is not where we are used to planting our butts as Red Wings enthusiasts. Pundits and talking heads all agree that Detroit is, and always was, a playoff team this season, and I am not doubting that. It just would have been nice to go into our nation's capital, get a win against a Stanley Cup contender from the Eastern Conference, and hit the road again in a better position than where they were to begin with.

After all, the Wings are not the only team with their eyes on the playoff prize, as Dallas and Anaheim both sit just three points behind Detroit. Going back to that 4-1 victory over the Wings on January 5, the Ducks have been on an absolute tear to get back into postseason discussions, winning seven of their last eight. The Stars have not been as hot, but they have hung around all season, and they hold the head-to-head tiebreaker with three victories over the Wings.

“You can say we played a good game, but in the end we didn’t score enough goals," Henrik Zetterberg said. “We had a lot of chances, we should be able to put more pucks in."

46 shots. 2 goals. 0 points. Bt as long as Babcock is cool with it, I guess I will be too.

Approaching A Rift?

Chris Osgood, remember him? The guy who went from back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals goaltender to the backup for Jimmy Howard. Ozzy got the nod Tuesday for the first time since December 20 after relinquishing 12 consecutive starts to the rookie, Howard.

Howard has earned his playing time this season and deserved all those starts, but Osgood has been openly frustrated with his own lack of time between the pipes. Does he have a point with statements like this?

“At the start of the year Howie didn’t play for about a month and then I didn’t play for a month. To me that’s not a good way of doing things, to let one guy get stagnant. You have to have both guys going, especially with the amount of games we have, especially coming back after the Olympic break we have a ton of games in March. So we have to have two guys in case something happens."

In theory, this makes perfect sense. But then again so does Communism. If the Wings were sitting atop the Central Division, as they were last season and every other season this decade, I would absolutely agree with Ozzy's sentiment. However, Detroit is 16 points behind Chicago, and Babcock is in a position where he must do everything, say anything, and play anyone who he deems fit to give his team the best opportunity to win.

It is interesting, though, that Babs would give Ozzy his first start in a month against the highest scoring team in the league. To give you an idea of how potent the Capitals are this season, they lead the NHL with an average of 3.69 goals per game. San Jose is a distant second with 3.26, and the Wings currently land in 27th with 2.49.

“It was tough. I haven’t played in a month,’’ Osgood said. “I think if I played a little more...they were good goals, but still I would have stopped them if I were in more of a groove. It was tough, especially against a team that doesn’t shoot a lot but waits for their best chances."

"You practice every day, you get ready every day, so let's play," said Babcock.

No love lost there. Remember this, in the 2005-06 season, Babcock's first as coach of the Wings, Steve Yzerman was just a Robert Lang groin injury away from retiring midseason due to a lack of playing time. Stevie Y only got the playing time because Babcock was forced to play him.

Is this a similar situation? Was Babs setting Osgood up for failure against the Capitals? Or was this a test to see where the disgruntled goalie's head and heart are.

Maybe I'm making too much out of something that might actually be nothing, but, last night, during moments of the game, my thoughts were indeed adrift, "and coasting a terrace, approaching a rift." ~ Tom Marshall

Rusty, or Icy, or Both?

Osgood had plenty of rust on the pads Tuesday night, though they could have been iced over from a slow first period. Washington did not register a shot on goal until nearly 15 minutes into the game and only got three in the first period. If Ozzy was looking for a groove, he had little chance of finding one in this game.

When Osgood struggled last season it was because he was not aggressive enough, not getting outside of the goal crease and challenging the shooter. Take a look at where he is on Nicklas Backstrom's power play goal:



That was a sick move on Brad Stuart, but if Ozzy had been out of the crease he may have been able to poke check the puck, or at least cut down the angle that Backstrom had to shoot with.

David Steckel tipped in the game winner just 46 seconds later. Ozzy started the play out front, challenging the original shooter, but slipped backwards when he lost sight of the puck.



Perhaps this is an entirely different type of goal as Ozzy was reacting to the first shot, but what I see is an unsure, rusty goaltender relying on bad habits. Osgood is a trusted veteran in this league. He should not have to rehash the basics in the middle of every season. Does he have a beef about playing time? Maybe. Should he be prepared and ready play at a high level at any given moment? Absolutely.

Babcock:

“It’s real important to have good goaltending. You can’t win without good goaltending. We’ve been real fortunate that Howie has been excellent for us, gave us an opportunity on a nightly basis."

Nugs and Notes

Attention Darren McCarty: in no way am I saying that Chris Osgood is done, past his prime, or undeserving of an opportunity for playing time. I love Ozzy for all he has done for the Wings, and I hope he comes around and can contribute wins on a more consistent basis this season. Also, I whole-heartedly agree that he has earned his spot in the NHL Hall of Fame.



Peace McCarty, Peace.