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I blame Mike Babcock for letting in all those goals.

Approximately 18 square feet to shoot at…

Now now now… dry your eyes. I’m not pinning this one entirely on Chris Osgood, nor am I going to claim that Jimmy Howard wins this game. That right there, folks, was sixty minutes of uninspired, emotionless, no-fire hockey from everyone that wasn’t Pavel Datsyuk.

It’d be swell to get more than two goals from the Red Wings. Two doesn’t get you wins much anymore — particularly with Dan Cloutier 2.0 in net. But, funny how Tuesday five goals against was “getting burnt” and five goals Wednesday was all the defense. Interesting.

I know we all rag on our “beat writers” for being slow to the trigger or downright absent, but check out the first three words of the headlines from the following publications:

MLive :: Shaky Chris Osgood…
Freep :: Osgood Struggles Again… (note: the title has since been changed)
DetNews :: Chris Osgood Rusty…

Look, I’ll ignore the .800 save percentage for a night (even though no one should ever ignore such abominations)…or that there were two different examples of allowing two goals in 70 seconds or less (one of which had a Red Wings goal jammed in the middle), and leave it at this: Chris Osgood spent more time on his knees than Jenna Jameson – and couldn’t seem to react appropriately when a pass went across the slot. The first goal, he hardly even flinched toward the eventual goal scorer. I’m sure everyone will make excuses for him (though, he needs zero help in that department lately) and say that those goals were re-directed, or beautifully set up, or gifts from the Heavens, or whatever… he needs to be better, period. Particularly after running his mouth. And I’m confident that’s something we can all agree on.

OTHER THOUGHTS
Minnesota played like they haven’t played since Saturday. The Red Wings played like they played the night before. Oh wait, really? Nevermind then.

So what happened to Todd Bertuzzi? Oh that’s right, he’s not directly benefiting from playing with Henrik Zetterberg and/or Pavel Datsyuk. Who — WHO I ASK! — could have seen that coming?

Brad Stuart left the game — apparently — and didn’t return after suffering an upper body injury. I say apparently because FSNorth made no mention of it, and I never caught up. Hollis thinks he’s out 2-3 weeks with a bruised ego. ZING! Upon further review, he has a “sprained shoulder” and will be re-evaluated Thursday. Why not?

The upcoming schedule
FRI :: Nsh :: Jason Williams in :: Brad May AND Ville Leino Out. It’s like a really lame Christmas present.
SUN :: Pit :: Tomas Holmstrom in :: Brad May, Ville Leino, and presumably Justin Abdelkader Out.

New prospect rankings are available at Red Wings Central. I’ll let you look through the list (and you really should), but here is their Top Five: Tatar, Kindl, Smith, McCollum, Nyquist.

REVISITING THE PRE-GAME QUICK THOUGHTS
1. Osgood needs to play well to back up his mouth. FALSE.
2. Kronwall delivers more of the goods. TRUE, I guess. He nearly scored and certainly scared the hell out of Martin Havlat.
3. Who will step up in Lidstrom-like fashion? Pavel Datsyuk. That’s who.
4. Patrick Eaves. I remember seeing him on the ice, but have no opinion.
5. Todd Bertuzzi Countdown. Still at five. The ill-timed penalty count, however, is off the charts. Not that it matter this night anyway.

What’s next?
Friday. Nashville. Willy Vanilla (HI BAROQUE AND WINGEDUP!) might play. That should make all the difference in the world. He plays goal, right?

Photo Credit: Jim Mone, AP

10 thoughts on “I blame Mike Babcock for letting in all those goals.”

  1. I love how you make it seem like their top ten is only five guys…

    Can you tell me what the Bert penalty was for and if it was soft? It seemed soft to me, but the Wild feed seems to run with the Versus policy of not showing penalty replays. (This is probably done so we won't be able to see how bad the refs are.)

  2. The Bert penalty was ridiculously soft. That interference when two guys bump before getting to the puck together happens ten times a game. Abdelkader and Clutterbuck did it probably four times and didn't get called.

    I also think Bert is developing some really great chemistry with Filppula and I hate to say it, but I think Drew Miller is the weak spot on that line.

  3. Only thing I remember Eaves doing all game was missing a completely wide open net that would have changed the direction of the game. Other than that though…you know…not much.

  4. @Andy — just like JJ said, Bertuzzi's penalty was weak. And it didn't matter at that point anyway. I just like the bust the guys balls for finding a way to get an offensive zone penalty EVERY. NIGHT.

    @JJ — totally agree with you. I think Flip and Tuzz look really great together. It's totally fair to say that Miller is the weak link on that line, and even Drew Miller knows he shouldn't be a Top Six. Obviously, that position isn't for much longer, but I have to agree that he's overstepping a bit.

    @Rob — now that you remind me… you're right. Do you know how hard it is to hit a post when you're staring at 24 square feet? Give the kid some credit! HA

  5. Whatever, Petrella. You know you still love Bert, despite the fact that he's no longer a top-liner. Don't even try to front.

    This is quite possibly my favorite thing I've ever read on TPL:

    FRI :: Nsh :: Jason Williams in :: Brad May AND Ville Leino Out. It's like a really lame Christmas present.

    (But really, every time I read a new post on here, I come up with a new favorite thing.)

    And as much as I love Ozzie, I love that you called him Dan Cloutier 2.0, if only because it immediately brings to mind a certain photo involving a certain beach ball.

    I thought Kronwall looked solid last night. He and Derek Meech (?!) had extremely strong moments, although I feel practically everyone ever disappeared after the first period. I just commented on Andy's post that the only thing consistent about the Wings' play last night was that it was sloppy, all across the board. At that point, who do you blame the most?

    Yeah, I gotta echo Rob on his point about Eaves missing the net. Somehow, I'd forgotten about that; I guess I'd blocked it out of my mind. I guess THAT'S where Bert is right now–teaching Eaves how to live up to his favorite cliche involving something about hitting the broad side of a barn…

  6. Excellent point, Nat. That Eaves moment was rather Man-tuzz'ian. What are the chances they've blossemed an off-ice romanza? I'll say this, if Eaves starts whipping out the spin-o-rama on a regular basis, you can guarantee a TPL Exclusive on something going on there between the sheets.

    "I'm tall and from the second line. You're fast and from the third line. This will never work! Our families will NOT allow it! Hold, Patrick…"

  7. Oh that's right, he's not directly benefiting from playing with Henrik Zetterberg and/or Pavel Datsyuk. Who — WHO I ASK! — could have seen that coming?

    //raises hand

    I can't even skate and I'll bet I could score goals with Pavel and Hank.

  8. @MP: and 90% of those penalties are bullshit calls. One day I'm gonna write a post about bertuzzi and the Moore incident and how it still fuck up for him. You all are gonna hate me then.

  9. Rob, you MUST reveal that expose for all the world to see. If Eaves acts a fool in tonight's game, I'll be refreshing my slow ass browser from home every 5 minutes to make sure I don't miss TPL's groundbreaking report.

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