I was at the game on Sunday in Detroit.
The Red Wings came out flying. They were all over the Dallas Stars -- laying to body on anything that moved and getting plenty of scoring chances.
The Wings got a solid 2-0 lead early on but Dallas proved why they are near the top of the Western Conference by tying the game 2-2.
Joe Louis Arena was insane. Chris Osgood had the opportunity to notch his 400th career win, and the crowd knew it. Ozzy chants were bountiful and loud throughout the game. The place would have erupted if the Wings could have held on to their 3-2 lead in the third.
But they didn't.
Brendan Morrow evened it up. The Stars scored on an odd-man rush in overtime to silent the rowdy crowd. Joe Louis was soon one giant hangover. I have rarely seen it so solemn, and so suddenly. One minute the crowd was going nuts over a Justin Abdelkader fight and a potential historic goalie moment, and the next everyone was looking like their dog just died.
Coach Mike Babcock will have to evaluate his lineup soon. The last couple weeks have shown a Red Wings team with an uncertain, inconsistent game plan.
Positives from tonight: Johan Franzen finally scored. Pavel Datsyuk netted a crazy backhander. Henrik Zetterberg proved to have some legs -- somewhat. Justin Abdelkader furthered his tough guy status. Jiri Hudler was scratched after warm-ups.
The biggest problem I see right now is a couple guys who normally lead the offense are shadows of themselves. On defense things are not terrible. A lot of neutral zone turnovers and poor decisions in the offensive zone seem to be plaguing the Wings currently.
Vancouver is Wednesday.
I am currently reading Bob Probert's "Tough Guy" memoir. Very interesting.
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