GoWings1905

Alright, the progress is coming. The Sharks didn't score there and the Wings actually had a scoring chance of their own. PP goal maybe by April.

Jimmy looks pretty rusty, which is not totally unexpected coming off two injuries. However, I hope he gets back into the groove these final ten games because we're gonna need stellar Howard goaltending to go deep.

Never leave again Pavel. Hang in there guys and get the next one too.

Poor Pavel. His welcome back is dragging around Cleary and Bertuzzi. Also, the 4th line continues its two-month run of being utterly useless. Mursak is fine, but Holmstrom and Emmerton have no purpose.

Haha, I cracked up. I was expecting Franzen to be standing still and get a tap-in goal to end the PP drought.

Watch them score on the PP now.

Quincey is terrible. Neg away but I want Ericsson back.

Is Babcock wasted? He can't possibly think a line of Bertuzzi - Franzen - Cleary is going to do anything worthwhile. Z and Fil are the only offensive threats this team has right now. Helm, Miller, Abdelkader are nice energy players but you can't rely on them to consistently score goals. Also, I'm less than impressed with Kyle Quincey's stint here so far. Him and White are brutal as a pairing. Get Nyquist back in the lineup. Too many useless players dressed that aren't helping the cause.

My final four is Kentucky, Missouri, Florida State and North Carolina with UNC winning it all. A few sleepers as I have Long Beach State (12), VCU (12) and Belmont (14) all advancing to the Sweet 16. That probably won't work out well, but it adds some excitement to the bracket. Looking forward to tomorrow -- these next four days of March Madness are the best.

Yeah, those guys are definitely on the same level as Datsyuk and Lidstrom. Very comparable losses.

What always gives me a chuckle is the need for Blues fans to let all of us know about their team. I'm not saying it was even the case here, but it feels like there is a lot of "hey look at us please" going on with that fanbase. Maybe it's just me but the last thing I would think about doing is going to a rival's board to boast about the Red Wings accomplishments. In fact, I would be quite surprised if it really happens at all in general. Having fans from other teams here is great (minus Chicago), but I truly don't care if the Blues finish first. We don't judge success based on the President's Trophy. Besides, the Blues jump in the standings oddly coincided with the Red Wings three best players at forward, defense, and in goal being injured.

Only five weeks left to go... Weekend Picks

I didn't personally neg you, but I am curious as to why you are so convinced the Red Wings are doomed to fail? They were ahead of the Blues basically all season with a healthy lineup. If Datsyuk, Lidstrom and Howard all get back around Tuesday, there's still 13 games to go to make up four points. If you are so convinced the Predators will easily catch the Red Wings by that same margin, then it isn't impossible for a healthy Wings team to do the same. Again, I will also state 4th or even 5th wouldn't mean an automatic first round exit. If San Jose gets in as the 7th or 8th seed, I would rather deal with Nashville than the Sharks again.

The Red Wings are still four points up on Nashville and ten on Chicago. No way they fall to 6th -- that's an extreme exaggeration. Granted, I do believe the upcoming road trip out west will have a huge influence on the Red Wings shot to win the division. If they get some of the major pieces back soon, I still like their chances to catch St. Louis. Even if the Blues hang on, a first round matchup with the Predators wouldn't be a nightmare scenario.

Really strong effort and the Red Wings outplayed the Predators for a good chunk of the game. Yeah it sucks to lose given the standings, but Nashville had everything in their favor tonight and the Red Wings almost pulled out a win. Seven regulars out and playing on consecutive nights is tough to overcome. The powerplay has to get fixed though -- it's getting beyond pathetic now. Even before Datsyuk and Lidstrom got hurt, it was pretty dismal and it has just continued to decline. You could definitely argue that special teams have made the difference between a number of wins and losses recently. The Red Wings have kept the games close even with so many injuries, but the special teams struggles have played a huge factor in losing by a goal instead of winning by one. Hopefully some healthy bodies get back on Tuesday, namely the big three. Plenty of time to win the division still.

My only hope is another few years before the next post of yours.

Definitely prefer Smith to keep playing when everyone is healthy, though my expectation is Ericsson will get the nod for the playoffs. I don't even really dislike E, but I feel that his usual role is basically insignificant now with the addition of Quincey. Smith has played extremely well and I get the impression that the playoffs wouldn't rattle him in the least. I'm pretty neutral on Kindl. I like some elements of his game, but Smith is already better than him offensively and Ericsson is much stronger than him defensively, so I don't see how he passes either one for playing time.

Big win, the Red Wings willed themselves to two points tonight. They just gotta hang around a little longer until the big guns get back and make a run the last dozen games or so. It's a tough position to step into, but Nyquist looked comfortable and created some chances with his speed. Smith continues to impress me every game; superb instinct and beautiful pass on the Filppula goal. Z and Fil have really put the team on their backs with all of the injuries. Zetterberg looks like his old self -- very dangerous almost every shift offensively and his chemistry with Filppula continues to improve as the season progresses. Those two have been lethal together and you just hope Datsyuk and Franzen can do the same soon enough. The Red Wings can be extremely dangerous if Datsyuk and Zetterberg are both going at a high level come playoff time. Tomorrow will be very tough, but a six-point cushion is quite a relief compared to four.

The Red Wings scored two goals tonight and one on Sunday. While I agree it wasn't MacDonald's strongest performance, you aren't going to win much with three goals in two games. I'm aware Datsyuk is a huge loss -- I clearly stated that. Nor do I expect them to click offensively at a level like they would with Pavel around. I do think it's reasonable to want a team praised for its depth to get stronger contributions from other sources when an injury does occur. My concern is the overall ability of the Red Wings to score goals in the playoffs even with Pavel Datsyuk playing. They lack a legitimate sniper in the top-six and can't score on the powerplay. Not a great combination to have when games tighten up next month.

This team just can't generate enough offense consistently with Pavel out. Even with Pavel the Red Wings are lacking a legitimate top-six sniper, but that need gets really exposed without Datsyuk making other players far better. Holland needs to go all-out for Parise this summer and let his goal-scoring ability thrive alongside Datsyuk. I still only have faith in three forwards being able to score during the playoffs -- the rest of the cast is just too streaky to feel confident (Franzen, Hudler, Bertuzzi). Especially when you factor in the Red Wings powerplay not being able to chip in goals and special teams can swing a playoff series. Very tough stretch of games coming up too. I pray Datsyuk can come back somehow next week or it may become an extremely uphill battle to win the division over the Blues following that road trip.

I honestly believe the players when they said they didn't care or notice the streak until it got very close to the record. Of course it's a remarkable achievement that they can be proud to have accomplished, but ultimately the most important part of 23 straight was they were getting valuable points. Let's face it too: the Red Wings have had to defend home ice very well, with as poorly as they have played on the road.

I can't imagine why you were getting flamed for calling Cleary ineffective in a year he scored 26 goals.

I'm still working with the site to resolve the scoring issues. It's hard to figure out how long there has been a problem, but we will make sure everything turns out accurately counted for the conclusion of the season. Thanks! Weekend Picks

Poor E. Can't even sit in the press box without getting dumped on.

Yeah, I completely understand why Franzen was signed. I know everyone was down on Hossa for his performance in the finals (rightfully so), but he was also playing injured. Franzen has done some very impressive things for the Red Wings and he might come through in the playoffs again. That being said, Hossa is a far superior player in every facet of the game and I would argue that was obvious even in 2009 before Franzen's poor work ethic kicked in. There were other factors that played into the decision, but if we're talking Hossa vs. Franzen straight up, I'm picking Hossa every time.