GoWings1905

There's a leading 3-1 penalty. Completely ignore Ovechkin's blatant hold and then call one on Kronwall. Franzen and Tatar have been terrific.

Franzen is definitely engaged. That entire line is playing really well tonight.

Tatar coughed the puck up twice there. Too many collective turnovers right now as a team.

Tatar has put together quite the period. Drew a penalty, screened Holtby on Franzen's first and a beautiful pass on the second. Good for Mule too. We know he can score them in bunches.

That's why people get annoyed with Franzen. Because he can do that and doesn't. What a shot.

Tatar just created more on that shift than Samuelsson and Cleary combined this season. I would scratch him, though.

Just brutal to watch. I cringe when anyone but Pav and Z are out there. Team is completely lost in every facet right now.

Jimmy should have done anything but what happened on the rebound there, but how fitting Quincey and Franzen were both a step late getting back. Tatar should be playing with Helm and Franzen too. Abby has no scoring touch like Helm.

Just had 15 forwards on the team a couple days ago and now playing one short in a game.

Yeah, his wife and daughter really deserve that because we're tired of watching him play a game.

It's getting tougher by the day to defend Babcock. He did wonders last season with the makeshift roster Holland put together, but this team is better and he's completely misusing his players.

Samuelsson was still completely unnecessary. Nyquist, Andersson and Tatar were all NHL ready at forward. Which makes bringing Cleary and someone like Miller back this season even more perplexing.

Wouldn't it just be easier not to sign a bunch of spare parts to begin with?

This is just prepping us for the three-year NTC deal Cleary is going to get from Holland next summer. I love this organization, but they are seriously losing their way the past few years.

Had to be done to make space for E tomorrow right? I always liked Eaves quite a bit. It's a shame injuries really derailed his playing time with the Red Wings and then he never seemed to get the opportunity to consistently remain in the lineup. His days were numbered once Holland decided to bring Miller back.

So, when Babs came to practice this morning, his idea of breaking the losing streak was to play Cleary and Samuelsson on the third line? How does Tatar deserve to be a healthy scratch over those two? Babs and Holland are two of the best, but I have no idea what the hell they are doing this season.

I think we all love Darren Helm, but second line center is not suited for his game. Weiss needs to get healthy soon and hopefully start putting up numbers offensively. I thought Franzen's effort was good against Winnipeg, though two goals in one game this season speaks for itself. Alfredsson just needs to bury some scoring chances; otherwise he has been very strong. The Red Wings turning from a mediocre team into one that could be far better hinges on secondary scoring. If Weiss and Franzen in particular get going, then it takes away from 13 and 40 carrying the load entirely. If not, we are looking at another season of goals being hard to come by because the bottom-six and defense especially probably aren't going to chip in very many. The sooner Nyquist comes up too, the better this situation will get resolved. He's not a cure-all, but his skill set would dramatically improve the offense. If Babs wants to shelter him still, put him on the third line with Helm and Tatar. Three rookies made up the third line in the playoffs and they more than held their own. Now, Helm is an upgrade over Andersson and Tatar could match Brunner with someone like Gus setting him up.

Couldn't agree more. That would be my ideal forward group and line combinations as well. Franzen isn't scoring goals and I think Nyquist would mesh well with Weiss and Alfie. The season is 1/4 over now and this team is looking very average. Nyquist needs to play.

Even with Weiss' struggles, the Wings really need him back down the middle. I thought he was improving too before the injury. Helm is out of his element above the third line. Adding Nyquist to the second line would help Weiss out too. While I agree the Red Wings depth at forward is weak right now, Weiss is crucial to this team going forward. I'm pretty much done holding out hope Franzen will become productive, but Weiss with Nyquist and Alfredsson could work well. Regardless, there are too many spare parts and bottom-six forwards that provide nothing unique on this roster. Plus Babs benches offensive threats like Tatar to play Drew Miller in a tie game.

Wow, this is beyond frustrating. Very good effort, but yet another home loss. This team looks a lot like the one from last regular season year so far -- very inconsistent and pretty average overall. They have shown signs of being better at times, but can't put it all together on a regular basis. I say it every GDT, but it's inexcusable not to have Nyquist up. The secondary scoring lines were improved tonight, but this is still a one-line forward group.

No kidding. I understand maybe not using XO in OT, but Lashoff is plenty dependable.

Of course. Bad turnover by Alfredsson in the offensive zone. Where was the call late in regulation though? We've seen this OT script before.

Alfredsson does all that work on the forecheck and Quincey lightly chips a shot back to the Jets.

That could easily have been called hooking on Pavel. The Red Wings deserved to win, impressive pressure at the end of regulation. They need this extra point and some fortunes to turn with their OT losses lately.

Why does Tatar get benched in close games late? I get it more if the Wings are up a goal and you want a defensively responsible forward out, but it shouldn't happen in a tie game or OT.