12/11 GDT: Red Wings 4 at Devils 1

[wings_fanatic 677]

Well what a game by the Wings, all around. I still think that the Wings play a lot calmer in front of Ozzie than Howard which I think is key to success when playing in front of a goalie. The way Ozzie played tonight is the Ozzie who does not lose in the playoffs... and Babcock needs to realize this and start Ozzie on a more regular basis than on the 2nd of back to backs because if Howard shall faulter he has to have Ozzie going ... on another note I also loved Ozzie's controlling the puck tonight with his passing and stuff great to see.

- Pavel Datsyuk once again showed why he is the most complete player in the world I would take him over Crosby anyday. 3 points, worked his ass off all game on both sides of the ice as usual, had 3 of 4 really nice takeaways, sickkk passes

- Hank was looking really good tonight... nice to see him flying around like that out there

- Lidstrom just doesnt seem to age... he was perfect on D once again tonight... always in the right position

- Kronners had another SOLID game

- the 2nd line looked better tonight but Franzen needs to start SHOOTING

- Great game by the Wings for being back to back again... now they need to regroup and get ready for monday. I would like to see Howard play Monday and Ozzie to play Wednesday (i want him to get 400 at the Joe)

[WizardOfOz30 1,886]

Just finished reading through here after watching the game. I am so happy that Osgood got #399, he had a great game and the whole team played well too. Sure hope he gets #400 at home.

[Guest Four]

The Wings have been gold so far this year. Awesome!

[titanium2 867]

What can the Devils do to get a top flight goalie when a couple times this year they haven't even fielded a full team because of salary cap issues? I don't even wanna ask how much Kovalchuk's secondary assist on Elias' goal tonight cost the Devils.

Apparently he makes around $1,220 a minute.

[GMRwings1983 8,793]

I wonder how Kovalchuk feels these days. He's getting paid, sure. But man oh man his "legacy" is in trouble. Not sure if he even cares though.

Why call him out only?

That whole team sucks. Everyone is underachieving. As for him, leaving Atlanta may be the worst thing that ever happened to him.

[Travis 576]

Why call him out only?

That whole team sucks. Everyone is underachieving. As for him, leaving Atlanta may be the worst thing that ever happened to him.

The whole team is definitely leaving a lot to be desired, but he's gotta shoulder tons of the blame for basically crippling them from a cap stance. Having said that, no one held a gun to Lou's head and made him offer Kovy that ridiculous contract. Watching them struggle so much, though, you can't help but wonder how things would be if he'd signed for a 'reasonable' amount and they actually had more than 5 guys signed to the team.

[eva unit zero 271]

The whole team is definitely leaving a lot to be desired, but he's gotta shoulder tons of the blame for basically crippling them from a cap stance. Having said that, no one held a gun to Lou's head and made him offer Kovy that ridiculous contract. Watching them struggle so much, though, you can't help but wonder how things would be if he'd signed for a 'reasonable' amount and they actually had more than 5 guys signed to the team.

Volchenkov is the mistake, not Kovalchuk.

Have you noticed that Volchenkov has been performing far worse than he did last year, and as far as ice time goes he's New Jersey's FIFTH defenseman?

I don't know about you, but I don't think I would be interested in signing a #5 defenseman for $4.25m/year for 6 years. At least Kovalchuk is among the team leaders in scoring. His 0.5 PPG also matches that of Parise, who everyone seems to give a pass to for not scoring.

[plopster 136]

Who thinks Osgood saw what Larson said about him being done? Think that might have been a good way to light a fire under him? I didn't see the game, I would have thought he should win anyway because of how poor the Devils have been this year. But I am hoping he had a challenge on the ice and just shut it down. Or is that just wishful thinking?

[zombi 43]

Who thinks Osgood saw what Larson said about him being done? Think that might have been a good way to light a fire under him? I didn't see the game, I would have thought he should win anyway because of how poor the Devils have been this year. But I am hoping he had a challenge on the ice and just shut it down. Or is that just wishful thinking?

Nope. He was definitely challenged. I believe the final tally was that he stopped 33 of 34 shots. Ozzie really had to stand on his head a few times to keep the Wings ahead. He played a great game.

And from the beginning, you could really see his confidence in himself. He really made the saves look easy.

[puckloo39 5,686]

Nope. He was definitely challenged. I believe the final tally was that he stopped 33 of 34 shots. Ozzie really had to stand on his head a few times to keep the Wings ahead. He played a great game.

And from the beginning, you could really see his confidence in himself. He really made the saves look easy.

I believe he saw it, and had some things to say about it, on and off the ice. The guys say they don't read the press -- but I think they do. They just don't want to add any credibility to some of the comments bu acknowledging them.

Good for Ozzie that he's decided to pull up his hockey socks and show everyone what he's really made of. He knows he hasn't been stellar, but he's a professional. Nice guy that he is, he's got a lot of pride, too. If it took pissing him off to get a game-winning performance, I am all for it.

He was great in last night's game.

[Guest mindfly]

I really liked how he played the puck last night, howard Must start doing it soon, it's such a great help, i would love to hear an honest interview with kronwall or someone on how much easier it is for the D when the goalie can play the puck well., i can't think of another goalie in the league that's worse than howard when it comes to stickhandling and playing the puck, even the young rookies are better.

Edited December 12, 2010 by mindfly

[chrisdetroit 189]

The whole team is definitely leaving a lot to be desired, but he's gotta shoulder tons of the blame for basically crippling them from a cap stance. Having said that, no one held a gun to Lou's head and made him offer Kovy that ridiculous contract. Watching them struggle so much, though, you can't help but wonder how things would be if he'd signed for a 'reasonable' amount and they actually had more than 5 guys signed to the team.

If you look at the roster, it is obvious that the team is underachieving. I think a coaching change is in order. They should be playing better than they are.

I really liked how he played the puck last night, howard Must start doing it soon, it's such a great help, i would love to hear an honest interview with kronwall or someone on how much easier it is for the D when the goalie can play the puck well., i can't think of another goalie in the league that's worse than howard when it comes to stickhandling and playing the puck, even the young rookies are better.

Worst in the league? That's a bit of a stretch.

[jeff48109 474]

Volchenkov is the mistake, not Kovalchuk.

Have you noticed that Volchenkov has been performing far worse than he did last year, and as far as ice time goes he's New Jersey's FIFTH defenseman?

I don't know about you, but I don't think I would be interested in signing a #5 defenseman for $4.25m/year for 6 years. At least Kovalchuk is among the team leaders in scoring. His 0.5 PPG also matches that of Parise, who everyone seems to give a pass to for not scoring.

volchenkov was great last year because he was putting his body on the line blocking shots every night, and hitting everything that moved. he was great because he wanted his big payday. now that he has gotten it, he has no reason to put his body on the line like he did last season. and he's offensively challenged.

[Hockeytown_Ryan 119]

Nice to see them get up early and keep focus for the remaining 58 minutes. Nice to see them travel ( OK it was only to New Jersey) on a back to back and win both games.

Good solid game by Osgood. came up big a couple times and kept the confidence up for the rest of the team.

Good going guys! keep it up one more win and its a winning streak!

[droz 5]

I really liked how he played the puck last night, howard Must start doing it soon, it's such a great help, i would love to hear an honest interview with kronwall or someone on how much easier it is for the D when the goalie can play the puck well., i can't think of another goalie in the league that's worse than howard when it comes to stickhandling and playing the puck, even the young rookies are better.

I will agree with you that Howard needs to play the puck more, and he is starting to this season. Seems like he just doesn't have the confidence to come out of the crease like Ozzy has, hopefully it's something he will improve on over the season. Watching Ozzy play and seeing how he does it should help him, he didn't get to do that much last year.

[VM1138 1,921]

I want to see Osgood get another consecutive start, and then go 50/50 with Howard. Osgood needs to get into a groove, we know Howard can pop back in at any time and play fine, so now that Ozzie had a great game, let's see if he has more in the tank before going back to Howard.

[Guest mjtm77]

does anyone have a vid of Dats goal?

[nate94gt 134]

I want to see Osgood get another consecutive start, and then go 50/50 with Howard. Osgood needs to get into a groove, we know Howard can pop back in at any time and play fine, so now that Ozzie had a great game, let's see if he has more in the tank before going back to Howard.

I agree. If one goalie gets hot, play him for 3-4 games and switch. This 14 starts in a row s*** has to stop Edited December 12, 2010 by nate94gt

[Konnan511 1,736]

I agree. If one goalie gets hot, play him for 3-4 games and switch. This 14 starts in a row s*** has to stop

Tht 14 game in a row s*** happens when you either a) don't have a back-up, or b) your back-up sucks. Now Howie has a healthy fine back-up.

[ACallToArms 270]

Tht 14 game in a row s*** happens when you either a) don't have a back-up, or b) your back-up sucks. Now Howie has a healthy fine back-up.

I would like to see Ozzie get the start against the Kings tomorrow. He was hot last night, let him carry over the momentum into the next game. I don't think it will do anything to Howard's confidence to sit several games while Ozzie gets his feet wet, he knows he's not superman and can't play every game.

[F2B&G 15]

Ozzie looked good, but on the other hand, the Devils are horrible this year. I'd wait for a couple more starts against better teams and see how he does there before declaring he's "back to form" and calling for a 1a/1b situation with Howard.

[gcom007 1,465]

I really liked how he played the puck last night, howard Must start doing it soon, it's such a great help, i would love to hear an honest interview with kronwall or someone on how much easier it is for the D when the goalie can play the puck well., i can't think of another goalie in the league that's worse than howard when it comes to stickhandling and playing the puck, even the young rookies are better.

Worst in the league is taking it too far but he definitely has a lot of room to improve. I think he's got a lot of potential but this and rebound control are definitely areas he needs to work out two become a long-time steady starter. Teams will get better and better at taking advantage of his weaknesses as time goes on so he definitely needs to reign them in. Aside from that, it's also very true that it helps immensely to have a goalie that can play the puck well as it can really help jumpstart a rush. I would have liked to see more improvement in puck and rebound control from him coming into tis season but he's still been solid and I do think he'll work the issues out in time.

[gcom007 1,465]

Ozzie looked good, but on the other hand, the Devils are horrible this year. I'd wait for a couple more starts against better teams and see how he does there before declaring he's "back to form" and calling for a 1a/1b situation with Howard.

Osgood's really only had one rough start and even in that start, he was hung out to dry the majority of the time. Watch the video replays and look up the recaps if you don't remember. The rest of the time, Osgoods been solid. And while the Devils are horrible, they dumped quite a few shots on Osgood and many quality scoring chances. Osgood had to be great to hold them to the 1 goal. I'm not saying it should go to a 50-50 rotation yet either, but the idea that Osgood has played poorly this year is unfounded.

I'll say though right now, if Osgood keeps this up and plays at a strong level down the stretch, I would like to see him start in the playoffs. That is where he shines, and Howard stands to learn a lot from watching Osgood when it matters most. I believe in Howard long run, but I also believe in the developmental process. I'd rather go with the veteran and let the next guy learn how it's done especially after Howard's less than stellar run last year.