1/26 GDT: Panthers 5 @ Red Wings 4 (SO)

[dat's sick 1,002]

We need an elite defenseman. We really, really do.

Kronwall played terrible in this one.

But be real, this loss wasn't that bad. We got a goal called back for no reason. Refs missed the high-stick on Tatar. We were inches from killing the game in OT. Panthers for some reason play their hearts out against us and pulled out a win, but I don't think they deserved this one.

The kid line is awesome, but it could be getting time to switch up the others a bit. Abdelkader should return to his rightful place in the bottom 6, and I think we're seeing that Eaves isn't as great as he looked against Chicago. If Andersson returns on Tuesday I wouldn't hesitate to waive Patty.

[Dabura 12,206]

I don't know about you guys but for me, f*** the extra point. I'm not even mad about that.

It's not even the point, or anything to do with the Panthers themselves. It's the fact that we blew a virtually guaranteed win the way we did, and that we've done it ten times this season. Inexcusable.

[SimonSin 192]

the refs win again

I understand that refs blew that call and it should HAVE been 4-1 but Wings had a two goal lead with 6 minutes left, there are no excuses there.

[dirtydangles 1,328]

I'm not even mad. We played well with some boneheaded moments that lead directly to goals but we weren't out-competed. I would say if you add Z and Dats to the mix and subtract Cleary and Eaves you get a powerhouse - you don't get meltdowns with Z and Dats in. I think one problem is our 1C Franzen wasn't conditioned and didn't practice as C the last while so there were adjustments to be made. The TSJ line was awesome - loving sheahan lately and tatar just keeps bringing it - that shift in OT was awesome. Also screw the refs for missing a blatant high stick on him at the end. At least we didn't play like hot garbage without scoring. Gus could have stollen that win potentially but didn't.

[MabusIncarnate 5,344]

New proud sponsor of the Detroit Red Wings..

[beachwing 426]

Loved that shift wen Tatar had the puck and made the panthers look like little ceasars mighty mights.

That high stick turned him green, Doc Bruce Banner belted by gamma rays turned into the hulk.

Dont make Tats angry, you wouldnt like him when he's angry.

[b.shanafan14 733]

nice moves by alfie - nice flub & why is eaves in the shootout???????

I was going to make a Sex Panther joke (60% of the time it works every time), but it only worked the once for Eaves. We sent out two shoot-first right handers (and predictably so) against a left-hand catching netminder who knew it was coming, and both waited too long to take the shot, having nearly no angle.

Big choke tonight. The Tatar goal should have been the dagger. The defense didn't know which way was up and that PP was played awful by Babs, should have been a power-kill but instead we end up pinching and caught. Monster wasn't in the form to bail the team out tonight and got no help from his defense which doesn't have the benefit of the injury excuse. Great game from Tatar-Sheahan-Jurco.

No excuse to cough of two two-goal leads in the 3rd, to lose to a bottom-feeder at home, and to do so after managing 4 goals even with Pav and Z out. So much for turning the corner. Hopefully they'll get a wake up call after that awful 3rd period tonight, on top of getting Z and Pav back soon.

EDIT: All that said, the no-goal call on Cleary was absolute crap, especially the way the Panthers were crashing the net all game, and the missed double-minor high-stick on Tatar at the end of the game would have changed things as well. Perfect storm.

Edited January 27, 2014 by b.shanafan14

[MTU_Huskies963 398]

This losing in the shoot out can't continue. Fix it immediately.

They beat the Hawks recently in the shoot out.

[Dabura 12,206]

But be real, this loss wasn't that bad.

It really was, though. You can't blow several two-goal leads in the third period and give up a shorty late. No moral victories or rationalizations tonight. They blew a slam-dunk two points in an obscenely tight Eastern Conference playoff race. To which someone will say, "Eh, shake it off. It happens. Just got to be better next time," or something to that effect. Which is fine, I totally understand it. But, at the same time, we keep doing this to ourselves. Over and over and over and over and over again. What this game shows is we haven't really learned, haven't really fixed whatever the underlying problem is. I want to say tonight happened because we didn't have our ultimate leader and calming presence, but then, we've done this with Z and/or D in the lineup.

Loved that shift wen Tatar had the puck and made the panthers look like little ceasars mighty mights.

He was pissed, for several reasons. It was beautiful.

[beachwing 426]

I typically dont rag on our guys and never being a NHL goalie makes my opinion fleeting but my god Gus comes out of the net to center ice sometimes.

[MabusIncarnate 5,344]

They beat the Hawks recently in the shoot out.

I think its in reference more to our win/loss record in the shootout this season, there is a tremendous amount of losses compared to wins.

[dirtydangles 1,328]

griffins folded like a cheap suit too

It really was, though. You can't blow several two-goal leads in the third period and give up a shorty late. No moral victories or rationalizations tonight. They blew a slam-dunk two points in an obscenely tight Eastern Conference playoff race. To which someone will say, "Eh, shake it off. It happens. Just got to be better next time," or something to that effect. Which is fine, I totally understand it. But, at the same time, we keep doing this to ourselves. Over and over and over and over and over again. What this game shows is we haven't really learned, haven't really fixed whatever the underlying problem is. I want to say tonight happened because we didn't have our ultimate leader and calming presence, but then, we've done this with Z and/or D in the lineup.

He was pissed, for several reasons. It was beautiful.

At least we had a lead to blow for once - we never get up like this in games. It was an improvement relative to most games this season.

[b.shanafan14 733]

This losing in the coughing up leads or otherwise settling with a shoot out can't continue. Fix it immediately.

There you go, fixed. I have a problem with us going to so many shootouts instead of ROW to begin with. Fix that and we won't have to worry about getting the second point in the coin-toss, dice-roll, jump-ball equivalent. Play better for the first 60-65 minutes and we'll spare ourselves the frustration of the skills competition.

[MTU_Huskies963 398]

I typically dont rag on our guys and never being a NHL goalie makes my opinion fleeting but my god Gus comes out of the net to center ice sometimes.

I can't rag on Gus, he's played better than Howard this year. He also made a bunch of key saves in the first to keep it 1-0. Howard or gus it does not matter who is in net, you can't give up stretches were the opponent out shoots you 9-0. That melt down was bound to happen with the way they came out in the third.

[Z Winged Dangler 2,082]

Cleary ~ 51 games ~ 4 goals ~ 4 assists ~ 8 points ~ minus 9 rating

Sheahan ~ 12 games ~ 3 goals ~ 5 assists ~ 8 points ~ plus 3 rating (no penalties in 12 games)

Babcock keeps saying the players dictate who plays, who gets the ice time. If that is true, then I guess the players know who is going down to GR….or do they? Would sending Cleary down not free up enough cap space to keep Sheahan up? If so, then the decision is very simple.

[dat's sick 1,002]

It really was, though. You can't blow several two-goal leads in the third period and give up a shorty late. No moral victories or rationalizations tonight. They blew a slam-dunk two points in an obscenely tight Eastern Conference playoff race. To which someone will say, "Eh, shake it off. It happens. Just got to be better next time," or something to that effect. Which is fine, I totally understand it. But, at the same time, we keep doing this to ourselves. Over and over and over and over and over again. What this game shows is we haven't really learned, haven't really fixed whatever the underlying problem is. I want to say tonight happened because we didn't have our ultimate leader and calming presence, but then, we've done this with Z and/or D in the lineup.

He was pissed, for several reasons. It was beautiful.

Lots of good to take from this game. I don't think the 3rd period collapse was due to the old problems of 'we stopped playing' or similar. We simply have Franzen, Helm and Alfie who all have just come back from injury and look like they haven't quite gotten their legs back. They looked very tired. Gustavsson had a backup-goalie like performance, which is what can be expected from a backup-goalie. And we still should have won it. A wrongfully disallowed goal, inches away from winning in OT despite a missed 4-minute penalty, and a coin-toss shootout loss is not worrying to me.

This is starting to look like a team. We're producing offense from everywhere.

And we're only 3 points back from 3rd in the division, with 2 games in hand. Pav should be close. Z is hopefully not out long. We're going to be fine.

[RedWingsRox 614]

Won't lie, that was a hard one to lose with 6 mins left up 4-2 ... wasn't epic game 7 loss like Toronto to Boston bad but still ...

Only thing I can attribute it to is that we're missing Z and Dats, the 2 veteran leaders on the ice ... kids panicked after 4-3?

Sorry to say but it's going to be like this all the way to game 82 ... hovering around 7th, 8th, or 9th spot in the standings. Just hope that when it is all said and done, we don't break the 22 year streak.

[Wheelchairsuperhero 1,453]

Refs were atrocious this game. I knew once that goal was called back it would end up costing us. Feel like I've seen it before...

[brett 1,029]

yeah wings really need to learn how to close out a game. learn the trap

[unsaddleddonald 357]

It's not even the point, or anything to do with the Panthers themselves. It's the fact that we blew a virtually guaranteed win the way we did, and that we've done it ten times this season. Inexcusable.

This.

It takes a choke job to lose with a 2 goal lead that late in a period.

[DickieDunn 2,571]

Pissed how they lost. Kid line was great but didn't play nearly enough. Cleary goes from scratched to a ton of ice time. Gustavsson is not that good. Ton of goals against lately.

Happy with the last few games overall.

[unsaddleddonald 357]

Cleary ~ 51 games ~ 4 goals ~ 4 assists ~ 8 points ~ minus 9 rating

Sheahan ~ 12 games ~ 3 goals ~ 5 assists ~ 8 points ~ plus 3 rating (no penalties in 12 games)

Babcock keeps saying the players dictate who plays, who gets the ice time. If that is true, then I guess the players know who is going down to GR….or do they? Would sending Cleary down not free up enough cap space to keep Sheahan up? If so, then the decision is very simple.

It will be a cold day in Hell when Mike Babcock and Ken Holland decide to waive Dan Cleary.

[Z Winged Dangler 2,082]

It will be a cold day in Hell when Mike Babcock and Ken Holland decide to waive Dan Cleary.

I'll grab my jacket and wait.

[Dabura 12,206]

Give DeKeyser Ouellet in place of Quincey and our D is much different.

As much as I like Ouellet and hate Quincey as a Red Wings defenseman (not a person. He actually seems like a really good guy), I wouldn't expect much of a difference from that trade off. If anything, I could see it being worse. XO's a stud, a future top-four defenseman in this league - but he's also a first-year AHLer. If he's gonna be in the top four (especially in high-pressure, high-stakes situations like tonight's third period, where the opposition is pressing relentlessly and forcing turnovers in our zone), I'd want him partnered with, well, Shea Weber.

I'd say the real difference tonight was probably Brian Campbell. It wasn't necessarily obvious, but he really beared down in the third, quarterbacked the comeback. I wonder how much his familiarity with the Wings has helped the Panthers against us this season.

[MabusIncarnate 5,344]

Cleary wearing the A in games this season speaks volumes how they feel about him as a player and locker room presence. He's gonna stick around at least for the remainder of this year, it's a reality that needs to be accepted. We as fans may not agree but the coaches and managers that run the team have their reasoning.