A few hours before his team took the ice on Saturday against
the Nashville Predators, Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock made a telling
statement.
"Right now, their lineup probably is deeper than our lineup,'' he said.
That's not supposed to happen to the Red Wings, who annually rank among NHL's
highest in payroll and has represented the gold standard in the league over the
last 15 years, winning four Stanley Cups. That's especially true when measured
against an opponent that ranks in the bottom five in payroll, even if it's one
of the league's more competitive and well managed franchises.
Injuries can strike any team and lately they have taken a heavy toll on the
mighty Red Wings' descent. Just a few weeks ago, Detroit was celebrating the
longest home winning streak in NHL history and held the top overall record in
the league.
Entering Wednesday’s game at Anaheim, Detroit has lost four out of five and is
3-6-1 over its last 10, falling to the fourth spot in the Western Conference. Meanwhile,
those same Predators are nipping at their heels, just two points behind Detroit
for second in the Central Division. Nashville, fifth in the West, holds a game
in hand and with only 13 games remaining (11 for Detroit after Wednesday’s
game), the next few weeks could determine which team has home-ice advantage for
a potential first-round playoff series.
Perhaps not coincidentally, Detroit's 3-6-1 slide has occurred with center
Pavel Datsyuk, considered by some the best all-around forward in the league,
out after having a procedure on his knee. Nicklas Lidstrom, the seven-time and
reigning Norris Trophy winner as the NHL's best defenseman, has missed seven in
a row. Power forward Todd Bertuzzi has missed four straight and starting goalie
Jimmy Howard just returned on Tuesday in a 5-2 loss to Los Angeles after
missing three in a row. Defenseman Jonathan Ericsson has missed seven in a row.
That’s enough to take the starch out of any team.
"I mean, our record's not even close, so reality is we haven't done good
enough,'' Babcock said. "But we’ve battled hard.''
He praised the team for not giving up too many shots on journeyman goalie Joey
MacDonald, who was not called up from the minors until Feb. 4, but has done a
good job of keeping Detroit competitive.
"So we’re not an offensive machine, but we're hanging in there and we're
battling hard to try and help our goaltender out,'' Babcock said. "I think
we've done a pretty good job in that area.''
Where Detroit has truly hurt itself is on the power play. The Wings have gone
six consecutive games without a power play goal, an 0-for-24 stretch. The
Wings' unit has fallen to No. 22 in the league despite the continued presence
of three players who already have hit the 20-goal plateau — Jiri Hudler, Johan
Franzen and Valtteri Filppula — and a fourth, Henrik Zetterberg, whose 41
assists tie him for 12th in the league.
After Saturday's 3-2 loss to the Predators, defenseman Ian White was at a loss
to explain it.
"The difference tonight, as it has been for quite a few nights, is special
teams,'' said White, whose 10 power-play points have been helpful contribution
this season. "We're moving it around pretty good, getting a couple good
looks, but for some reason we're just not getting the goals.''
Said Babcock: "To me, we have enough skill and enough understanding of how
to play, so we have to be better in that area for sure.''
While the outlook remains unsettling right now — especially Detroit's 16-19-1
road record this season, which has been exacerbated by three consecutive road
losses -- a silver lining looms for the Red Wings. Howard, with 33 wins under
his belt despite missing 11 games with various injuries, already is back and
probably just needs time to play his way back into form. Datsyuk has begun
skating and could return relatively soon.
"We’re going to get guys back eventually here,'' Babcock said. "If
you can get through this what it does, you think about Howard, Datsyuk and
Lidstrom, really that's our top goalie, our top (defenseman) and our top
forward. They've been freshened up. And anyone who's been involved knows what a
grind it can be and so that can be a real positive thing. At the same time,
though, you don't want to lose ground. You want to keep getting better.''
Babcock thinks other players have benefited from having more responsibility in
different situations and having to play more of a leadership role, No. 2
defenseman Nicklas Kronwall in particular.
"Kronwall’s really had to step up for us and I think that’s
important," Babcock said. "It’s probably good for Zetterberg and
(Filppula) in some ways. The guys have been excellent, so I think those
opportunities are important.''
Nonetheless, the Wings know the playoffs are right around the corner and don’t
want to back in.
"It's never fun, never easy to lose but we put ourselves in a good spot by
playing so good at home,'' White said. "We got a couple games left here,
good road trip. Try to get things clicking for playoffs.''
That road trip concludes Saturday in San Jose.
As he noted last Saturday before playing Nashville that his team was probably
outmanned, Babcock had a simple, positive message for his team.
"Who cares?'' he said. "There’s only one puck. Let's play.''
