If we know anything about Red Wings coach Mike Babcock, it's that he is constantly preaching to his team to start on time.
After the Wings' last two games -- road losses to Ottawa and in overtime to the Rangers -- Babcock is again stressing to his team to start on time in tonight's game against the New Jersey Devils at The Joe.
"I've seen a few slow moments over the last two games," Babcock said. "We turned the puck over seven times in the first 10 minutes the other night (in New York) and it was way too many in Ottawa I couldn't count. You're going to have some games like that.
"You can't start behind the eight ball."
While Tuesday's loss against Ottawa could be chalked up as just 'one of those games,' Babcock was asked about his team's resiliency due to their knack for staging dramatic comebacks, and salvaging at least one point.
"Resiliency is a great thing, but what that really means is you have the ability. If you can be resilient you can start on time," Babcock mused. "Let's get ready, take care of the puck and play the right way.
"We have to do a better job on line changes and we have to take care of the puck way better."
Babcock admires this Devils team and believes that the Wings must break some recently acquired bad habits in order to defeat the Devils.
"I like their team, they're well organized, their backend really shoots the puck, they play fast," he said. "They're a good team."
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