Detroit ran into the Avalanche buzzsaw Friday night in Colorado, and were defeated handedly 7-3.
The Wings’ struggles on the road all season not withstanding, the last two losses at St. Louis (6-2) and Colorado (7-3) were hard to watch. The defense has been poor, the goaltending has struggled and overall, the play has been sloppy. Ned was pulled going into the third period of the St. Louis game and Greiss didn’t make it through the first period against the Avs.. Yeesh.
The Avalanche were on another level on Friday. Anytime Detroit showed any sign of life on the scoreboard, Colorado responded immediately. Nathan MacKinnon can score from literally anywhere. Kuemper, after letting in a rather weak goal, locked things down. And it hit me in the feels to see Darren Helm scoring against his former team on a breakaway. They’ve scored 7 goals in 3 straight games, ok.. that’s pretty good.
Luckily we’ll see Tyler Bertuzzi back this week, looks like Tuesday against the Isles. And if my math is right, sometimes it is, Marc Staal should be back this week. Both players were placed on the COVID protocol. Need them both.
More luckily the Tuesday game against the New York Islanders is at home. The Wings are 4-9-1 away from LCA on the season, with only 1 win in their last 7 games on the road. Yeesh…
Shades of Rivalries Past
Yzerman/Sakic
Larionov/Forsberg
Red Wing Goalies (Osgood and Vernon)/Roy
McCarty/Lemieux
And So On…
Growing up as a Wings fan, the best hockey rivalry I got to see was the Wings/Avalanche in the mid-late 90s. Both teams were incredibly skilled. Hall of Famers and legends on both sides. When these teams met in the playoffs, the winner was the favorite to win the Cup, and often did. The survivor of the series, controlled the league and it wasn’t close. It was a truly f**k your team, f**k your city hated. Despite how amazing the Reverse Retro sweaters were for the Avs, I’m not sure I could bring myself to wear anything Colorado related…
Now no, the game last night was nothing in comparison to the classic Detroit/Colorado games. There were some questionable hits, a couple altercations and highly skilled goals but… just not the same… There have been some decent series since; Pittsburgh, Tampa, Nashville on Twitter.. but I miss the hate.
The video is just a glimpse.
All-Star Game Voting
Check out the Wings in the running to make the All Star Game.
Well deserved, all 3 of them. They should get plenty of votes.
Moritz Seider– 2 game winning goals in OT for the Wings this season. Does so much in the defensive zone that stays off the point sheet. Leads NHL rookies in ass. (actually tied with Zegras after his lacrosse/Michigan assist.. that finally will have me admit there is actually a race for the Calder with players involved who do not play for Detroit… maybe, I guess.)
Dylan Larkin– DBoss is the emotional leader of this team, no doubt. 10 goals, 12 assists on the year, including multiple OT winners.
Lucas Raymond – Top line forward. Leads his team and all rookie in points and goals. Playing out of his mind for his age… Compared to Steve Yzerman, often. As in “first rookie/teenager to ________ since Steve Yzerman.” Decent company there..
The Morning Skate 
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