Wings Lose Seventh Straight

November 22, 2013

In 2002, the Detroit Red Wings set a team record that held for 12 years. That streak is not one of pride or power, but a streak that exemplifies poor play and a lack of productivity. Although the Wings have a seven game losing streak, this is something that players and coach Mike Babcock see as a positive thing, considering the last time this happened, they won Lord Stanley’s Cup.Detroit did not look bad defensively against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night, only allowing 25 shots on goaltender, Jimmy Howard. However, their offense was, yet again, not there. No goals were allowed on Nashville’s rookie goalie, Marek Mazanec.

“That was a huge goal,” Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. “We’re in Detroit and they’ve got guys like [Pavel] Datsyuk and [Henrik] Zetterberg. They’re dangerous.”

Zetterberg and Datsyuk were two Wings that challenged the young net-minder, shooting seven of Detroit’s 27 shots.

“He’s confident after seeing some of the best players in the world. When you start facing those guys on a regular basis, you’re going to feel a little bit more confident if you have success,” Trotz said.

While the Red Wings’ front end was slacking on Tuesday, the back end also took a massive blow. Approximately four minutes into the first period, the Wings’ young defenseman Danny DeKeyser, went down with what looked to be a simple injured shoulder, but it was not so clean a cut.

After tests were complete, DeKeyser was diagnosed with a separated shoulder, but it will does not require surgery. It looks as though the youngster will be out for the next three to six weeks and is currently listed on long-term injured reserve.

DeKeyser, who was taken from Western Michigan University as a junior, was brought into the NHL near the end of last season. This season, he has recorded two goals and seven assists in the first quarter of the season.

“You know he means a lot to this team,” Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. “He’s been one of our better players all season long. We’ll see how he is, and hopefully he’ll be back soon.”

With an injured DeKeyser and Kyle Quincey currently recording a negative twelve rating for the season, the Wings have to make some adjustments on defense. With one Stanley Cup, and training from one of the top goalies in NHL History, Chris Osgood, Jimmy Howard cannot be more frustrated than he is with his the young defensive core in front of him.

“It’s just a frustrating time for us right now,” Howard said. “It doesn’t seem like anything’s going our way out there, but you’ve got to go out there and work for your breaks. I don’t think it’s lack of trying or lack of effort. I think we’ve just got to dig in a little bit harder around the net and not squeeze our sticks so tight.

The Detroit Red Wings will play the 8-9-4 Carolina Hurricanes for the second time this season on Thursday, at 7:30 p.m.

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Information from the Detroit Red Wings was used in this report.

For more information on the Detroit Red Wings and NHL hockey from analysts and journalists at Michigan State University – tune into Octopi Hockeytown podcasts and embrace the Spartan debate at www.impact89fm.org/sports

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Austin Goodman is the host of Octopi Hockeytown for Impact Sports

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Scoring Summary:

1st Period:

No scoring recorded.

2nd Period:

NSH – 19:55 (PPG) – S. Weber (Slap) (D. Legwand)

3rd Period:

NSH – 7:13 – G. Bourque (Backhand) (V. Stalberg)

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Three Stars: