Wings vs Oilers

During the 2nd half of Wings' game last night, they played like reigning Stanley Cup finalists. Unfortunately, during the 1st half, they were the '09 Detroit Red Wings.

With dreadful defense and even worse goaltending, the Wings allowed Edmonton to jump out to a 4-0 lead. Edmonton needed just 42 seconds to open the scoring. The Wings had 4 straight minutes of power play to try to equalize, but they could hardly earn a scoring chance. They did get one goal back to end the first period, but Edmonton came out in the 2nd and scored to take a commanding 5-1 lead.

Jimmy Howard did not look strong in net. In fact, he played like perhaps the worst starting goalie in the NHL. He's shown flashes of aptitude, but more often than not he's underperformed. A few more shaky starts like this, and the Wings should waive him. I can't totally blame the defense because Edmonton only managed 29 shots. Most teams would give average about 2-3 goals against on 29 shots. Not 5. Yet, that's what the Red Wings are right now - a very porous team.

To their credit, they battled back. In impressive fashion they erased the four-goal deficit. New signing Patrick Eaves scored the tying goal with about 7 minutes left. At times, they looked like a dominant, elite team. But it wasn't enough. They're just not good enough to battle back from four goals down - not many teams can.

With such a dramatic comeback, this game felt much like a win. Yet, it's difficult to pin this team down. Eleven games into the season, they've only won four. That's not the Red Wings standard. I was hoping this squad would compete for the Cup for one more season. Then Lidstrom can retire and the rebuilding can begin. It may still happen, but they've got to shore up the goaltending. And right quick.