Defense Is To Blame For Red Wings Slide

Every team goes through a slump during the season but the Red Wings have picked the wrong time to start.  After maintaining a comfortable margin for third place in the Eastern Conferences Atlantic division for most of the season, the Wings find themselves just 3 points ahead of the wildcard teams in the push for the playoffs.

Since the trade deadline the Wings have been searching frantically for the mojo that has been with them all season. They are losers of four of their last six while leaving the door wide open for the surging Boston Bruins.  After Saturday’s 7-2 loss in Philadelphia, Captain Henrik Zetterberg is starting to feel a sense of urgency.

"“It’s too many games here now where the opposing teams are faster, stronger, from the start,” Henrik Zetterberg said. “We’re talking about it, we address it after games, but you’ve got to show it, too. Enough is enough.”“It’s almost like we’re hiding out there,” he said. “We’re a little afraid. We don’t want the puck. If you have it, you’d rather give it to somebody else, who doesn’t want it.“If we want to play in four weeks, we’ve got to make some changes.”"

But the Red Wings problem isn’t just starting on time but the ability to sustain concentration throughout the entire game.  Over the last couple the weeks the Red wings seem to fall asleep in their own zone, making errant passes in front of the net and setting goaltender Jimmy Howard up for disaster.

"“In fairness to our goaltender, our goaltender had nothing to do with it,” Babcock said. “We gave them four goals that were basically tap-ins, freebies. We weren’t good enough. If this isn’t an exclamation mark, I don’t know what is.”"

When they Red Wings play Pittsburgh on Sunday, Mrazek will be in net but Babcock made it clear to the media that the move is not a benching but more to give Jimmy Howard a rest after getting peppered against the flyers.

The schedule doesn’t get any easier as the Wings hit the road to face three straight Eastern Conference playoff contenders before returning home to face St. Louis.  A key stretch for the Wings who must start winning if they hope to hold off Boston and keep from sinking into a wild card spot.