Pre-emptive Postgame: Red Wings @ Canadiens – 1/25

I’m not going to waste the rest of my night watching the Red Wings put in zero effort in Montreal so I’m writing my postgame thoughts up in the middle of the second period.

It’s not the lack of Nicklas Lidstrom that has Detroit looking this bad. Missing Lidstrom doesn’t cause Jimmy Howard to screw up on the third and fourth goals against. Missing Lidstrom doesn’t cause Niklas Kronwall to pinch in on that third goal. It doesn’t cause some of the stupid penalties.

If you want to say this is what Life After Lidstrom will look like, remember that the Red Wings aren’t going to replace Lidstrom with Mike Commodore when he retires. They’re going to take Lidstrom’s salary and put it towards another top defnseman. No, it won’t be an even trade, but it won’t be the lineup we see tonight.

Tonight is an anomaly. Like the loss in Washington in October. A game to learn from, of course, but hardly a reset of the status quo.