Postgame: Red Wings @ Wild – 2/17

I’ll admit, this team confuses me. It’d be one thing if the Wings just didn’t show up for whole games. That could be explained away a little easier. Tonight, though, Detroit showed up for the first period and did a decent job of establishing themselves. Got a couple goals (okay, Datsyuk’s was early in the second, but still), made some things happen, limited the chances for the Wild.

And then they just stopped. Which is what I don’t understand, because it looks like a conscious decision. How do you take a style of play that’s working and just stop doing it?

Yeah, Minnesota adapted a bit but it’s not like the Wild just suddenly found a weakness in the Wings’ plan and started exploiting it. The Wings took 14 shots in the first period and followed it up with 17 for the rest of the game. It’s like they collectively stopped trying.

Yeah, individual players had different levels of effort, I’m sure you could point to someone like Tomas Tatar and say he never stopped trying. But even if he’d been able to, it’s not a good sign when a guy has to carry the team on his back.

I just don’t get it and I’ve got no words to try to explain it.