Morning After: Red Wings – Bruins

That was fun.

I’m not saying that Detroit’s 6-5 shootout win over Boston was good, it was just a lot of fun to watch.

I keep mentally comparing the Boston game with the Montreal game.  Both were wins, much-needed points against division rivals.

Against Montreal, the Red Wings locked things down.  Detroit was strong defensively and Jared Coreau was stellar when challenges got through.  But it wasn’t necessarily fun to watch.  It was good to see the Wings play a game like that, but it wasn’t exciting.

Against Boston, the Wings started horribly.  They looked awful in that first period.  Mike Green’s giveaway leading to the shorthanded goal really represented the whole 20 minutes.  Then they took control.  Petr Mrazek looked great.  They moved the puck well.  They got some great scoring chances.  They were still sloppy defensively, though, which bit them in the ass on the fifth goal.  They looked like they had a chance, though.

I mean, this should come as no surprise.  Scoring chances are exciting.  Bad defense (by both teams) can lead to scoring chances.  So the well-played Montreal game is less exciting than the sloppy Boston game.

I focus on these two games because, even with the three-game winning streak, I don’t see the Red Wings making the playoffs this year.  That doesn’t mean good won’t come of the season.  There will be games where the team plays well and there will be games that are exciting.

I think that there’s a lot of talk out there that equates a rebuild (which the Wings can’t even really do anyway, given their contract situations) with years of bad, boring hockey.  I think it’s worth noting that it doesn’t have to be that way.  Even teams that miss the playoffs have good nights and it’s okay enjoy those in the midst of a losing season.