Postgame Thoughts: Blue Jackets at Red Wings, 1/18

Well, that was something.

I was all ready to talk about what an ugly third period the Red Wings had this afternoon and how much it looked like last season’s Red Wings.  They got pinned down, they didn’t control anything, and they allowed two quick goals.  It was bad.

That is going to happen this season.  Just because this Detroit team looks better on paper doesn’t mean they’re all that good and some of the issues from last season are bound to carry into this season.  It’s not the end of the world as long as we temper our expectations.

Then the final minutes of the third period happened and I got all riled up.

The scoresheet will show a false-hope goal by Bobby Ryan with 57 seconds left and a bunch of fighting penalties at the same time.  It will not show that that goal was first emphatically waved off and had to be allowed via video review.

After years of goals being called back due to Tomas Holmstrom being within 50 feet of the goal, this kind of thing is a trigger for me.  The idea that the refs can be so emphatic, so sure of what they saw, only for the video to show that they didn’t actually see that, and then they just get to carry on like they didn’t botch it and only get saved by review.

Ken and Mick like to talk about how officials have a hard job and they get most of the calls right, and it’s true, but no one is talking about the line changes that Marc Staal got right today, just the one he was slow on that led directly to a goal against.  We talk about player screw-ups, we talk about coaching screw-ups, we should talk about officiating screw-ups, too.

Of course, that goal was, as I said, a false-hope goal.  Neither it, nor how it happened, mattered in the end.

Positives…

Two more goals from Bobby Ryan, on top of the one he scored on Saturday night.  I’m giddy thinking about what he might bring back at the trade deadline if he keeps this up.

I thought Michael Rasmussen looked decent centering the second line for much of the game.  Certainly not great, but a sign that he still has some upside.  That said, his demotion late in the third when the Wings were pressing to get back into it was absolutely the right decision.

I think Thomas Greiss looked good.  He’s winless as a Red Wing but that feels more like the team in front of him than the goalie himself.  It wouldn’t make me feel better if I were him but I’m not so I can silver-lining it.

Negatives…

Looking like last year’s Red Wings.  Like I said, it’s going to happen, we should expect it.  But, ugh, it’s still painful to see.