Detroit was a greatly improved team on Friday, after getting thrashed [pun intended] a few nights before. It was undoubtedly a better defensive effort, however not without its faults. Fact is, Jimmy needed to be outstanding to take the victory. That was mainly because his opponent Steve Mason, was just as prolific as the two young goalies combined for 64 saves with only 3 goals allowed.
Whether or not those two men will start the second game of the home-and-home remains to be seen. For Detroit, Howard has played a lot of games of late and could definitely use a break with a hectic December right around the corner. For the Jackets, while Steve Mason's thrid-star performance was encouraging, back-up netminder Mathieu Garon has had the best start to a season in his career and could help Scott Arniel solve the Red Wings and get back within striking distance of top spot in the Western Conference.
So back to my opening statement in which I expressed concern for the outcome of this match.
I'm still not very pleased with Detroit's performances of late and what I saw of Columbus impressed me greatly. For some reason the Blue Jackets have had great success on the road this year, and I feel they'll be a very determined team heading into the Joe. If the Red Wings cannot match this determination, they'll surely be beaten. I only take solace in the fact that they won Friday's game by the skin of their teeth. A wide margin would surely result in Detroit's patented complacency that kills them in so many winnable games. Also, Detroit sucks before 7pm. I don't know why, but ever since I could remember the Winged Wheel has seemed to struggled in daytime or twilight scheduled games.
It's not all doom and gloom though. At the end of the day, the Wings won without any offense from their top 3 scorers Lidstrom, Zetterberg and Datsyuk. They also spent a good portion of the first half of the game short-handed without any ill-effects. With this in mind, there's a lot more good that could happen to help them pick up two points in this one.
It's an important two points up for grabs in my opinion. Our boys might be sitting in a pleasant position right now, but it's been a pretty leisurely schedule so far. December's schedule is flat out with several road trips, it'll be terribly difficult to maintain .750pt%. Let's get 'er done while we can!
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