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A disappointing start for the Red Wings

MiHockey Staff

By Michael Caples –

It didn’t take long for the party to come to a screeching halt.

Just six days removed from their first post-lockout practice, the Red Wings opened their 2013 season in St. Louis, and were thoroughly beaten by their Central Division rival.

Rookie Vladimir Tarasenko scored 6:36 into the first period, and 29 seconds into the second period, to lead St. Louis to a convincing 6-0 win over Detroit Saturday night at the Scottrade Center.

“Well we weren’t any good,” coach Mike Babcock said after the game to Fox Sports Detroit’s Trevor Thompson. “They were much more competitive from start to finish than we were, they got in behind our d several times, we made some mistakes for freebies, gave up a shorthanded goal, gave up power-play goals that weren’t even power-play goals, they were just breakdowns on our part. I thought we had a really good camp, I thought we were competitive camp, and we came in here and we weren’t good at all. They were better from start to finish. You have to give them credit, and we obviously have to get regrouped, because we didn’t skate good enough, we didn’t execute good enough, we didn’t have any team play, we just weren’t good enough.”

The Blues held the Red Wings to only two shots on goal during the first period of play – a first period in which they scored as many goals as the visitors had shots.

It didn’t get much better in the second period, as the Wings managed only five shots on goal.

St. Louis also won the special-teams battle by a large margin; four of the team’s six goals came with the man-advantage, while T.J. Oshie scored a shorthanded goal, as well.

Jimmy Howard was replaced by Jonas Gustavsson 1:15 into the third period, after the Wings’ starter allowed five goals on 28 shots following many defensive miscues by the players in front of him.

Notes:

  • Jan Mursak left the game in the second period; if he is unable to return to the line-up, the young forward will join Darren Helm, Todd Bertuzzi and Jakub Kindl on the injured list.
  • The Red Wings took seven penalties, two of which were 10-minute misconducts. Both Jordin Tootoo and Johan Franzen were served lengthy time-outs in the third period.
  • The Blues went four-for-five on their power-play chances, while keeping the Red Wings off the scoresheet on four man-advantage opportunities.
  • Meanwhile, the Wings’ AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids scored 11 goals – a Griffins franchise record. Mitch Callahan had a hat trick, Jeff Hoggan had a goal and four assists, Joakim Andersson had a goal and three assists, Landon Ferraro had a goal and two assists, and Luke Glendening had three assists. The Griffins/IceHogs game also featured a bench-clearing brawl in the 11-6 thriller in Rockford, Illinois.