Detroit @ Washington, 7 p.m., Tuesday

[WingFanInA2]

I started a thread about Holl a couple weeks ago... how is he possibly worse than some of the other guys we play?
The only good thing about Gost is he kept Seider's PP numbers down a bit, which should help at contract time,

Kinda like choosing between having projectile vomit or projectile diarrhea.. neither option is good.

[cska91]

I think this collapse is on Yzerman. How hard was it to bring in another goaltender, knowing that Husso was out? Yzerman spoke about having better players to call up than those available at the deadline. Then, he called up Berggren and sat him in the press box. He had no goalie that he could call up. Devils picked up Allen for a 3rd round pick, and he has been amazing for them. That's what the Wings needed. Small price to pay, to have some depth in net. Brutal...

The team still needs work defensively. They have defensive lapses... the entire team needs to put in more work on D. However, the difference is that goaltending made up for a lot of those lapses in February. Lyon has been pedestrian in March, and that's been the difference. They have nobody to replace them with... and now they will miss the playoffs, after all the hard work that was put into the season. It's disappointing.

Lyon is no longer getting the goal support that made him look good in many of those wins. That is most of the difference in these low scoring affairs of late.

The two go hand in hand... offense builds confidence when there isn't pressure to make up goals. Goaltenders build confidence when offense provides a cushion. That said, Lyon has given up more than four goals per game in March (all losses). Things started to turn for him after the All-Star break. Before then, he was given up just over two and a half goals a game. That's a huge difference. That makes Capitals, Penguins and Sabres games into wins... adds six points in the standings, and the Wings are cruising into the final wild card spot, instead of flaming out.

[cska91]

I think this collapse is on Yzerman. How hard was it to bring in another goaltender, knowing that Husso was out? Yzerman spoke about having better players to call up than those available at the deadline. Then, he called up Berggren and sat him in the press box. He had no goalie that he could call up. Devils picked up Allen for a 3rd round pick, and he has been amazing for them. That's what the Wings needed. Small price to pay, to have some depth in net. Brutal...

The team still needs work defensively. They have defensive lapses... the entire team needs to put in more work on D. However, the difference is that goaltending made up for a lot of those lapses in February. Lyon has been pedestrian in March, and that's been the difference. They have nobody to replace them with... and now they will miss the playoffs, after all the hard work that was put into the season. It's disappointing.

How is Allen’s slapper? You get goose egged multiple times in the past couple of weeks, kinda hard to win no matter how good your goaltending is. I’m glad we didn’t buy at the deadline, I would rather we sold some parts off. This team isn’t good enough to spend draft capital just to get blasted in the first round.

I’ll agree the goaltending isn’t good but this team isn’t good defensively or really offensively either.

I am also glad the Wings didn't buy at the deadline. I am on record that I would have liked some spare parts, like Perron, Sprong and Gostisbehere to have been traded. However, buying doesn't have to be extreme, mortgage the future type buying. Goaltending was relatively cheap at the deadline. To give a third round pick for a goalie like Allen, and help the team's development progress, is a small price to pay.

Getting blown out in the first round is still playoff experience, which most of the core players in the lineup have none of. I am not so quick to dismiss the opportunity to get some.

[cska91]

I think this collapse is on Yzerman. How hard was it to bring in another goaltender, knowing that Husso was out? Yzerman spoke about having better players to call up than those available at the deadline. Then, he called up Berggren and sat him in the press box. He had no goalie that he could call up. Devils picked up Allen for a 3rd round pick, and he has been amazing for them. That's what the Wings needed. Small price to pay, to have some depth in net. Brutal...

The team still needs work defensively. They have defensive lapses... the entire team needs to put in more work on D. However, the difference is that goaltending made up for a lot of those lapses in February. Lyon has been pedestrian in March, and that's been the difference. They have nobody to replace them with... and now they will miss the playoffs, after all the hard work that was put into the season. It's disappointing.

I think it's deeper than goaltending. Roster has improved, but team defense is exactly where it was last season. The coaching staff has failed to come up with a viable defensive strategy fit for the roster Yzerman has built. Team defense relies on shot-blocking and line match-ups. Lalonde hasn't made ANY adjustments to fix defensive mistakes that keep happening every single game. He's either as stubborn as Babcock or he's just a mouthpiece who has no idea how to evaluate players and created strategies based on their strengths/weaknesses.

I actually agree. It's deeper than goaltending. But good goaltending is the quickest fix to all of those issues you named. The Wings rode a hot goalie to an unexpected record and a playoff birth at the All-Star break. That's why I thought Lyon was team MVP at the break. But Lyon has a history of running hot and cold, and we all knew there was nobody behind him. Yet, Yzerman decided he had better players in the AHL that he can call up.

[cska91]

I think this collapse is on Yzerman. How hard was it to bring in another goaltender, knowing that Husso was out? Yzerman spoke about having better players to call up than those available at the deadline. Then, he called up Berggren and sat him in the press box. He had no goalie that he could call up. Devils picked up Allen for a 3rd round pick, and he has been amazing for them. That's what the Wings needed. Small price to pay, to have some depth in net. Brutal...

The team still needs work defensively. They have defensive lapses... the entire team needs to put in more work on D. However, the difference is that goaltending made up for a lot of those lapses in February. Lyon has been pedestrian in March, and that's been the difference. They have nobody to replace them with... and now they will miss the playoffs, after all the hard work that was put into the season. It's disappointing.

I think it's deeper than goaltending. Roster has improved, but team defense is exactly where it was last season. The coaching staff has failed to come up with a viable defensive strategy fit for the roster Yzerman has built. Team defense relies on shot-blocking and line match-ups. Lalonde hasn't made ANY adjustments to fix defensive mistakes that keep happening every single game. He's either as stubborn as Babcock or he's just a mouthpiece who has no idea how to evaluate players and created strategies based on their strengths/weaknesses.

I think there is plenty of blame to go around. Yzerman hasn't put together a great roster, just good enough to be fringe playoff level, which is the worst possible situation. For the most part, he players have not lived up to expectations (or in the case of Holl and Petry, unfortunately lived up to expectations). Lalonde hasn't done a good job in working with this roster, putting systems together that work, adapting, and especially motivating the team. The easiest change is to fire Lalonde and I hope that happens in the off-season.

I don't think Lalonde gets fired in the off-season. There were no playoff expectations that were publicly stated. The team was overachieving. Besides, even it is on Lalonde (and I agree that he really hasn't shown much by way of building a system and adapting to teams), he was Yzerman's choice. That said, I still think there was an easy way to avoid it or at least have some insurance by simply trading a mid-round pick for another decent goaltender.

The acquisitions for Petry, Holl, and Reimer seem particularly disgusting and stupid right about now.