commentary...

the Red Wings have been very odd this season... they have won thirteen games in a row,as of this posting,at Joe Louis Arena,but can not seem to find the touch of winning,on the road,away from JLA,losing to teams that they simply should beat,and do it regularly... last season,they were the best road team in the NHL,and they have a chance to improve that record,this season... they beat Chicago,in overtime,the other night,3-2,then fall on their faces,in New York,and lose to the lowly Islanders,5-1(not to put down the Islanders,but they should be better than 14th in the Eastern Conference)... Red Wings are a balanced offensive team,and Jimmy Howard,is a stud in net,as goaltender,because every night it seems like someone different is chipping in to win,but then they seem like to be lost sheep,because they come up with efforts like the Islanders' game,which may have been the worst game that they have played,overall,this season,period... so i watch every game and still wonder what team i will see... tonight,for example,Pavel Datsyuk,and Henrik Zetterberg scored shootout goals(Zetterberg the winner)... Datsyuk won the game,with Chicago,in overtime,with a bank shot,off a Blackhawks' player,and into the net,from absolute zero angle,and how that puck went in was simply amazing... Zetterberg won the game,with Phoenix,tonight,with puck drag move,that basically left the goaltender,and Zetterberg sliding one way,the stick,and the puck being tapped in,on other side of net... Jiri Hudler,Valtteri Flippula,Johan Franzen,Niklas Kronwall,Ian White,and Nicklas Lidstrom have all been big parts of the team,this season,and the most valuable player of the team,so far,has to be Jimmy Howard,because without his stellar play in net,this team has no rudder,and yet the player that holds everything together,is Lidstrom... the seven-time Norris Trophy winner may be the best defenseman that it has been my honor,and pleasure to watch... he is not perfect,on the ice,but he makes so few mistakes that it seems like he does not play hard,but he leads by example,and at the end of night,he plays 23-25 minutes a game,and the guy he is defending all night becomes very frustrated,and has few good shifts on ice,because he covers him like a blanket,and then goes back on two on one rushes by other team,and very rarely gets burned by opponent's moves,because it seems like he simply knows what to do with stick,and opponent...