Wings woes continue in West

Detroit is 0 for Canada so far this trip, with one more stop in their westward journey scheduled for Edmontonn on Tuesday night.

Detroit showed some jump and feistiness on Saturday night; however most of it was in the pre game warm up which featured a fencing match and some pushing and shoving along the centre ice line.

During game time however, the Canucks took charge of the play and backed up with another stellar game from Roberto Luongo they collected their fourth straight win a 4 to 1 victory that helps the Canucks move forward in the Northwest division and western conference.

The Wings once again struggled to regain their overpowering form of only a month ago, though they have been hobbled by a string of injuries that has depleted their roster and taxed the remaining players quite a bit.

However, putting aside the injury troubles, there are some signs from their play that surely must be a growing concern for GM Ken Holland, who with the trade deadline looming, may wish to make a few moves if for no other reason than to shake up his lethargic squad.

Goaltending has suddenly become a worry, with Domenic Hasek still out due to injury and Chris Osgood carrying the bulk of the load and having struggled since the all star break, the task of stopping the Canucks fell to rookie Jimmy Howard.

While the loss certainly couldn’t be pegged on his play, he was certainly not the equal of Luongo on this night, as the Vancouver goaltender once again was pivotal to the Canucks success.

The injury refrain is one that the Canucks have learned well this season, having had a number of slumps due to dwindling strength on the bench; they are still without key players on their roster but have of late been able to count on the maturing skills of their rookies to get back in the race.

And that is really where the two teams have gone on different paths at the moment; the Canucks with a few wins are playing with much more confidence and have come to rely on the youngsters to help them move forward. The Wings suddenly look very tentative and appearing to show that the loss of some of their veteran leaders is an insurmountable challenge.

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Dave Nonis is still said to be pondering his options for Tuesday’s trade deadline, though the urgency that was running rampant in Vancouver two weeks ago probably isn’t quite as obvious now.

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Holland for his part may need to make some phone calls on Tuesday, looking to bring in some confidence boosters for what seemed like a runaway winner as recently as Christmas and now by Easter may be a lost looking crew seeking a direction for success that is eluding them at the moment.

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Canadian Press--Canucks win fourth in a row

Vancouver Sun--Canucks trounce Detroit 4-1

Vancouver Province--Vancouver surges to fourth straight win

CBC Sports--Canucks cruise to fourth straight win

Detroit Free Press--Wings lose in scrumfest, but Howard, depleted blue line play admirably

Detroit News--Wings fall; McCarty gets offer

Red Wing slide continues in Calgary

With his name prominently featured of late in the headlines as a possible trade candidate, Alex Tanguay has suddenly become a scoring force again for the Calgary Flames.

Friday night, he once again provided a key goal, the only one in fact as the Flames edge a weary and shell shocked looking Detroit Red Wings team 1-0.

The wings who have lost five of their last six, have been struggling immensely in the last few games, unable to score the key goal to change a games momentum and more likely than not to surrender one at a most inopportune moment.

Tanguay’s goal won’t be one for the highlight reels, but in a portion of the season when every goal counts and can make a difference between two points or one or none, it was probably a thing of beauty to coach Mike Keenan.

The Calgary goal was more than enough to keep the Wings at bay as Miikka Kiprusoff recorded the 29th goal of his career, turning aside all of the Red Wings shots, including a third period barrage which saw the Wings fire 13 shots at Kipruoff, while the Flames could only register two of their own in the final twenty minutes.

The Wings arrived in Calgary for their western swing without the services of their captain and leader Niklas Lidstrom, who will be out of action now for three, four or more weeks, after suffering a knee injury earlier this week in a game with the Avalanche. He may find some company on the injured list from Chris Chelios, who left the game after taking a shot on the back of the legs, it wasn't disclosed Friday, how serious the injury was or if it will keep Chelio out of action for any length of time.

The Wings now move on to Vancouver now, a team which like Calgary has turned things around over the last two weeks or so, currently on a winning streak of their own and featuring the always ready Roberto Luongo in the nets.

Scoring which never has been a problem in recent Red Wing teams is suddenly a lost art, while wins likewise seem on the endangered species list. The western road swing is normally a carnival like thing for the visiting American teams, they spend three games in hockey mad cities, where the game is front and centre.

This time around the story the read isn’t about an invincible red machine from the Motor City, but rather a struggling group of players who seem to have lost a bit of their swagger as they slide down the Western conference standings.

While the start may be a little late for the western Canada teams, the potential to move into the upper reaches of the Western conference is looking more possible as the conference leaders struggle through a horrible February.

Calgary Herald--Flames blank Lidstrom-less Red Wings

CBC Sports--Kiprusoff, Flames blank Red Wings

National Post--Flames blank Red Wings

M Live--Red Wings lose game, another defenseman