I have a good friend in town this weekend and I've been tasked to make his girlfriend like hockey. No mountain I can't climb, and I've done this kind of thing before. Maybe I'm missing my calling... how much would you pay to have a seasoned professional come teach your girlfriend about hockey?

Hit the jump if you're awesome... and you know you are.

First game all year that the Red Wings controlled the play from start to finish and the result was a 2-1 win over the Oilers. If Edmonton was going to win this game it was going to be with the power play, but Detroit's PK was very good. Wings also dominated the faceoffs which prevented the Oilers from starting many man advantages in Detroit's zone.

More after the jump:

Ah to be a Red Wings fan. To be a member of the Order, and belong to one of the most despised sub-cultures on the planet. Hated in the hockey world like Yankees fans in baseball, Cowboys fans in the NFL, Notre Dame fans in the NCAA level and loving every damn minute of it.

I always look to our undying spirit yet unreasonably high expectations as a function of the sustained success we have enjoyed over the past 20 years. A score of consecutive playoff appearances, where 1 score is equal to 1 Nicklas Lidstrom playing career.

It has also been pointed out that these expectations to win make us bratty, arrogant, and the reward of consistent success has given us an entitlement complex. Sure has. But like I say, we love every damn minute of it.

Things are different this season. We are not the powerhouse we used to be, we have seen declining defensive statistics in Nick’s latter years take off with his retirement. Offensively, we cannot seem to make people pay for taking dumb penalties against us the way we used to. The Big Red Machine is human afterall, it seems, and vulnerable. And we are scared.

Sure, Jimmy sat... but it's time to show he's more than the tired goalie we saw 2 games ago.  He's survived the slings are arrows thrown his way.  Mrazek played amazing, but Jimmy can still crank it up.  He's hungry... and nothing's going to stop him from taking this game away from the Oilers.  

LGRW

Post By Franklin Steele: 

The Wings just caved in the collective faces of the Blues for the second consecutive time since the opening night fiasco (that's my punk band name for the week... nailed it) and I should be pretty stoked about the final score of 5-1. Petr Mrazek played very well, but there is one moment that stands out to me from this game.

Emmerton's goal was huge.  Maybe the biggest of the season so far. .

After Danny Cleary finally got the bottom six on the board early, there was a lot of talk about monkeys and backs and... well, a lot of it kind of made me uncomfortable. While the monkeyback-obsession goal from Cleary sparked all the chatter, it was Emmerton and his nifty move that really set a fire on the Detroit bench.

As far as I know, no monkey were harmed in the barn burner that occurred in St. Louis tonight.

Jump it for more:

Well, clearly the Red Wings players read the blogs since they obviously knew we were pissed at them. No, I’m kidding. The coaches coached and the players played and that was all it took to take down the Blues tonight.

I don’t know if the Wings played harder for the sake of Mrazek, but they proved once again that they’re capable of beating good hockey teams. Not just winning, either. They kicked the Blues’ asses tonight from start to finish. Will they play that way over the weekend? That’s up to them.

Mrazek played really well tonight. Hard to believe he was playing junior hockey less than a year ago. As in, people got laid the night he played his last game in the OHL and the children that resulted from that are still in the hospital as he beats the Blues. NOHS: Come for the hockey, stay for the weird analogies!

Full recap after the jump:

Gotta run, so this will be quick.  Here's the Josh Howard's gameday poster: 

Zetterberg has been one of our best and most consistent forwards so far.  He showed exactly why HE is the captain last Friday.  If the rest of the team can't get the job done, he's willing to take matters into his own hands.  Go get em Zetta.

LGRW. 

It's hard to be optimistic after watching the Wings play the last two games, but as true Wings fans we need to stop complaining and tune in. There is no doubt in my mind that they can't turn things around, they have the talent, its just finding the right combinations to go along with smart play.

Click for more.

Guest Post by Franklin Steele:

Petr Mrazek should start in net for the Detroit Red Wings when they take on the St. Louis Blues tonight. I don't know an awful lot about the young netminder, but I do know this one fact. It should be him and not Howard to take on the central division rivals in action this evening.

The Red Wings earned all of the zero points they got last night. Calgary came ready to play and Detroit did not. Really, this game was just a replay of the Columbus game from Saturday night. Nothing positive will be said in this post, so if you’re not into that sort of thing, might want to skip this one.

Some brutal honesty after the jump: