Detroit Red Wings Will Be Just Fine, As Long As They Follow Lidstrom

Being a leader is a tricky thing.

Often, the leader of a group, team, or organization will be the right guy (or gal) at one time, and the wrong person at others.

Sometimes, the organization changes to an extent that the person at the top no longer recognizes the ways in which he or she can effectively lead it.

This season, the Detroit Red Wings have gone through quite a bit of change and myriad challenges none could have predicted. 

The Detroit Red Wings of 2009-10 hardly resemble any other club by the same name in seasons past.

However, when it comes to the business of leading the team through these tough times and into the playoffs, Nick Lidstrom is still the best man for the job.

On Thursday night, Lidstrom ended a personal worst 42-game goal-scoring drought.As he has so many times in his 18-year career, Lidstrom fired a laser of a shot from the blueline on a power play, which beat Carolina goalie Cam Ward high on the glove side.

As the team's captain and best defenseman, the pressure for him to not only score, but score often and on the power play, was enormous.

When he finally saw that puck go in for the first time since October, did he scream with relief or tug at the shoulder of his jersey making the "weight has been lifted" signal?

No.

His reaction to his first goal in over 40 games was a mildly energetic fist pump, a glove tap to teammates and a crack of a smile before quickly getting back to the bench and focusing on his next shift.

That's how he reacts to ending the longest scoring drought of his career.

If still waters run deep, Nick Lidstrom must be the human equivalent of Loch Ness.

In that moment, he demonstrated how his entire team needs to behave while stuck square in the middle of their worst season in 20 years: when things start going your way, enjoy it, but get right back to work.

So far, it looks like this is an attitude the rest of the team has yet to acquire.

Detroit has had a few three game win streaks this season, but that's the longest they've gone before suffering yet another loss.

Most recently, they fell 0-6 to the Islanders after coming back from a very successful West Coast road trip that saw them beat playoff bound teams Phoenix, L.A. and San Jose.

The Red Wings didn't win these games because the other teams were bad, but because the Wings were more focused, worked harder and played smarter.

Essentially, all the things they didn't do when they faced the Islanders.

Last year, the lackadaisical effort and poor defensive play they put on display against Long Island wouldn't have been much of an issue, as the Red Wings would have simply scored their way out of trouble.

This year's Wings ain't last year's Wings.

While a match between the Islanders and Wings last year would have been a comparison of polar opposites, this year, they were separated by a measly six points to start the game, reduced to four by the time it was over.

The Wings had been winning, and winning well, and it appeared that they were a bit too happy with themselves, when they faced off against a very hungry and determined Islanders team.

Though Lidstrom has been utterly snake-bit this whole season, his game has not changed, his determination has not wavered and he has not lost an iota of the composure that has defined his entire career.

Now that he's off the shneid, will we see a content, sloppy, unfocused Nick Lidstrom take the ice over the next few games?

Hardly.

Throughout the entirety of his career, Nick Lidstrom has been nothing but a symbol of icy calm and quiet consistency, game in and game out.

Maintaining an even keel, be it in the face of prolonged frustration or when everything is going your way, is exactly what the Red Wings will need to do for the rest of the season if they have designs on playing beyond April 11.

Finding a perfect model to pattern themselves after is an easy task.

They need only to look to their captain.