Game 1: Red Wings Singing The Blues

Well, after writing last night that Ty Conklin was better than Chris Osgood in net for the Wings last regular season, Osgood did us all the favor of remind us why in Detroit’s season-opening 4-3 loss to St. Louis in Stockholm on Friday afternoon.

The Detroit netminder faced an ungodly barrage of shots (extreme sarcasm) against the Blues—23 shots to be exact—and let in four of them. That makes his save percentage for the season already a dismal .826. Yikes.

His opposite on Friday was Chris Mason, who showed agility and quickness with the glove, stymying multiple Red Wings with his handy glove work.  On one shot in particular in the third period, Mason saved what would have been the tying goal off Johan Franzen’s stick after some beautiful dekeing and a great pass from Pavel Datsyuk.

Despite all that, Detroit was the better team for the first half of the game. After going down a goal early, Kris Draper got some help from referee Bill McCreary (thanks, Bill!) on a screen and Jonathan Ericsson was there to clean up a rebound on a wide open net.

Then Kirk Maltby was there for a breakaway shorthanded goal, the 125th of his career. Red Wings fans have to love seeing that effort from the veteran. Follow that with an early second-period goal from Ville Leino on the power play, and it looked like Detroit was going to cruise to an easy victory.

That’s when the penalty kill reverted to last year’s form and Osgood coughed up the game. A scoreless third period sealed the deal for Detroit.

Of course, it’s not all bad. The Red Wings got three goals from people who aren’t expected to score every night. Johan Franzen played aggressive hockey and took a couple penalties. The Wings scored on the power play and shorthanded. Justin Abdelkader showed he’s worth a roster spot sooner than later. But in the end, the game goes down as a big, fat zero in the standings.

Five things:

1. Paul Kariya is still alive? Not only is the 34-year-old (he turns 35 in two weeks) still alive, but he scored the 2nd and 4th Blues goals, giving them the victory. Didn’t expect him to put two past Detroit today.
2. The Blues might be for real. I spent yesterday’s season preview talking about how Chicago would overcome Detroit in the Central Division, but I neglected to think St. Louis had any chance. One day into the season, it’s the Blues on top, and Mason looks like he’s going to continue his stellar play from the end of last year.
3. So much for the focus on defense. Four goals allowed is not going to win games for the Red Wings this year. With Ericsson leaving in the second period with an injury, the Wings’ remaining five defenders helped Osgood get rid of the game.
4. Where are the stars? Detroit goal scorers were Ericsson, Maltby and Leino. Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen and Tomas Holmstrom went pointless.
5. The problem with first impressions. New wings Todd Bertuzzi and Jason Williams had a combined six shots and little other impact on the game. Patrick Eaves was a healthy scratch.

Best of the Wings: Maltby. Along with his shorthanded goal, he earned an assist on Ericsson’s first goal. He was the only Detroit player with two points.

Worst of the Wings: Osgood. See above. Let’s hope he reverts back to playoff form soon.

Player of the game: Kariya. He got St. Louis back in the game with his first goal and won it with his second. His wrist shot is still incredibly accurate, and the way he drags it out before shooting froze Osgood twice.

Word of the game: Rust. As The Detroit News’ Chris McCosky pointed out, Zetterberg and Dan Cleary were both -2 for the day after missing most of training camp with groin injuries. The defense was stagnant, the power play was ineffective, and Osgood’s performance left something to be desired. For today, we blame it on the offseason.

Up next: At St. Louis in Stockholm, Saturday, 3 p.m.