Red Wings Leave Europe 0-2 After Second Straight Loss To Blues

I was accused yesterday—and maybe properly so—of sounding a bit too panicked about the Red Wings' season after their 4-3 loss to the Blues on Friday. It was the first game of the season, and there is more than enough time to correct mistakes from a one-goal loss in the first week of October.

Believe me, I'm not panicked about the season at all. This is still one of the top teams in the Western Conference.

Saturday was the team's chance to make up for Friday's defeat, and instead Detroit was soundly beaten once again by St. Louis in Stockholm, this time by a 5-3 margin.

Things were looking great for the Red Wings when Tomas Holmstrom and Dan Cleary got goals in the first 2:08 of the game. But once the Red Wings' penalty kill got going, the lead evaporated. A result of 2-0 in favor of Detroit quickly became 2-2 , and then a 3-2 Red Wings lead thanks to a Niklas Kronwall tally became a 5-3 loss.

Three of the Blues' five goals were on the power play, and Detroit's penalty kill percentage through two games is a dismal 55.6 percent, good for 27th in the NHL.

Backup goalie Jimmy Howard—in for Chris Osgood solely because of the back-to-back nature of the games and not because Osgood's performance Friday was weak—did little to show why the Red Wings didn't sign a bigger name backup goalie in the offseason.

It's a small sample size, I know. It's incredibly early, I know. But the goaltending and penalty kill has been lacking so far this season.

Maybe the Wings can use some home cooking. The Sweden appearance was a disappointing one for a team so laden with players from that country. Time to get back to the States and get some points on the board.

Five Observations

1. Veterans days. Both Blues wins were punctuated by two-goal outings from seasoned veterans. Friday saw Paul Kariya hit the twine twice, and then Saturday featured two scores from Keith Tkachuk.

2. New Wings contribute. Todd Bertuzzi and Jason Williams got onto the scoresheet Saturday with an assist each. Welcome to Hockeytown, boys.

3. Ericsson plays. After scoring a goal Friday and then leaving the game with an ankle injury, defenseman Jonathan Ericsson wasn't expected to play Saturday. He wound up playing more than 18 minutes in a move that even shocked Red Wings coach Mike Babcock.

4. Eaves still out. The forward hasn't made an appearance for Detroit in two games, as he was a healthy scratch for the second game in a row.

5. Zetterberg and Cleary make the scoresheet. So you can cross two names off the list of big Wings who don't have points this season. Still on the list, though, are Pavel Datsyuk and Nick Lidstrom.

Best of the Wings: Henrik Zetterberg. He notched two assists on the game.

Worst of the Wings: Howard. For the second day in a row, this goes to a Wings goalie. Three of the goals he gave up were shorthanded, but five is way too big a number.

Player of the Game: Tkachuk. His two goals wound up being the margin for St. Louis.

Word of the Game: Whiplash. The Blues evaporated the Red Wings' 3-2 lead seemingly instantly when Brad Boyes and Patrik Berglund scored 13 seconds apart in the second period. Back-to-back goals like that are devastating for a hockey team and leave them wondering what went so wrong.

Up next: Thursday vs. Chicago, 7:30 p.m.