The epitome of preseason hockey.

Seriously, this was a snooze-fest for most of the game. Things only started to pick up in pace once the game reached three-on-three overtime, but not to the Red Wings liking. The New York Islanders completely dominated overtime, and despite the incredible effort from Jimmy Howard in-goal, the pressure was just too much, and Anders Lee was finally able to be Howard.

The game as a whole was quite lethargic, with very little to takeaway on a positive note. It’s games like this you can’t stop looking at the calendar, waiting for opening night of the regular season.

Thoughts and Highlights

• Jordan Eberle had himself a day. After scoring the first two goals of the hockey game, he remained a consistent scoring threat. Only three of four separate opportunities, he nearly had himself a hat-trick.
• Dennis Cholowski had a very poor showing. Several turnovers in his own end, plus little offensive impact does not bode well for his chances of making the final roster.
• On the note of poor showings, Filip Zadina once again disappointed. I’ve been calling him snake-bitten, but at this point, he really isn’t making much of an impact. He still has too many instances of circling around and running himself into trouble.
• Okay, okay, let’s get positive. Michael Rasmussen did Michael Rasmussen things and scored a net front goal on the powerplay.
• After Rasmussen got the Wings on the board, Evgeny Svechnikov struck on the powerplay with a quick shot from the slot, off a nice feed from Joe Veleno.
• That sent the game into overtime tied 2-2 and it was…less then ideal. The Isles controlled the extra session in its entirety, and Detroit had no answer.
• Jimmy Howard did all he could against the Islanders overtime parade of chances for. He made a good 4 or 5 amazing saves to keep the Wings alive. Unfortunately, the aforementioned Lee eventually found the net, giving New York the 3-2 victory.

Gif of the Game

The Wings may have lost, but hey, it’s still just preseason. Who cares!

Motor City MVP

Jimmy Howard

Not much of a question here. Howard was one of the lone bright spots in tonight’s game. I was quite surprised he played the entire game, as he is clearly the starter for the regular season.

It’s good to see he is already back on his B.S. because the Red Wings will need him at his best if they want to even sniff the playoffs this season.