The Detroit Red Wings weekly report, October 26

Detroit Red Wings center Kris Draper, left, tries to shoot the puck past Colorado Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson in the second period of an NHL hockey game in Denver on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

The Detroit Red Wings struggles continued this week in a pair of losses to the Phoenix Coyotes and the Colorado Avalanche.

On Thursday in Phoenix the Red Wings let a 2-1 lead late in the third period escape them and eventually lost 3-2 in overtime. It was the second consecutive game the Red Wings had a third period lead turn into a loss as the Avalanche stormed back from a 2-0 deficit in the third period to win in a shootout 4-3 at Joe Louis Arena a week ago Saturday.

The Coyotes tied the game on a controversial goal with 2:40 left in the third period when Petr Prucha shoved a loose puck, and perhaps Chris Osgood too, into the net during a goalmouth scramble. Adrian Aucoin's soft goal in overtime ruined what was otherwise a good performance by Osgood and give the Coyotes the win.

Saturday, the Avalanche beat the Red Wings again 3-1, and the stories of the game were Colorado goalie Craig Anderson saving 48 of 49 shots and the Red Wings inability to score on the powerplay (0-for-8). Jimmy Howard made his first start in goal since the second game of the season, and although not tested like Anderson made 20 saves on 22 shots. However, like Osgood on Thursday night, a similar weak goal, overshadowed what could be considered a good effort in goal.

The Red Wings are now 3-4-2 through nine games and in fourth place in the Central Division, five points back of Chicago, 12th in the Western Conference, and 23rd overall. Things don't get any easier for the team as they play in the NHL's version of the Bermuda Triangle this week as they travel through Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary.

The slow start has prompted the debate and the question: Are you concerned about the play of the Red Wings? As discussed by Jeff Riger on 97.1 The Ticket (The Red Wings flagship station), on Sunday afternoon.

The topic was also hotly debated on letsgowings.com forum boards following an editorial posted by George Malik of mlive.com entitled: Memo to Red Wings: shut up and win.

Responses of course range from severe concern to no concern whatsoever as highlighted by comments such as this one from "Detroit #1 Fan": "He's right. They talk too much and don't get results, or haven't this year. It's little basic concepts that they don't do, and a couple practises could help if they really wanted too, but game after game same fancy garbage that doesn't get the job done." A less concerned "Rage" offers this response: "I guess I'm the only one not in full panic mode about this team and this year's start." Still others such as "VM1183" question whether this is all just a matter of timing: "We can always hope that this slump is the annual February slump happening a few months early, and that we'll tear it up for the rest of the season, too."

Phil Coffey, senior editorial director of NHL.com wrote an article titled: Wings accept factors for slow start, reject excuses, and pointed out the turnover in the Red Wings roster as a factor in their slow start

The fact is a there is a little bit of truth in all of their perspectives and comments.

The Red Wings have played just nine games so far this season, or roughly 11% of the 82-game schedule,so there is plenty of hockey left to play.  

The roster has seen significant change from a year ago as Justin Abdelkader, Darren Helm, Ville Leino, Jonathan Ericsson and Howard have all been promoted from Grand Rapids and Brad May, Patrick Eaves, Jason Williams and Todd Bertuzzi were added through free agency. Time and patience will allow them to absorb the Red Wings system until it becomes second nature for all of them.

It's unusual that the Red Wings slump like this at the start of the season, but they have endured similar down times over the past two seasons en route to the Stanley Cup Final, and as VM1183 astutely points out it usually occurs near February and coincides with injuries. Last season the Red Wings went 2-4-2 in the latter half of January, and the season prior to last they were 4-8-2 in the month of February, and on both occassions there were several players injured. This season Johan Franzen has already missed six games (four losses) and Pavel Datsyuk has missed two (both losses). Meanwhile Henrik Zetterberg missed the majority of training camp with a strained groin and he is improving with every game as his conditioning returns to peak levels. The difference being that a slump is not as noticeable or worrisome if you have already played well, and have some points on the board.

And by the same token this team does not deserve a free pass, they haven't earned that either. Giveaways were a hot topic last season and they are a growing problem this year. The Red Wings have turned the puck over 103 times (3rd worst) through nine games.  A turnover on Saturday night against Colorado led directly to the Avalanche's first goal. Penalty killing is a carryover problem from last season as well. Last year the Red Wings ranked 25th in the league with a success rate of 78.3%. This season they rank 20th but have a success rate of just 77.1%. The coaching staff needs to determine whether the problem is a personnel issue or a system issue and resolve it. Special teams are vital to any teams success and to allow one aspect of the special teams to remain such a handicap for such a long period of time is a bad reflection on the coaches.

And "Winged Wheeler" sums things up in their (edited) post: "Red Wing fans expect our team to win EVERY game ... this team was built to win, not sing the blues on how we had "bad bounces" or "we need to play 60 minutes."

Please submit your Red Wings or hockey questions to drwexaminer@gmail.com for a new mid-week column this season, Detroit Red Wings Examiner's Mailbag coming soon.