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Craig Custance, ESPN Senior Writer 9y

Goaltending could derail the Red Wings

After a while, there’s only so much a coach can say about it. There are only so many different questions that can be asked about a goaltending controversy. Red Wings coach Mike Babcock liked the way his team competed against the Islanders on Sunday. He liked the structure; he liked the preparation.

His Red Wings were coming off an impressive win over Tampa Bay, one of the Eastern Conference’s best teams. Another win and there would have been some momentum going into a slate of huge home games this week against Boston and Ottawa.

It didn’t happen, and it was for a familiar reason: Once again, Detroit didn’t get the goaltending it needed.

“The puck went in our net way too easy. We’ve talked [about] this a bit here lately,” Babcock said after Sunday’s loss.

After a couple more questions about the goaltending, Babcock summed it up this way.

“The puck goes in. What’s next?” Babcock told reporters in New York. “This is a bad re-run.”

It’s bad now; it will be worse if it extends into April.

The Red Wings have everything else in place to be the Stanley Cup finals contender that comes out of the East.

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