from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News,

Many Red Wings fans were soundly asleep when they played their last two games in Southern California....

They lost both games by slim margins. In Los Angeles, 4-2 with the Kings scoring a late empty-net goal and in Anaheim, 3-2, in a shootout (the Ducks won the shootout 1-0).

Monday’s defeat probably stung a bit more because the Ducks are as physically beat-up as the Wings, and like the Wings, had six rookies in the lineup. There was a potential to grab two points there.

Bright spots like an extremely young and inexperienced defense holding its own in these games were balanced out by the Wings over-passing and eliminating goal-scoring opportunities.

The kids, largely, are making a positive impression, playing through predictable mistakes and getting valuable NHL experience....

Here’s a brief checklist to get you up to date:

- That young defense isn’t playing badly at all: It’s almost getting to the point where you begin to wonder what’ll happen when Trevor Daley (upper body), Jonathan Ericsson (upper body), Mike Green (infection) and Niklas Kronwall (lower body) begin returning to the lineup – all are day-to-day except for Green, who is more week-to-week — and some of these young players are sent to Grand Rapids.

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