Pavel Datsyuk

It's that time if year again, but this year it has come painfully early. The Detroit Red Wings have been eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs, dropping their 1st Round series with the Nashville Predators. It is the first time since 2006 VS the Edmonton Oilers that the Red Wings have exited the playoffs in the opening round. This loss is exceptionally painful to deal with. Detroit's play looked stagnant and uninspired, scoring only 9 goals over the course of the 5-game series, at some points barely making Pekka Rinne break a sweat.

Everything went the Wings' way on Monday night. They can only hope for something similar tonight as they head to Columbus for their final meeting against the Blue Jackets this season.

Monday saw the Wings dominate on home ice, with a 7-2 victory. The win sealed the 21st consecutive playoff trip for Detroit, the longest record of any professional sports franchise in North America.

Tomas Holmstrom had two of the goals, and Henrik Zetterberg and Todd Bertuzzi each had four assists on the night. Captain Nicklas Lidstrom even had a goal for his grand return after being injured.

Wings have been stellar at home this season, but does a trip to Columbus worry them? Based on t...

There are almost two years until the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia however the gears of preparation are well into use. Canada has tapped Red Wing legend Steve Yzerman to return as executive director for Canada. Wings GM Ken Holland will be a key member of Yzerman's support staff, however it's doubtful Yzerman and Holland will be the only two people with Red Wing ties at Sochi.

Of course rosters change and the Red Wings are in for a moderate overhaul over the next two seasons but there are some shoe-ins to be Olympians, some players who would be on the bubble if selections were today and some youngsters that may push for a bid as they develop.

The Undoubted

It was another frustrating loss as the Wings fell in OT to a goal from Martin Havlat.

The Wings can at least look forward to the fact that they were able to get a point for making it into OT. They still sit at fourth in the West, only two points ahead of Nashville.

The first period was the most active, as Joe Pavelski scored the first goal of the night with less than a minute into the period. Martin Havlat followed suit near the end of the period to give San Jose a two-goal lead.

The Wings were not out of it yet. In his first game back since having knee surgery, Pavel Datsyuk scored shortly after Havlat, to cut the Sharks' lead down to one.

Both teams would go ...