So what’s wrong with the Red Wings?

Blues fans were impressed with their 5-0 demolition of the Blues last week. But that effort has been bracketed by an 8-0 loss to Nashville and an 8-2 loss to the Blue Jackets.

It’s tough to imagine a team THAT good playing THAT badly twice in a short period of time.

“It was ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ all over again from last week,” Red Wings defenseman Brian Rafalski told the Detroit Free Press. “That’s what? Twice in a week? Can’t let that happen again.”

Old Friend Chris Osgood allowed seven goals in the latest fiasco – although hideous turnovers hurt the Red Wings as much as his goaltending did.

“You know, when you play Columbus, you’ve got to take care of the puck,” coach Mike Babcock told the Free Press. “It’s not like we were surprised by anything they did. We didn’t do our part, and bottom line, like I said, we hung Ozzy out to dry. In the end, you don’t feel very good leaving the building.”

Hockey Guy wonders if this team will regret not finding ways to make upgrades at the trade deadline.

JUST WONDERING

Would you have traded Keith Tkachuk and David Perron to Boston for Phil Kessel? Hockey Guy is a big Kessel fan, so, sure, he would have made that deal if it were there. The two sides discussed such a deal before the trade deadline arrived.

We’re also big David Perron fans in this corner of cyberspace, but Kessel is deeper into his development. If Boston can’t afford to lock in all its players, the Blues will need to revisit this.

Boston Globe scribe Kevin Paul Dupont sounded ready to endorse the deal: “It would have given the Bruins their big body up front for this season and a highly-skilled prospect.”

It’s good to see that the Blues front office was aggressive in its trade talks. Something tells us this won’t be the last time we see Perron’s name on the rumor mill.

AROUND THE RINKS: Canadiens goaltender Carey Price just won his third game in 14 tries since coming back from his ankle injury. That gives injured Buffalo goaltender Ryan Miller something to think about. Coming back from high ankle sprains is very, very difficult . . . It’ll be interesting to watch Sean Avery skate right under Gary Bettman’s nose in New York. The career pest is once blow-up away from going on double secret NHL probation. In the meantime, he is breatching life into a moribund Rangers team . . . Hockey Guy loves Rick Tocchet, but what has he done in Tampa Bay to merit a contract extension? The goofy ownership group there is discussing a three-year deal with him . . . By pitching Ales Kotalik before the deadline, the Sabres created a lineup spot for wayward winger Maxim Afinogenov – who is a classic example of a player needing a fresh start . . . Manny Fernandez split Boston’s goaltending chores with Tim Thomas before getting hurt. Now he is in a 0-3-2 downturn that has turned Thomas into a stretch-run workhorse . . . Top Blues offensive prospect Lars Eller has 12 goals, 17 assists and a plus-13 ranking in 48 games for Frolunda in the Swedish Elite League . . . Earlier this season, before the Blues got their act together, we all wondered if they would be better off tanking to enhance their draft lottery odds. Here is why: Certain No. 1 pick John Tavares has scored 15 goals in his last 10 games, giving him a record 215 career goals in his Ontario Hockey . . . The once-proud Avalanche won for just the seventh time in 24 games. Colorado snapped a six-game losing streak by knocking off the Blackhawks Sunday . . . Here are a couple of hot players: Blackhawks forward Jonathan Toews has 11 goals in 11 games and Thrashers winger Ilya Kovalchuk has 25 goals and 14 assists in his last 29 games . . . Ah, the memories: Former Blue Todd Elik scored 47 points in 46 games for Ljubljana Olimpija in Austria.