Watching the Detroit Red Wings get shellacked Saturday in Toronto on national TV, many people couldn't help but wonder:

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Are those really the Red Wings?

The answer is yes. But in name, and uniform, only. The team decimated by defections in the summer has been gutted by injuries since the season started. The Wings watched 88 goals leave town in the offseason when Marian Hossa, Jiri Hudler, Mikael Samuelsson and Tomas Kopecky departed for greener pastures (i.e more money).

Then, the Wings essentially lost their replacements as forwards Johan Franzen, Valtteri Filppula and Jason Williams have all been put on the long-term injured reserve list since October. It leaves a Wings team foundering and counting on unproven players like Ville Leino and Patrick Eaves to help them get their swagger back.

Detroit, which has won its division for eight straight years, now sits behind both Chicago and Columbus in the Central division. The Wings haven't scored (they rank 15th in goals), and they haven't kept the puck out of the net either (they ranked 24th in goals before Wednesday's 9-1 breakout win).

This is some unusual ground for the decade's best hockey team, one that led the league in goals last year.

A cornerstone of the Wings success has been their special teams play. But this year, before Wednesday's 9-1 triumph, the Wings ranked 20th in power play and 24th in killing penalties.

Given all these doom-and-gloom numbers it's a wonder that the Wings have been able to keep their heads above water. It says something about the team, especially its three stars -- Niklas Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg -- that the Wings went into Columbus with a 7-5-3 record. It serves notice that the Wings, no matter how down and out they seem, should not be taken lightly.

As Columbus coach Ken Hitchcock said before coaching his 1,000th game vs. Detroit Wednesday: "I don't care where they've been or what they've done, and I don't care who's in or who's out (of their lineup). All I know is they wear red and white and they're a pain in our (butt)."

Leino and Eaves are two players the Wings are hoping can help give them a boost. Leino was skating on a line with Zetterberg and Daniel Cleary this week. He had nine points in 13 games last year but in his first 14 games this season only managed three points. Eaves, meanwhile, was skating with Darren Helm and Kris Draper. He scored 20 goals as a rookie in Ottawa in 2005-06 but it's been all downhill since. Last year he had only six goals in 76 games.

jbotchford@theprovince.com