Updated at 7:03 PM: The Detroit Red Wings will face a 2-and-8 Canadiens team tomorrow night in Montreal (7 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit Plus/TSN2/RDS/97.1 FM), a team that will be skating without Cole Caufield (AHL stint), Cedric Paquette (suspension), hat-trick-scorer Mathieu Perreault (eye injury) and other players who took part in last week’s 6-1 shellacking of the Wings…
But the Red Wings spoke with the media on Monday very wary of tomorrow’s home team, which will be looking to stomp on Detroit to begin to climb out of one of their worst starts to a season in team history.
The Free Press’s Helene St. James summarized the state of the Wings thusly…
The Wings (4-3-2) had, on the whole, a good October. They played competitively, showed fortitude when they trailed, and rolled four lines and three defense pairings. [Coach Jeff] Blashill described the offense (3.22 goals-per-game average) as “not bad” and the power play (15.2%) as “hasn’t been great, but hasn’t been bad.” His biggest concern is that, “I think we’ve given up too many goals.”
Of the 31 goals surrendered, nine have come during the 34 times the Wings have been shorthanded.
“I actually think our PK has been pretty good,” Blashill said. “We’re improving in our structure on our PK forecheck. My gut (feeling) is generally if you can stay with it even when the goals go in on the PK, if the process is good and you can stay with it, it will even out. I believe that will happen with our PK. Certainly the number of times you give teams power plays, you’re playing with fire. It’s something we’ve talked about since the beginning of the season, is staying out of the box.”
The flip side is making the most of man advantages. Filip Zadina leads the team with two power-play goals after converting against the Maple Leafs, when he connected on a pass by rookie defenseman Moritz Seider for a second time this season.
“It was great to score the goal,” Zadina said. “It gave me more confidence going forward.”
Zadina always draws a little more scrutiny when he plays in Montreal, because when the Canadians didn’t pick him at No. 3 in the 2018 draft, he vowed to “fill the nets” of those who passed on him. He has one goal in five career meetings, and says at this point, he views it as another game. He is trying to take more shots on net, and has looked more dangerous on power plays because he has been set up numerous times by Seider’s slick puck work.
“He’s passing the puck well,” Zadina said. “He sees the options where he can make a pass. He sees the right timing for the pass and it’s easy for us to put the puck on net and create chances.”
And MLive’s Ansar Khan noted the following regarding the Wings’ desire to “tighten up” defensively:
The Red Wings rank 30th out of 32 teams in goals-against per game (3.44), after finishing 20th last season (3.00).
The Red Wings (4-3-2) visit Montreal Tuesday (7 p.m., Bally Sports Detroit Plus), returning to the site of their worst performance of the season just 10 days before in a 6-1 loss to a team that was 0-5-0.
The Canadiens (2-8-0) continue to struggle, coming off a 1-3-0 West Coast trip.
“Our guys aren’t watching them play on a consistent basis, or watching their record, or anything like that,” Blashill said. “What they have fresh in their minds is we got our butts kicked in here last time. So, we better come ready to play with a great sense of urgency.
“In this building, momentum matters. So, you better do a good job of not giving up easy chances, because every time you give up a chance, that momentum builds in this building. You better make sure that when you do give up a chance, it’s not a second and a third and a fourth right away. You have to find ways to quell that momentum. The best way to do that is to play in their end as much as possible and make them defend.”
Update: Here’s a bit more from Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff:
“In this building ,they could be 8-0 or 0-8. It doesn’t matter,” Blashill said. “In this building momentum matters. You had better do a good job of not giving up easy chances…Every time you give up a chance the momentum builds in this building.”
If you give up a second, third or fourth chance, you suddenly feel like you are being overrun. Montreal fans can help the Canadiens. Players all know that.
“You have to find ways to quell that momentum,” Blashill said. “The best way to do that is to play in their end as much as possible Make them defend.”
Blashill’s group will have to play Montreal again without Tyler Bertuzzi. He can’t play any games in Canada because he is the NHL’s lone non-vaccinated player. Canada’s regulations prohibits non-vaccinated people to cross the border. The Red Wings are 0-2 playing without Bertuzzi. He will rejoin the team Wednesday in Boston. He has been skating on his own in Detroit.
Dylan Larkin didn’t practice Monday. Blashill called it a maintenance day.
Rookie Joe Veleno will be in Detroit’s lineup, his second game since being called up to replace Bertuzzi. Blashill thought he started slowly against Toronto. “(But) I thought by the end of the night he looked pretty good,” Blashill said.
Blashill didn’t make any commitment to Veleno’s status beyond the Tuesday game.
“My question is he ready to help us win?,” Blashill said. “If he plays consistently the way like he did in the third (against Toronto) then he is ready to help us win. If he plays consistently like he did in the first, then he’s not ready to help us win.”
