The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a subscriber-only article this morning which discusses the Red Wings’ evolution into a team that’s “bought in” to playing hockey in a more meaningful manner for one another:
“I think for the first time in a while here we’ve really bought into playing for each other and doing everything to close games out,” captain Dylan Larkin said. “It’s not going to be pretty every time but we did it. And when things don’t go well, we get back to home ice, we get back to playing our game. We really tried to focus on an identity early in the season and we know what that is and we know that when we do that, it makes us successful.”
The biggest key to Saturday’s 3-2 overtime victory over the Buffalo Sabres was tightening up defensively after a stretch of relying on the goaltenders to deal with too manyscoring opportunities. The other key was what has been in evidence all season: There are flat-out better players on the roster than in previous years. Specifically, 19-year-old Lucas Raymond — who scored in overtime — and 20-year-old Moritz Seider.
“I think it’s guys coming in with their attitudes,” Larkin said when asked to elaborate. “We have guys that have been here for a little bit that are still young players, we have new young players that came in with a fresh start and a hunger to help the team and an excitement to be in Detroit and be a Red Wing. We have older players that have been there and done that, and they really guide the young players. It’s been a special feeling and we need to keep it going and we need to continue to get better.”
Continued (paywall)
