The Hockey News’s Connor Eargood wrote an article about the Red Wings’ third line of Michael Rasmussen, Andrew Copp and Christian Fischer, which is preparing for its second year as Detroit’s “shut-down line”:
“I don’t know if it’s so much chemistry,” Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde told reporters Saturday. “(It’s) more of acceptance and want from those guys. A couple of those games last year we gave them some really tough checking assignments they really embraced and did a really good job for us.”
In reality, this unit did the best job among all Detroit’s units at limiting opponents. The trio allowed just 2.14 expected goals against per 60 according to Moneypuck, which significantly led the second-best unit’s 2.30. And this success exists within the broader context of facing some of the toughest matchups of each game. Make no mistake, the Red Wings really have something with that line.
So, entering training camp with a different cast of players working on a clean slate, Lalonde is going back to the third line as an option. They skated together in all of the line drills, as did most of the combinations. And even if they don’t play together in Sunday’s Red and White scrimmage, Lalonde explained that he plans to put every line through the blender during it to gather the most information on his roster. Expect the third line to reunite when the real games start.
“I think those three really embraced that role down the stretch last year,” Lalonde said of the unit’s shutdown prowess. “Led us to some nice wins down the stretch and they were a big part in driving that.”
