Of Red Wings-related note this afternoon:
- DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills noted in his game preview that the Red Wings are wary of giving the Predators unintentional assistance over the course of tonight’s game:
Detroit dropped its season opener on Thursday in a 6-3 setback to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Alex DeBrincat (two goals, one assist) and Lucas Raymond (two assists) each had multi-point nights, but a three-goal second period from Pittsburgh proved too much for the Red Wings to overcome.
Head coach Derek Lalonde said self-inflicted wounds hurt his club on Thursday.
“I was fully confident, after how we performed in the first period, that would translate over 60 minutes and be successful [on Thursday] but didn’t,” Lalonde said. “Even some of the things that crept into our game in the second, some D-zone structure, obviously puck play was an issue [on Thursday]. We had a lot of turnovers. I think it was pretty self-inflicted, so I think it’s important not to overreact but respond correctly on a performance like that. It feels like we kind of gave one away with the way we started the game.”
As for the Predators, they are coming off a 4-3 loss to the Dallas Stars on Thursday. Last season, Nashville finished fourth in the Central Division with a 47-30-5 record (99 points) before falling to the Vancouver Canucks in the Western Conference First Round.
“A different look than last year coming in [Saturday],” Tyler Motte said about the makeup of the Predators’ roster this season. “A better opportunity to take care of yourself, your details and hopefully put ourselves in a position to win a game.”
2. The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan discussed Anton Johansson’s imminent NHL debut, which will come with his parents and one of his two brothers watching in the stands:
“It’ll be a long day for them, but it’s a special night,” said Johansson, 23, who has played the last two seasons in Grand Rapids. “I’m happy they could come here and watch it. It’s a big moment for them, too. They’ve supported me my whole life. I’m happy they’ll be able to come and watch. A dream come true moment.”
Johansson will enter the Red Wings lineup for Erik Gustafsson, who’ll be a healthy scratch. Johansson will be paired with Olli Maatta.
Johansson brings mobility, decision-making and a defensive mindset. After Thursday’s loss to Pittsburgh, the Wings need to focus on defense.
“The way he moves the puck, good hockey sense,” coach Derek Lalonde said of Johansson’s strengths. “He’s not the biggest defenseman, so he’s got to defend through hands. I like what I saw at the end of last year (in Grand Rapids, during the AHL playoffs) and it translated into preseason.”
Johansson — a 2019 second-round draft pick — is a left-handed shot but he’ll play the right side alongside Maatta, something Johansson said he’s comfortable with. One of Johansson’s strengths is playing within himself and he wants to do that Saturday.
“I just want to come in and play a simple game,” Johansson said. “Move pucks and be solid defensively, that’s the biggest key for me. Of course I’m probably going to be nervous. But just go out there, keep it simple and play my game. Just enjoy the moment.”
3. And the Hockey News’s Connor Eargood posted an article which discusses how coaches attempt to address mistake-making at the NHL level, including coach Lalonde’s take on teaching players how to rebound from missteps…
“There’s a development aspect to it,” Lalonde said. “It’s still so raw. We’re getting first round draft picks at 18, 19 years old. It’s amazing the mistakes you can show them on video and how they grow. And you guys are talking about growing pains with our young guys, just getting even that feedback at a young age, I think there’s something to that.”
Lalonde draws a line between these two concepts when mistakes really hurt the team. It’s a constant balance between allowing a player of any age to learn from their miscues versus limiting their opportunity to make more. This process also goes on in real time, with iPads and coaching staff sharing information with players. As they respond to live feedback on the bench, some players are better at figuring out where they need to improve than others.
“There’s a lot of times a player makes a mistake, a coach is there with an iPad, instant feedback — and you don’t even have to tell them,” Lalonde said Saturday. “Other guys, it’s amazing they make a glaring mistake, and you’re trying to communicate. They have no idea what you’re talking about and then when you show them, you can see the light bulb goes off. I just think it’s player to player. Again, I just think it’s an instant-feedback player today, they want that feedback. There’s a level of accountability too.”
And coach Lalonde made an intriguing comment about the reasons why Carter Mazur, Marco Kasper and Nate Danielson find themselves in Grand Rapids:
“I personally like where we’re at with some more young guys, and that we’re forwarding them the opportunity to play in Grand Rapids,” Lalonde assessed. “I mean, you guys saw Marco (Kasper) and (Carter) Mazur. I mean, there’s three or four of those kids that can play with us tonight, but what does that look like?”
It would look like mistakes — turnovers, penalties, missed assignments. And that’s OK so long as players learn from them. In the NHL, however, it is exceedingly hard to throw a bunch of young players into the lineup and let them fail their way into success. And if you doubt that, go ask Anaheim, Columbus and Montreal how that’s been going lately.
But Detroit can’t do that with all its players. Look no further than Johansson and forward Jonatan Berggren, who are all but thrust into the NHL this season due to their waiver eligibility. If the Red Wings want to keep them, they have to play them in the NHL. Even if they think those players might benefit from a slower development path and more AHL time, they have no option. Just like Edvinsson, they have to learn how to play in the NHL as they are doing it.
“They are here now, and they’ve earned it, but you still got to develop on the fly,” Lalonde said of Berggren and Johansson. “You got to live with some of those mistakes. You got to keep developing them. So it is a balance you’re battling all the time. I think the new NHL is you have to develop real time in the league.”
