Month: November 2024

Prospect round-up: Kiiskinen 1A, Sandin Pellikka 24:06 played in European action

Of Red Wings prospect-related note in Europe today:

In the Finnish Liiga, Jesse Kiiskinen had an assist, finishing at +1 with 7 shots in 17:03 played as HPK Hameenlinna won 3-0 over Jukurit;

In the SHL, Michael Bransegg-Nygard finished even with 1 shot in 18:08 played, and Axel Sandin Pellikka finished even with 5 shots in 24:06 as Skelleftea AIK lost 2-0 to Rogle BK;

Noah Dower Nilsson played only 3:56 on the 4th line, finishing even as Frolunda HC won 3-1 over Lulea Hockey;

And Anton Johansson finished at +2 with 6 shots in 14:51 as Leksands IF lost 4-3 in a shootout to Farjestads BK.

Khan: Red Wings concerned about sputtering PK

After today’s practice at Little Caesars Arena, Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde and captain Dylan Larkin spoke with the Red Wings’ media corps, and when they spoke with MLive’s Ansar Khan, they discussed the Red Wings’ league-worst penalty-kill:

“Really frustrating,” [Lalonde] said. “The structure looks a little bit better but literally every chance we’ve given up has gone in. Last night we gave up three chances and all three went in. Overextended on two of the three goals and they end up in the back of our net. Three weeks ago, we were able to rep it in practice and I thought it gave the PK a little spark. Hopefully, it will again tomorrow.”

They need to find the right balance between being aggressive and not overextending themselves.

“The frustrating part of it is even last night, for 70 percent of our penalty kill we did some good things, but the 30 percent end up in the back of our net,” Lalonde said.

It’s all about details, Dylan Larkin said.

“We know what we’re doing … our details aren’t good enough, and we’re letting goals slip, and there’s all different ways,” Larkin said. “It’s hard to say that we’ve done a decent job with the numbers and where we’re at, but it’s not all doom and gloom with the penalty kill. It’s just mental lapses. It’s just goals that are going in in the last 10 seconds, and we have to clean things up and be better, more detailed for the full two minutes.

“That’s why it’s important to get clears and get fresh guys out there. The emphasis — 15, 30 seconds, get a clear, get off. We don’t do that well enough and it costs us. When you’re tired, you’re giving the other teams’ best players looks and they want you to run around and tire yourselves out.”

Continued (paywall)

Video: Larkin and Lalonde speak with the media after Saturday’s practice

The Detroit Red Wings will battle the Vancouver Canucks tomorrow (12:30 PM EST on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/Sportsnet Pacific/Sportsnet One/97.1 FM) without the services of Alex Lyon or Patrick Kane.

Coach Lalonde’s post-practice remarks indicate that Lyon (lower-body) will be out for a while yet, while Kane should return from his upper-body injury on Tuesday in Boston.

Coach Lalonde also stated that Cam Talbot will start against Vancouver on Sunday, which probably means a battle between Talbot and unbeaten-on-the-road Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen, who’s pitched a 9-and-0 road record this season.

Given the Red Wings’ performance in Friday’s 5-4 loss to New Jersey, I think that Talbot will be particularly motivated to end Lankinen’s winning streak.

Here are today’s media availabilities from Dylan Larkin and coach Lalonde:

Fundraising on Small Business Saturday

It’s “Small Business Saturday,” and this one-employee business is about as small as you can get. I try to give you as much Red Wings information as possible, and while I’d love to do this for free, I can’t afford to do so.

As a result, I’m posting another fundraising appeal today, and I hope that you’ll understand that this is done by necessity and need as opposed to enjoyment:

The Malik Report needs your support to function. You receive quite a bit of information “for free,” but providing that information is not done for free. As such, we would like to ask that you kindly contribute to our monthly expenses.

If you’re willing to lend a hand, we have a PayPal option at https://paypal.me/TheMalikReport; there’s Venmo at https://venmo.com/george-malik-2; if you’re into the, “I don’t want to use any of those pages” option, here’s always the Giftly option by using my email, rtxg@yahoo.com, at https://www.giftly.com…

And in the banking options, you can contact me via email if you want to send me a paper check, or “Zelle” me via my email, rtxg@yahoo.com.

It’s my pleasure to provide you with as much information as I can give, but this is also a job, and it requires money, time, energy and effort (a.k.a. work). If you are willing or able to support this endeavor, it is greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

Post-Practice Tweets: Lyon out for a while; Kane likely to return Tuesday

The Tweets from Saturday’s practice revealed that Patrick Kane isn’t quite ready to return from his upper-body injury, and that Ville Husso may start on Sunday vs. Vancouver (12:30 PM on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/Sportsnet Pacific/Sportsnet One/97.1 FM).

After practice, the Red Wings’ players and coach spoke with the media:

If Lyon is out “for the road trip,” he may not return until after December 12th, when the Red Wings close out a stretch of 4-of-5 away from Little Caesars Arena.

Tweets from Saturday’s practice (and a Wings-Canucks preview): Kane practicing, Lyon still out

The Red Wings will attempt to rebound from Friday’s 5-4 loss to New Jersey when they host the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday afternoon (12:30 PM on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/Sportsnet Pacific/Sportsnet 1/97.1 FM).

Vancouver has a 12-7-and-3 record, and they won a 4-3 OT decision over Buffalo on Friday. They’ve won 3 of 4 games on their current 5-game road trip, which concludes on Sunday, and goaltender Kevin Lankinen is 9-and-0 on the road this year.

They probably won’t have Filip Hronek in the lineup, however, as the former Wings defenseman is nursing an undisclosed injury suffered on Wednesday (per Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen).

Here’s a Red Wings-Canucks preview from the Associated Press:

Continue reading Tweets from Saturday’s practice (and a Wings-Canucks preview): Kane practicing, Lyon still out

Coach Lalonde discusses Cam Talbot hitting 500 games played

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff posted a subscriber-only article about Red Wings goaltender Cam Talbot hitting the 500-games-played mark on Friday vs. New Jersey:

“Just getting to know him in one year, it’s an impressive feat,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. “It always is. Huge credit to him.”

All the way along, Talbot has taken a circuitous route to writing his version of a success story. His choice of college was Alabama-Huntsville, not exactly an NCAA power.

“Not the most highly-touted goalie coming out of college,” Lalonde recalled. “The way he kind of built his career and having him, the character along with the competitor and the talent, you can see why he got to this point, this milestone in his career.”

Continued (paywall)

Prospect round-up: Walleye win, Finne 1G, 2A; Augustine, MSU shut out Lindenwood

Of Red Wings prospect-related note in North America:

In the ECHL, Jan Bednar stopped 20 of 22 shots in the Toledo Walleye’s 3-2 victory over the Kalamazoo K-Wings;

In the OHL, the game between the North Bay Battalion and Soo Greyhounds was postponed due to weather;

In the WHL, Emmitt Finnie had a goal and 2 assists, finishing at +1 with 3 shots and a 13-for-22 faceoff record in the Kamloops Blazers’ 6-0 win over Regina;

In the USHL, Austin Baker had an assist, 2 shots and finished at +1 in the Sioux Falls Stampede’s 3-2 shootout win over Sioux City;

In NCAA Hockey, Brennan Ali finished at -1 with 2 shots in the Notre Dame Fighting Irish’s 5-2 victory over the Harvard Crimson. Kyle Aucoin finished at +1 for Harvard;

Larry Keenan finished at +1 in the UMass Minutemen’s 3-1 win over Army;

John Whipple finished at +1 in the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers’ 1-1 tie with Alaska-Fairbanks;

Kienan Draper finished at -1 with a 4-for-7 faceoff record as the University of Michigan Wolverines lost 4-1 to Western Michigan;

Owen Mehlenbacher finished even with 3 shots and a faceoff win, and Jack Phelan finished at +2 with 1 shot as the University of Wisconsin Badgers won 7-1 over Alaska Anchorage;

And Trey Augustine stopped 29 shots, and Red Savage finished even with 1 shot and a 7-for-12 faceoff record as the Michigan State Spartans won 4-0 over Lindenwood.

Recap: Griffins beat Milwaukee in a 10-round shootout

The Grand Rapids Griffins prevailed in a 10-round shootout, winning 3-2 over the Milwaukee Admirals on Friday night. Here’s the Griffins’ recap:

GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 3 vs. Milwaukee Admirals 2 (SO)

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — In the 10th round of the shootout, Cross Hanas sealed a 3-2 victory for the Grand Rapids Griffins against the Milwaukee Admirals on Friday at Van Andel Arena in a battle between the top two teams in the Central Division. 

The Griffins claimed their second shootout win of the season, their first coming on Oct. 27 against Lehigh Valley when they prevailed 4-3. Amadeus Lombardi tallied his 13th point in the last 13 games (7-6—13) and extended his point streak to three (3-1—4). Austin Watson scored his second power-play goal of the year while Tim Gettinger skated in his first game for the Griffins this season and cashed in during the shootout. Sebastian Cossa earned his eighth win of the campaign (8-4-1-0) and turned away 25 shots alongside eight in the shootout. 

Neither team scored in the first period, however, the Admirals struck first when Jake Livingstone gave Milwaukee a 1-0 lead just 1:15 into the second frame. Sheldon Dries broke away from the Milwaukee defense with 3:49 remaining in the period but couldn’t find the back of the net. 

Continue reading Recap: Griffins beat Milwaukee in a 10-round shootout

Red Wings-Devils wrap-up: poor PK spoils Talbot’s 500th game, affords Devils a comeback win

The Detroit Red Wings probably should have earned a point against the New Jersey Devils on Friday afternoon/evening, but Detroit dropped a 5-4 decision in Cam Talbot’s 500th game because their penalty-kill still stinks, because the Wings played a passive second period, and because they were out-shot, out-worked, and out-physical-played.

For the 10-11-and-1 Red Wings, they can still salvage a 4-for-5 record on their home stand if they defeat the difficult-to-play Vancouver Canucks on Sunday, and perhaps save coach Derek Lalonde’s job in the process, but it’s not going to be easy by any means.

In terms of “making hay while the sun shines,” December’s schedule is tough; the Wings continue to play every other night until December 9th, and Detroit also has a rough set of divisional opponents over the next two weeks in Boston, Ottawa, Buffalo and Toronto.

Before the end of the month, the Wings will play Toronto twice, Montreal twice (back-to-back), and with 14 games over the course of 31 nights, we’ll be at the 35-game mark by the completion of the New Year’s Eve game opposite the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Wings simply need to play better, of course, in order to be anywhere near a Wild Card spot by the end of next month, but they’ve got to play a more aggressive, more efficient, less mistake-prone and more physical game–like the game the Devils played on Friday night.

New Jersey’s loss can be particularly illustrative going forward, because the Devils didn’t just beat Detroit–they also gave the Wings something of a blueprint as to how they’re going to need to play if they win with their A and B Games, and at least earn a loser point if they are to play their C Game like they did today.

Is that kind of improvement going to require coaching or player personnel changes? That’s a good question, and one that I don’t have the answer to. At this point, I’m looking at the present roster and present coaching staff, and suggesting that they can still improve enough to earn points in a game like today’s game. And I do believe that.

Anyway, that’s my take on what needs to happen next. On afternoon/evening, it was the Devils who were leaving Detroit smiling, as they told NewJerseyDevils.com’s Amanda Stein:

Continue reading Red Wings-Devils wrap-up: poor PK spoils Talbot’s 500th game, affords Devils a comeback win