Updated at 3:21 PM: The Detroit Red Wings are aware of the fact that most teams which are in the playoff mix at American Thanksgiving make the playoffs. As such, Detroit’s players told MLive’s Ansar Khan and the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan that they know they have to buck a traditional trend:
“I think the biggest thing about U.S. Thanksgiving – what’s the numbers? It’s like 70-80 percent make the playoffs – and usually that’s the top end of it,” [coach Derek] Lalonde said. “It’s usually that 20 percent that’s battling throughout. Hopefully, we’ll stay in that mix and that battle.”
Last season, 13 of the 16 teams in a playoff position on this holiday qualified. The Red Wings were among the three that didn’t (St. Louis and Seattle the others), and the only one in the Eastern Conference that missed.
“You look at the standings and you don’t want to be too far behind at this time of the year,” Dylan Larkin said. “I don’t think there’s much to if you’re in first place right now, you’re going to finish in first place. They’re not handing out trophies at U.S. Thanksgiving. Twenty games in and our division’s clumped up. We just need to get on a run and we’ll be back in the place we want to be.”
They’ll need to play more like they have the past three games (2-1-0, five goals against) than the three before that in California (0-2-1, 15 goals against).
“I know much of it is goaltending, but as far as the way the team’s playing, our goalies have been really good and we’re still giving up a lot of chances,” Larkin said. “Not a lot off the rush and not much in the slot. But when it has been there, our goalies have answered it. And I think that’s key to playing defense — they can’t be taking slot shots every shift, four, five, six times a period. So, we minimize them and really try and focus on keeping them to the outside. And if they want to float pucks in, we’re going to box out and make a clear lane for our goalie.”
Lalonde and Larkin continued while speaking with the Detroit News’s Kulfan…
Larkin feels the Wings’ best hockey may still be ahead of them, given the way the Wings have played since returning from a disappointing West Coast trip.
“Our compete,” said Larkin, of what he’s been impressed with. “When we played Boston (Saturday), we matched it. They came out with fire with what they’ve been through, firing their coach and they came out and played hard and played well defensively but so did we. We matched it and we carried it on. The season has been up and down but that was a big win for us (Monday on Long Island, 3-2 over the Islanders). We competed well and got big saves and scored timely goals and we need to continue that.”
The Wings only allowed five goals in the last three games (2-1-0 record) and greatly limiting the scoring chances they had previously.
“Our goalies have been real good,” Larkin said. “We’re still giving up a lot of chances, (but) not a lot off the rush and not much in the slot. But when it has been there, our goalies have answered it and that’s key to play defense. They can’t be taking slapshots every shift, four, five or six times a period. We’ve minimized them and really tried to keep them to the outside.”
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Lalonde agrees with Larkin that the Wings’ “compete” has risen in recent games and it’s been a factor in the Wings’ defensive performance.
“We’ve tried to emphasize it, winning a few more battles,” Lalonde said. “Our (defensive) structure has been good giving up five goals in the last three games, and we’ve gradually been growing some areas of our game defensively. The third period of the Boston game was a miss for us in that we turned some pucks over and lost some battles and it’s something that we’ve been emphasizing. I felt we got (Monday in the victory) and it’s something we hopefully can build on.”
On the Flames’ side of things, Calgary’s players and coach told CalgaryFlames.com’s Ty Pilson that they’re looking forward to keeping their power play humming…
The Flames powerplay has been on a tear of late, with goals in four straight games and clipping along at an extremely impressive 50% success rate since Nov. 19.
Jonathan Huberdeau was the latest to light the lamp while a man-up, scoring in Calgary’s 4-3 loss to the Senators on Monday night in Ottawa to open up this four-game road trip which continues tonight in Detroit against the Red Wings (5:30 p.m. MT, Sportsnet 360).
Martin Pospisil and Yegor Sharangovich scored on the PP in the team’s win over the Wild on Nov. 23, while Sharangovich also scored on Nov. 21 against the Rangers, and Rasmus Andersson bulged the twine Nov. 19 versus the Isles.
The secret to the powerplay’s resurgence is simple, said Huberdeau – keeping it simple.
“You got to be like predictable on the powerplay (among your teammates), and know where you’re at on the ice,” he said Wednesday after the team’s optional morning skate at Little Caesars Arena. “And I think that’s what we’ve been doing. The two (powerplay) units, we talked it out, and I think we try to keep things lmore simple, and we know where we’re going to be on the ice and stuff like that in certain situations.
“I think on the powerplay you’ve got to trust the other guys to be in the right spot and I feel like that’s what we’ve been doing lately; put some pucks on the net and have traffic, too, so it’s hard for the goalie to see the puck. We’ve been capitalizing but we have to stay that way. And some games, it’s not gonna (go) our way, but we still gotta find a way to do something special out there.”
The Flames do respect tonight’s opponent, however…
The Flames will look to start a new winning streak tonight and improve their 3-4-3 road record following the loss to the Sens. They face a Red Wings team that has won two of three after some struggles and look to build on their 9-10-2 mark to start this campaign.
“If you look at their record, it’s a way better team that it shows in the record,” said Huberdeau. “They’re young, they’re fast and they’re a hard team to play against, especially in their own rink. So we got to come out and play the same. I think we’ve been playing well lately so I think, keep that same intensity and be better on the forecheck stuff like that and we should come out with that win.”
And the Flames’ website posted a set of pre-game clips of coach Ryan Huska, Daniil Miromanov and captain Mikael Backlund discussing the importance of tonight’s game:
Ryan Huska on what he wants to see from his team in Detroit: “They should be confident, the way they’ve played. I want them to go on the ice and initiate tonight, I want us to do a good job of moving our feet, I want us to do a good job of pressuring here tonight, and finding a way to earn our opportunities. That’s really what tonight is about for us.”
On the Red Wings’ strengths: “They’re a very good team, similar to what we saw in Ottawa in regards to powerplay. Discipline comes into play. They have a lot of offensive weapons on that team, they’re very dangerous off the rush and we want to make sure we do a good job of managing the game the right way.”
Update: Here’s a bit from DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills:
Puck drop between the Red Wings (9-10-2; 20 points) and Flames (12-7-3; 27 points) is set for 7:30 p.m., with broadcast coverage on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit Extra and the Red Wings Radio Network (97.1 The Ticket in Detroit).
“Great opportunity tonight,” Detroit head coach Derek Lalonde said. “Hope to build off a good win the other night.”
The Red Wings are back on home ice after scoring three goals in the final 8:40 of regulation to complete a 4-2 comeback win over the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Monday. Moritz Seider and Simon Edvinsson had two points (one goal, one assist) each for Detroit, which improved to 5-1-0 against the Islanders dating back to Oct. 30, 2023.’Captain Dylan Larkin wants the Red Wings to keep playing with a high compete level, which the 28-year-old said the club has displayed since returning from its month-long four-game road trip that went from Nov. 13-18.
“I thought when we played Boston [last Saturday], we matched it,” Larkin said. “They came out with fire after what they’ve been through; they fired their coach. They came out and played hard and played well defensively. So did we. We matched it and carried it on. The season has been up and down, but that was a big win for us [on Monday].”
