Both the Free Press’s Helene St. James and Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff discuss a simple solution to the Red Wings’ difficulty in producing offense this morning, with an emphasis on the team producing a higher volume of shots on goal in order to score more goals.
That’s not as simple as it sounds, but it’s also not as complicated as the Wings’ players may think, as St. James notes…
“You don’t want to waste shots, but if we’re in an area to have a good chance to shoot it on net or get some action at the net, we want to be a team that takes those chances, instead of looking for a better play or another pass,” veteran forward Patrick Kane said. “We’ve got good players in here that can read the play but sometimes I think we want to have that possession and maybe we overpass a little bit. So just having a shooting mentality has been better for us.”
The Wings (12-14-4) are trying to climb inside the playoff picture and win consecutive games for the first time since Thanksgiving. Head coach Derek Lalonde has fingered the team’s DNA multiple times, essentially pointing out the forwards especially are prone to passing rather than shooting. And while there’s something to be said for holding onto the puck when a path to the net is not clear – well, on the flip side, there’s an argument favoring creating chaos and heeding Lalonde’s message to put the puck at the blue paint.
“I think they just learn to trust it a little more,” Lalonde said. “I get it, it’s a weird NHL right now – I saw an article on goalie save percentages being so low. I do think there’s an NHL today where people don’t waste shots. The old-school coming down the wing, throwing it into the goalie’s stomach, the goalie sees it – [don’t] waste shots. But I still think we can have a little more predictability knowing the puck is going to the net, because we have bodies there. I just think there’s a little messaging from the success we had in third period of Philly to that game – I just hope they can trust it a little more.”
St. James also posted a video of Kane, Moritz Seider and coach Lalonde addressing the shooting issue…
And here’s more from Detroit Hockey Now’s Duff:
In the last four periods, there’s been more evidence that the Red Wings are starting to take that advice. They put 12 shots on goal in the final period of Thursday’s 4-1 loss at Philadelphia. Saturday, as they were beating the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2, the Wings were aiming 26 shots at the Toronto net that either went in, or were requiring a save from Toronto goalie Joseph Woll.
“It’s something we can definitely build from,” Detroit defenseman Moritz Seider said. “Just creating more shot attempts, on net especially, just forcing the goalie into uncomfortable situations. If he’s not really forced then you’re not really making it tough on him, and it won’t be easy to score goals.”
…
“I think we want to be a team that takes those chances instead of looking for a better player or another pass,” Kane said.
Stay with this approach and the Red Wings have a shot of getting back into the chase for postseason placings.
“It’s up to us,” Seider acknowledged. “We just got to do a better job of that.”
