Month: December 2024

The Detroit Red Wings dropped the first game of their back-to-back slate against the Montreal Canadiens, so the Wings headed into Saturday night’s game at the Bell Centre desperately needing to win against a Canadiens team that was only a point behind Detroit in the Atlantic Division standings.

On Saturday night, the Canadiens went with the same lineup against Detroit–goaltender Samuel Montembeault included–while the Red Wings went with Alex Lyon in goal, and tweaked their lineup as necessary.

Montreal dismantled the Red Wings on Saturday night, responding to Joe Veleno’s goal 6:41 in with 5 straight goals, including a power play goal by Patrik Laine, and the Habs won 5-1.

Montreal now leads Detroit by 1 point in the Atlantic Division standings, and Detroit will try to at least get a couple of points on Monday when they host the St. Louis Blues…but falling to 13-16-and-4 is not good at all.

Continue reading Red Wings-Canadiens quick take: Flat Wings swept by Canadiens, who take 1-point lead in Atlantic Division standings

Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin has struggled to score over the last 11 games, so Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen posted a subscriber-only article noting that Larkin hopes to follow Patrick Kane’s example in breaking out of his slump:

“He’s just been all over the puck and I think he’s elevated it, he’s raised his compete, and it’s great to see,” Larkin said. “I think he’s found a way to get himself out of it and even myself. I need to start to follow that lead and start to play with that jam that he’s been playing with.”

Larkin is looking for his team to play better tonight to salvage a split out of a home-and-home with the Montreal Canadiens. But Larkin clearly is looking to push himself to play at a higher level.  What Detroit coaches, fans and the media have witnessed each time Larkin is injured is this team goes as he goes.

That’s why Larkin looks at Kane, certainly one of the most dominant players in U.S. hockey history, and wonders if he should follow his lead.

“He’s kind of forcing himself into the game and sticking with it when it doesn’t go well. There’s no flow to the game,” Larkin said.  “So stuff like that.”

Continued (paywall)

FYI from WXYZ’s Brad Galli:

Elf on the Shelf!? No, it’s Razor in a Blazer!

The Red Wings are planning a Lucas Raymond plush figure giveaway for Dec. 23. The first 7,500 fans get one pic.twitter.com/rWaTVfMDcc

— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) December 21, 2024

I’ve been saying for a long time now that I believe the Red Wings need to add two players by the 2025 trade deadline–another forward who can provide secondary scoring, preferably in the form of a big body who can go to the net and be physical (I can dream, can’t I?)…

And I’ve been really hammering home the suggestion that the Red Wings desperately need a shut-down defenseman who can spare Moritz Seider some of those tough match-up minutes on Detroit’s second pair.

As we’ve watched the Erik Gustafsson experiment peter out, however, I’ve become more convinced that the Red Wings need to add both that power forward type and a two-way defenseman who can begin to meaningfully address the Wings’ lack of secondary scoring from the blueline over a defenseman that’s just a shut-down guy.

This morning, The Athletic issued “wish lists” for every one of the NHL’s 32 teams, and Max Bultman and I seem to agree about what the Red Wings need on the blueline:

Detroit Red Wings

A long-term second pair D: The Red Wings appear to have found their top defense pair for the next decade in Simon Edvinsson and Moritz Seider, who have been excellent together this season. But there’s still plenty of questions behind them, both this season and for the future. Swedish RHD prospect Axel Sandin Pellikka could be part of the answer in a couple of years, but Detroit has work to do to identify at least one more two-way building block on the back end. — Max Bultman

The Wings definitely need a defenseman who can spare Seider some of the minutes that he and Edvinsson play defensively, but there just isn’t somebody who can be utilized like Shayne Gostisbehere on the back end, and if the team still needs to address David Perron’s absence as a vocal leader who could go to the dirty areas on the ice–and they do–they need to find a genuinely complete two-way defender as well.

The 13-15-and-4 Detroit Red Wings face the 13-16-and-3 Montreal Canadiens tonight at the Bell Centre (FanDuel Sportsnet Detroit Extra/NHL Network/TVA Sports/Sportsnet East/City TV/97.1 FM). Detroit sits 1 point ahead of the Canadiens in the Atlantic Division standings after the Red Wings’ 4-3 loss to Montreal last night in Detroit.

Neither team will hold a morning skate today, but Priyanta Emrith reports that Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis is scheduled to speak with the media at 5:40 PM, which means that coach Derek Lalonde will address the media this afternoon as well.

It should be noted that this game is an NHL Network game for out-of-market fans, which means that if you live in the U.S. and do not get FanDuel Sports Net Detroit Extra, you’re going to have to have access to the NHL Network to watch the game.

Field Level Media posted a very good preview of tonight’s game…

Continue reading Red Wings-Canadiens preview, rematch version

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen shared this note about Patrick Kane in his overnight notebook:

After going nine games without a point, Patrick Kane is starting to play like he did last season. He scored against Montreal to give him goals in back-to-back games and four points in three games. He has 10 shots on goal in those three games

Kane found room with a shot when there appeared to be no room.

“Exciting finish,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said.  “Obviously they had some looks trying to get them out in some certain situations, provide some offense. So unfortunately the tying goal found them again. And I do not want that group to get in a trading goals scenario because you’re going to have up and down play.” 

Kane’s goal was the 476th of his career, tying Joe Pavelski for the fifth-most among U.S.-born skaters in NHL history behind Mike Modano (561), Keith Tkachuk (538), Jeremy Roenick (513) and Joe Mullen (502). It was his 88th career game-tying goal, tying Mullen for the third-most by a U.S.-born player in NHL history behind Tkachuk (110) and Modano (105).

Continued; it’s absolutely essential that the Red Wings receive secondary scoring in order to win games.

The Red Wings acknowledged that they were shaken down by the Montreal Canadiens last night, losing 4-3 to the Habs.

Now that the Wings sit only a point ahead of Montreal in the Atlantic Division standings, MLive’s Ansar Khan notes that tonight’s rematch in Montreal (7 PM EST start on FanDuel Sportsnet Extra/NHL Network/Sportsnet East/City/TVA Sports/97.1 FM) is all but a must-win for Detroit:

“We got to be better with the puck,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “Just the margin of error is not there. We can’t have lapses in our game. We have to be good on special teams and obviously tonight we were not.”

The Red Wings went 0 for 4 on the power play, the last one coming with 3:53 to play. They also allowed a shorthanded goal to Jake Evans in the first.

“We had chances, but we didn’t keep enough out,” Dylan Larkin said. “And they get their power play in the third and they scored and we get ours and we don’t.”

Larkin is glad they face the Canadiens again tonight at the Bell Centre (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network).

“We just got to capitalize on our chances and play with a little more intensity, and minimize our mistakes,” Larkin said. “They get a little bit off the rush, but you look at the goals they score and there’s just some key breakdowns. A lot of it, we talk about not breaking the puck out well and coming back to the house and seeing and stopping and puck management. So, we clean those things up, put a little more intensity.”

Continued (paywall)

Of Red Wings prospect-related note on Friday:

In Europe, in the Finnish Liiga, Jesse Kiiskinen’s regular team, HPK Hameenlinna, won 2-1 over KalPa;

In the DEL, Kevin Bicker’s injured, but the Frankfurt Lowen won 3-2 over the Eisbaren Berlin;

In North America, in the OHL, Landon Miller stopped 34 of 39 shots in the Soo Greyhounds’ 5-4 loss to Guelph;

In the ECHL, Griffins-contracted goaltender Jan Bednar pitched a 25-save shutout as the Toledo Walleye won a 4-0 decision over the Wheeling Nailers;

And in the AHL, Ville Husso and the Grand Rapids Griffins had a rough game, losing 6-1 at home to the Milwaukee Admirals. The Griffins’ website posted a recap…

In their return home from a season-high six-game road trip, the Grand Rapids Griffins suffered a 6-1 loss to the Milwaukee Admirals behind a hat trick from Vinnie Hinostroza on Friday at Van Andel Arena. 

Joe Snively secured the lone tally for the Griffins, scoring his 10th goal of the season, while William Wallinder and Dominik Shine were credited with the assists. Following his stint with the Detroit Red Wings, Ville Husso returned to the crease for Grand Rapids. Despite the loss, Husso sports a 4-1-0 record with the Griffins this year. 

Midway through the first frame, Kieffer Bellows tallied a power-play goal at 10:36 to give the Admirals an early lead. The Griffins gained an 8-6 shot advantage but failed to score through the first 20 minutes. 

Grand Rapids earned a power play of its own at 4:08 in the second period but a turnover allowed Ozzy Wiesblatt to score short handed at 5:41. Milwaukee extended its lead to three when Hinostroza found the back of the net with 8:09 left in the second. Shine attempted to put the Griffins on the board with a breakaway chance at 15:20, but his shot hit the post, as Grand Rapids exited the frame down 3-0. 

Hinostroza secured his second goal of the night just 26 seconds into the final period and completed his hat trick at 6:56, giving the Admirals a 5-0 lead. Milwaukee continued scoring, as Jake Lucchini cashed in at 7:54. The Griffins prevented the Admiral shutout with 6:55 remaining, as Snively lit the lamp on a power play. A shot from Wallinder deflected off the netminder and Snively buried the chance. However, Grand Rapids failed to cut further into the deficit and fell 6-1. 

As well as a photo gallery, a highlight clip and an interview clip…

Continue reading Prospect round-up: Miller lit up, jet-lagged Griffins drop 6-1 decision to Milwaukee

The now-13-15-and-4 Detroit Red Wings plain old got out-worked over the course of a 4-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Friday night, and as the Wings head to Montreal for Saturday’s rematch (7 PM on FanDuel Sportsnet Extra/NHL Network/Sportsnet East/TVA Sports/97.1 FM), the Wings need to rededicate themselves to busting their butts better than their opponents do, and the Wings need to work on detail work, too.

Why? They now only lead the 13-16-and-3 Canadiens by 1 point in the Atlantic Division standings.

Saturday is essentially a must-win, and with 2 more games in the next 3 nights (Detroit wraps up its pre-Christmas schedule with a home game against St. Louis on Monday night), the Wings are going to have a hell of a character test here.

The good news, as you’ll find out below, is that the Wings are pissed off at themselves for blowing this game; the test will be whether they can do something about that.

As the Canadiens’ press corps didn’t travel to Detroit en masse (save the French press corps, whose recaps were sparse–I looked), we’re going to have to lean on NHL.com’s Dave Hogg’s recap for an English-language set of takes from the Canadiens’ players and coach:

Continue reading Red Wings-Canadiens wrap-up: Wings know they got hustled

The Detroit Red Wings hosted a Montreal Canadiens team that sat only 3 points behind the Wings in the Atlantic Division standings prior to tonight’s game, and the teams will go back at it tomorrow night in Montreal.

On Friday night, at Little Caesars Arena, the Red Wings were robbed of their 3-point lead by a plucky, tenacious Canadiens team that earned 1-0, 2-1 and 4-3 leads en route to a 4-3 victory for the Habs.

Cam Talbot was not as sharp as possible in stopping 29 of 33 shots, but he got little to no help in terms of deflections–like Patrik Laine’s one-timer that shattered Moritz Seider’s stick and beat Talbot–and the 0-for-4 power play, surrendering of a shorthanded goal against and 1-for-2 Habs PP yielded a major special teams loss.

Very long story long, tomorrow night’s game in Montreal becomes a must-win if the Wings are to not be passed by Montreal in the standings, and after getting out-worked by a significant margin tonight, Detroit has to earn their way back toward respectability here more than anything.

Continue reading Red Wings-Canadiens quick take: Wings ‘get hustled’ by Montreal