The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan took note of the fact that the Red Wings are no longer being out-shot by a significant margin:
The Wings were outshot in 24 of 34 games under former coach Derek Lalonde, generally an ineffective way to win games. With McLellan at the helm for six games (heading into Friday’s contest against Chicago), the Wings have outshot their opponents three times and matched the opponents’ total the other three games.
The Wings haven’t been outshot and have posted a 5-1-0 record in the process.
McLellan spoke after Tuesday’s victory over Ottawa (both teams had 33 shots) about the importance he feels getting shots on net are.
“I’ve always been a real big believer that volume of shooting is important,” McLellan said. “I know the analytics departments and analysts will say, ‘Well, it’s the quality of shot.’ I (believe) it’s the quality of the shot off the rebound that’s really important. You break defenses down by taking a shot and then grabbing it and reattacking. The action is one thing. The carrot is what we’re hoping for. The other night, when Simon (Edvinsson) took the shot, the carrot was Joey (Veleno) working in and getting rewarded.”
McLellan was referring to Veleno’s third-period, game-tying goal in which Edvinsson shot from the point. Senators goaltender Anton Forsberg couldn’t control the rebound and let the puck bounce into the slot, where Veleno batted home the rebound. It was the classic demonstration of the importance of simply putting a shot on net, and you never know what’ll happen.
“You can cycle to death all you want and often you don’t get anything off of it,” McLellan said. “I just believe (in shooting the puck). I’ve been selling that to the players and our (defensemen) are doing a good job of creating opportunity with the shot, and the forwards are capitalizing on secondary chances or getting teams out of position.”
