The Hockey News’s Carol Schram examines the “coaching bump” that the Red Wings have experienced under coach Todd McLellan:
Five skaters have produced at a point-per-game or better since McLellan took over, and all five have six points or more on the power play.
Patrick Kane and Lucas Raymond lead the way with 13 points each, followed by Dylan Larkin and Alex DeBrincat at 11 and Moritz Seider with eight.
Larkin is also leading all players who have taken more than 100 faceoffs since the Christmas break, with a win rate of 61.2 percent over 134 draws. J.T. Compher is holding his own at 50.4 percent of 121 draws, and Andrew Copp is chipping in at 57.5 percent on 73 draws.
In net, Alex Lyon had been the main man since McLellan’s arrival, with a .931 save percentage and 1.64 goals-against average. But after he suffered an upper-body injury in the first period against the Ottawa Senators a week ago, Cam Talbot has carried the torch admirably.
Lyon is listed as day-to-day. Surely the team would love to have him back before testing its mettle on a tough three-in-four road stretch this weekend — facing the Florida Panthers on Thursday, the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday and the Dallas Stars on Sunday.
Continued; Schram goes in-depth here…
