Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff follows the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan in discussing the Red Wings’ troubles scoring 5-on-5:
Detroit accounts for 30.53% of all goals while on the power play. The Red Wings are scoring just 58% of goals while 5-on-5.
Relying on the power play to carry the day so much is a recipe for disaster. Power-play units tend to run like the winter weather. They’re very up and down and can be prone to enduring lone cold spells.
Detroit was 17-for-34 (50%) while going 8-2 during Todd McLellan’s first 10 games as coach. Over the last three games, the Red Wings are 1-for-10 (10%) with the man advantage.
Even though it’s not showing through yet on a regular basis, Larkin beleives the club’s 5-on-5 game is trending in the right direction since McLellan took over as coach from Derek Lalonde late last month.
“It’s been better to be honest with you,” Larkin said. “We’ve had way more of a shot focus. Shoot it and get it back and play that way. Especially when things aren’t going our way Todd is very vocal about being direct. He says it all the time, so I think it’s been better that way. We haven’t been as much on the outside.”
