Of Red Wings-related note this morning:
- The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted her customary 6 AM recap of the Red Wings’ 2-1 OT loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night:
“We limited them to two goals, one in overtime,” Lucas Raymond said. “Our defensive structure was really good most of the time, especially desperation around the net. But, it’s not a successful trip in our point of view. We have a couple of these games that we want to get back and it’s about learning from it.”
The Wings (21-21-5) are 8-4-1 since Todd McLellan was named coach Dec. 26. This was their first extended trip, and began on a high note with a 5-2 victory over the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, a terrific response after a 6-3 loss at home to the struggling San Jose Sharks.
“To start in Florida and play against that team and weather their storm, that was a really good win,” McLellan said. “Tampa, a little bit disappointing because I think we got tricked with the volume of shots but not the intensity around the net. Dallas, after falling behind 3-0 we settled in. But I think the game really does change for both teams at that point. And then we finished strong and hard.
“You never head out for 50-50, you always want more, and we came up a little short. An average trip for our group but I think we are making strides in certain areas. We’re a little better in our zone, we’re breaking the puck out a little better than we have in the past. We checked through the neutral zone better. Those are all good things. But we have to find a way to score more than one a night five-on-five if we’re to have success.”
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2. The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton also posted his day-after-the-game notebook…
When asked what’s contributed to his teams difficulties in [5-on-5 scoring] of late, he added, “We’re getting pucks to the net. We’re not getting sticks on the secondary ones. When you think when we were playing against Seattle and having that scoring mentality, if it got to the net, we found a way to a stick on the secondary one. Right now, if we do get it, we’re kind of off in the corner, we’re just not quick enough, maybe anticipation skills, but we’ve probably earned some respect of some of the other teams now too. They may take us a little more serious, which is a great thing, and check a little harder.”
Even with that difficulty producing offense, the Red Wings defended well enough to, with help from 24 stops from goaltender Alex Lyon, force overtime. In the final minute before the shootout, Patrick Kane played a give-and-go with Alex DeBrincat to break in unabated on Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson, but Kane couldn’t get any power behind his backhand shot. Instead, Philadelphia defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen led his team back up ice on the rush and eventually finished off that rush to win the game by tapping home a loose puck on the goal line after an Owen Tippett chance came inches from striking the target.
The difference between one point and two was even slimmer than usual in Tuesday’s overtime, but despite the cruel final fate, captain Dylan Larkin saw reason for optimism. “We worked for each other, we broke the puck out well, and we did play with it in their zone,” observed Larkin. “We got shots through with traffic. We knew it was gonna be a game like that. We were hoping that our power play could be a factor, and credit to them, they didn’t take any penalties to get us out on the ice.”
3. And The Athletic’s Max Bultman posted a column in which he discusses the Red Wings’ attempts to salvage their season by increasing 5-on-5 scoring:
Though the Red Wings’ power play has been flat-out dominant since Christmas — and very good all season — McLellan is right that Detroit will need to find a way to score more at five-on-five to emerge from that stretch still in the race.
Much of this, of course, comes back to personnel. Detroit has some skilled creators at the top of its lineup, from Larkin to Lucas Raymond, Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane. Even down the lineup, Jonatan Berggren and Vladimir Tarasenko have some offensive pedigree on the Red Wings’ third line, too.
But in terms of finding those second pucks off rebounds, the Red Wings will need to win in the middle of the ice — and in fairness, Larkin said he felt the team hasn’t been on the outside as much. It’s unavoidable, though, that some of their forwards are at a disadvantage in that regard with their stature, and that’s something the team will have to stay on top of, even when results aren’t coming.
It’s worth noting, for example, that Detroit’s lone goal Tuesday came when Raymond, one of its smaller forwards, stole a puck in the corner (a notoriously hard area to play) and turned it into a grade-A chance and goal for defenseman Ben Chiarot. And the Red Wings have been careful to keep bigger-bodied forwards like Andrew Copp and Marco Kasper in their top six to help provide presence around the net. Kasper in particular has found multiple goals that way.
It also stood out that the Red Wings on Tuesday called up their largest skill player in the organization in winger Elmer Söderblom, whom McLellan was quite happy with after the game.
All of these are pieces of the puzzle. Detroit is working to find the goals that may not be pretty but will be essential to continuing its improved offense under McLellan.
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