As noted after last night’s 3-2 overtime victory over the Vancouver Canucks, the 27-21-and-5 Detroit Red Wings now have 59 points, and they sit in the Eastern Conference’s first Wild Card spot. Of Red Wings-related note this morning:
- As Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff notes, it’s been a hell of a transformation since Todd McLellan took over as the Red Wings’ coach on December 26th:
“Tip our hat to all the players for crawling back into this thing, but all we’ve done is get back to the start line,” McLellan was saying after Sunday’s win.
Fair enough. That’s one of McLellan’s strengths, after all. Yes, he wants his team to keep their eyes on the prize. At the same time, he knows the best chance of completing that arduous journey is by embracing the challenge of every step along the way.
“I’m not changing how I approach it,” McLellan said. “A game at a time, a practice at a time. Find ways to get better.”
While we’re talking about doffing chapeaus of recognition, save some of those kudos for the new coach. Can a mid-season replacement with the Jack Adams Trophy as NHL coach of the year? McLellan is certainly doing his utmost to state his case.
It was Christmas Day when McLellan got the job offer from Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman. When he was arriving in town, the Red Wings were eight points out of the playoffs. Following a 14-4-1 run under their new coach, they’ve already completely erased that deficit.
2. The Free Press’s Helene St. James spoke with Patrick Kane, Alex DeBrincat and coach McLellan after last night’s 3-2 OT win over Vancouver. She focuses on the same point as Duff does while pointing out that the Wings have won 6 straight games, and are 14-4-and-3 under McLellan:
The Wings (27-21-5) next play Tuesday against the Kraken in Seattle. McLellan, brought in by general manager Steve Yzerman on Dec. 26 to replace former coach Derek Lalonde, has instilled a sense of belief in the team, with a buy-in across the board. It is so remarkable a turnaround that asked if he could have pictured it at Christmas, DeBrincat was blunt.
“No,” DeBrincat said. “It’s great. I think we knew we had it in this room, I think we needed a bit of a fresh start and kind of a restart. It feels like a new season. We’re winning games where maybe we haven’t played our best and that’s what good teams do. We have to keep that up.”
There’s growing resilience within the locker room as they scrapped out back-to-back victories on the road, their first such accomplishment under McLellan.
“I give the guys a lot of credit for showing some character,” McLellan said. “As (assistant coach) Trent Yawney says, sometimes the art has to hang in the basement. It wasn’t real pretty, but we found a way to scrap out a game that we didn’t win on our first four-game road trip, back-to-back. So credit to them. Let’s get some rest now, it’s really important.”
I adore that last quote from McLellan. The Red Wings were far from artistic last night, but they persevered despite themselves, and won a game that left Canucks fans in a tizzy because Vancouver “should have won.”
3. Finally, The Athletic’s Max Bultman posted an article in which he offers 5 thoughts regarding Detroit’s post-Christmas run:
Here’s one more crazy thing to consider about the standings as that break draws near: it’s not just that Detroit is back in a wild-card spot. The Red Wings are also just one point back of third place in the Atlantic Division (albeit with one more game played than the Ottawa Senators).
It just so happens, too, that Detroit has two more games left against the Senators: one in Ottawa on March 10, and one at home on March 27.
The Red Wings also have two more games left against Columbus, the team directly behind them in the standings (on a tiebreaker); two more against Tampa Bay, who would be ahead of both the Red Wings and Blue Jackets by points percentage; and one more against Boston, the next team back.
In other words, it’s shaping up to be a heck of a race to the finish line in the East.
And while it might not have looked possible a month ago, here the Red Wings are — right in the middle of it.
