Month: February 2025

MLive’s Ansar Khan examines the Red Wings’ statistical categories with and without coach Todd McLellan behind Detroit’s bench. You will not be surprised to hear that the good stuff’s skyrocketed, and the bad stuff’s gotten “less bad”:

The Red Wings are 13-4-1 since McLellan replaced Derek Lalonde on Dec. 26. Their 27 points during that span is tied for first in the NHL with Dallas (13-4-1) and Washington (11-2-5).

After Cam Talbot made 33 saves Saturday in a 3-1 victory at Calgary, stretching the team’s win streak to five, the goaltender was asked on Hockey Night in Canada about the reversal.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” Talbot said. “I think just the system that we play and obviously he’s a great coach. I’ve loved playing behind him every step of the way (including stops in Edmonton and Los Angeles). He comes in, he’s a great communicator, great teacher. The results speak for themselves with our group here. Can’t say enough good things about him and what he’s brought to our team.”

Statistics show the stark difference before and after McLellan:

Red Wings under McLellan

13-4-1, 27 points (tied for first)

3.39 goals per game (fourth)

2.67 goals against per game

Power play: 35.7 percent (first)

Penalty kill: 73.7 percent

Shots differential: Plus-23

Continued (paywall) with the ugly numbers under coach Lalonde…

The Detroit Red Wings will battle the Vancouver Canucks this evening (8 PM EST start on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/Sportsnet Pacific/TVA Sports/97.1 FM), with the Wings hoping to extend their winning streak to 6 games after defeating the Calgary Flames 3-1 on Saturday night.

I try to not look too closely at the Eastern Conference standings, but Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen reports that the Wings might climb into the playoff picture if they should win tonight:

The Red Wings were eight points out of a playoff spot when Todd McLellan took command of the Red Wings on Dec. 2

Tonight, Detroit can move into the Eastern Conference’s last wildcard spot by winning in Vancouver. The Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins are both idle today.

Tampa Bay currently holds the last Eastern Conference wildcard spot, sitting one point ahead of Detroit and Boston. The Red Wings are 5-0-1 in their last six games, and 2-0 on this road trip.

Did anyone see this coming when GM Steve Yzerman fired Derek Lalonde and hired McLellan? The team is 13-4-1 since McLellan took over.

Also of Red Wings-Canucks-related note from Allen:

Detroit goes into tonight’s road games against the Vancouver Canucks (8 p.m., ET, FanDuel Sports Network) 5-0-1 in its last six games. In those six games, Detroit has given up just nine goals and haven’t up more than two goals in any of those games. The Red Wings are 11-for-13 (84.6%) on the penalty kill in those six games. Captain Dylan Larkin boasts three goals, seven points, 38 shots on goal and is plus-seven in those six games.

I didn’t expect the Wings to have such an excellent record under coach McLellan, but I did expect them to become playoff-relevant.

I’d argue that staying in the playoff-relevant mix for the remainder of this year’s regular season is more important than actually making the playoffs, given that McLellan was given a salvage job…

And while players like Dylan Larkin, Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider are leading the way, I can’t say enough about players like Albert Johansson, Jonatan Berggren, the Wings’ goalies and the rest of the worker bees who are making the Wings’ turnaround happen.

Update: Here are tonight’s game notes:

Continue reading Climbing across the red line

WOOD TV’s Matt Jaworowski “looks back” at the Red Wings’ trip to Marquette Prison back in 1954:

After a 5-1 win over the Blackhawks, the Red Wings took to the skies and headed north. They checked into a hotel and had lunch before being escorted to the prison for the afternoon scrimmage.

Any concerns the players had about entering the prison grounds were quickly put to rest. They were welcomed as heroes and celebrated for being willing to make the trip north and appease some hardened hockey fans.

Despite temperatures hovering around 20 degrees, virtually the entire prison turned out to watch the game. According to the Marquette Mining Journal, outside of a few stragglers, the only prisoners who did not attend the game were those stuck in solitary confinement.

Even during the game, which proved to be lopsided, the mood was “cheerful” on both sides. A ragtag group of inmates were no match for the Detroit Red Wings, a team that featured eight future Hall of Famers and would go on to win the Stanley Cup a few months later.

Depending on the source, the score of the scrimmage was never close. One source said the Red Wings won 18-0. Another said 9-0, and a third said 8-2. The Associated Press, possibly to save the inmates from embarrassment or deciding to stop the count early, said the Wings won 5-2.

Continued

The Free Press’s Helene St. James discusses the play of five young Red Wings players this morning, praising the Wings’ youth movement for delivering results:

Marco Kasper

Kasper, 20, showed he was NHL ready in training camp, but was sent to the minors because of a roster crunch. That error was amended within a week and all Kasper (No. 6, 2022 draft) has done since is reinforce he’s where he belongs. Since coach Todd McLellan’s arrival on Dec. 26, Kasper isn’t just displaying his gritty and defensive side, he’s coming into his own offensively, with 12 points (seven goals) in 17 games entering Saturday. Over the past week, he recorded his first two-goal game, Monday against the Los Angeles Kings, and then set up the game-tying goal against the Oilers in Edmonton on Thursday. He’s holding his own playing left wing on the top line (just like Dylan Larkin did in his rookie season) and showing signs he may emerge as a second-line center down the road.

Albert Johansson

Johansson, 24, was in an unusual position to start the season: Guaranteed to be on the roster, because the 60th pick from the 2019 draft was no longer waiver-exempt, but not guaranteed to be in the lineup. And he wasn’t, appearing in just 17 games through Christmas. But on Jan. 2, veteran defenseman Jeff Petry went down with an injury (he still hasn’t returned), creating an opening for Johansson. He has responded by fitting onto the second pairing, opposite Edvinsson, and recording four points and a plus-four rating through 13 games. Last week, McLellan indicated Johansson isn’t going back to watching from the sidelines should the Wings be at full health on defense. “Albert hasn’t done anything to give any of his game back,” McLellan said. “Good for him.”

Elmer Söderblom

He joined the team Jan. 21, called up after consecutive losses sparked a desire to shake things up among the forward group. Söderblom, 23, appeared in 21 games with the Wings in 2022-23, and then dropped from the radar. But the 6-8 Swede grabbed in the 2019 draft (No. 159 overall) has good hand-to-eye coordination and moves well for a player his size; he, too, has found a way to stay in the lineup, displacing more veteran options. He used his long reach to score his first goal, Monday against the Kings, and followed up with an assist the next game, both times helping the Wings rally to victory from 2-0 deficits. He, Kasper, Edvinsson, Berggren and Johansson are a big part of why there’s hope the Wings will finally make it back to the playoffs.

Continued (paywall)

It’s the middle of the night on Sunday morning, but the Associated Press has already posted a preview of the Red Wings’ Sunday night tilt against the Vancouver Canucks (8 PM EST start on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/Sportsnet Pacific/TVA Sports/97.1 FM):

BOTTOM LINE: The Detroit Red Wings will attempt to keep their five-game win streak going when they visit the Vancouver Canucks.

Vancouver is 23-18-10 overall and 9-10-6 in home games. The Canucks are fifth in league play serving 9.8 penalty minutes per game.

Detroit is 11-10-3 in road games and 26-21-5 overall. The Red Wings have gone 5-6-3 when they commit more penalties than their opponent.

The teams square off Sunday for the second time this season. The Canucks won the previous matchup 5-4 in overtime. Jake DeBrusk scored three goals in the victory.

TOP PERFORMERS: Quinn Hughes has scored 14 goals with 45 assists for the Canucks. Brock Boeser has two goals and five assists over the last 10 games.

Dylan Larkin has 23 goals and 26 assists for the Red Wings. Lucas Raymond has three goals and seven assists over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Canucks: 5-5-0, averaging 2.5 goals, 4.3 assists, 4.3 penalties and 11.3 penalty minutes while giving up 2.9 goals per game.

Red Wings: 6-3-1, averaging 2.7 goals, 4.7 assists, 2.5 penalties and five penalty minutes while giving up 2.5 goals per game.

The Canucks website’s Chris Faber also posted a game preview from Vancouver’s perspective:

Continue reading Early Red Wings-Canucks previews

The Detroit Red Wings swept Alberta via a 3-1 victory over the Calgary Flames on Saturday night, and the 4-games-in-6-nights swing gets no easier as the Red Wings head to Vancouver to play the reinforced Canucks on Sunday night (8 PM EST start on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/Sportsnet Pacific/TVA Sports/97.1 FM).

But the Red Wings have something to play for. They’ve won 5 straight games, they sit 1 point behind the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning, and 2 behind the Columbus Blue Jackets, who own the Eastern Conference’s first Wild Card spot.

The problem, of course, is that the Senators, Blue Jackets, Bruins, Lightning, Islanders and Canadiens all keep winning, too, so the Red Wings need to do the best they can to mine points out of this ugly 4-in-6 trip in order to return home at the Four Nations break within sight of a playoff spot.

But if the road leads uphill, you climb it, and that’s where the Red Wings are at this morning–climbing uphill.

As far as the Calgary Flames were concerned, starting the first half of their own back-to-back set of games (they play the Kraken in Seattle this evening) and debuting trade acquisitions Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost, they were, well…Entitled to a certain storyline, as they told the Calgary Sun’s Wes Gilbertson:

Continue reading Red Wings-Flames wrap-up: Wings sweep Alberta via 5th win in a row

The Saginaw Spirit hosted their annual “Shocks and Saves” hockey game to raise funds for AED’s, as organized by one Jiri Fischer, on Saturday, and Fischer reflected upon the game with the Saginaw News’s Hugh Bernreuter:

As a retired 44-year-old NHL player, Jiri Fischer measures his life in different ways. Maybe it’s the 20 years since he died. Or maybe it’s the lives saved since he lived.

But his favorite method of measuring his post-cardiac arrest life is much closer to his heart. It is the 2 ½-year old boy named Jakub ignoring his father’s speech in favor of a balloon animal and the toddler named Dasha wearing a pink Fischer jersey.

It is his 18-year-old son Lukas, who plays for the Sarnia Sting and was a second-round pick by the St. Louis Blues in the 2024 NHL Draft.

“Lukas was born 10 months after my cardiac arrest … things were right, and stars were aligned,” Fischer said. “He is the captain of the Sarnia Sting, playing against Saginaw. And he’s here because the Red Wings saved my life. In the front row there are two more little ones. Three of my children were born after my cardiac arrest only because my life was saved by the Red Wings.”

Fischer and Dr. Peter Fattal competed in their 17th Shocks and Saves hockey game Saturday at the Dow Event Center, adding one more measurement to Fischer’s post-arrest life.

“Looking back 20 years, a lot of things have happened, and it’s humbling,” Fischer said. “I’ve been blessed. Some people survive a cardiac arrest, and it’s a year or two. I’ve had 20 so far. The Red Wings saved my life. Because of that, I have my wife (Jenni) and two children here as part of this event. Because of that, I can watch my older boys, how they’re carving their path as young men. Twenty years is a big number, a great number. I’ve been blessed.”

Continued; Fischer also spoke with the NHL Network recently:

The Detroit Red Wings faced off against the Calgary Flames on Saturday night, with the Wings hoping to extend their 4-game winning streak against a Flames team buzzing due to the additions of Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost.

On Saturday night, the Red Wings received a tremendous goaltending performance from Cam Talbot, who stopped 33 of 34 shots…

And Detroit got goals from Dylan Larkin at 8:27 of the 1st (giving Dominik Shine his first NHL point), a rifle from Simon Edvinsson at 19:14 of the 1st, and then the Wings held on for the 2nd period, surrendered a PPG to Nazem Kadri at 8:34 of the 2nd, but got a fine performance defensively from everyone en route to an empty-netter for Andrew Copp and a 3-1 win, sweeping Alberta.

A second octopus hit the ice in Calgary 🐙🐙 https://t.co/k3ucMWQnf7 pic.twitter.com/Xm8nownnBH

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 2, 2025

The Red Wings fly to Vancouver for tomorrow night’s game (8 PM EST start), and then they’ll wrap up their West Coast Swing with a game in Seattle against the Kraken on Tuesday night.

Continue reading Red Wings-Flames quick take: Talbot, Wings sweep Alberta

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan spoke with coach Todd McLellan about the improvements in the Red Wings’ penalty-kill:

In the last five games, heading into Saturday’s in Calgary, the Wings have killed 10 of their last 11 penalties. It’s a key reason they’ve also won their last four games.

“We’ve made drastic changes to it systemically and the guys have bought in,” said coach Todd McLellan, who along with his assistant Trent Yawney listed the penalty kill as one of the first units to improve since he took over the Wings on Dec. 26. “They’re willing to attempt to execute, there’s been clarification of what their roles are, and goaltending is always a big, important part of it.”

Goaltenders Cam Talbot and Alex Lyon have both been effective during the Wings’ 12-4-1 record under McLellan.

“You don’t have good penalty kill numbers without goalies making the saves and bailing you out when they have to,” McLellan said “Faceoffs are obviously an important role and lack of time on it certainly helps. We have been a fairly disciplined team, we haven’t been taking sloppy, unneeded penalties. The ones we do take are play savers or situational things that can happen. We’re pleased with that.”

Continued

NHL.com’s Aaron Vickers took note of some injury updates from coach Todd McLellan this afternoon:

Patrick Kane could return to the lineup when the Red Wings visit the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday. Kane, who was placed on injured reserve last week and will not play against the Calgary Flames on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, CITY, FDSNDET), has missed four games because of an upper-body injury.

“Kaner’s getting close, yes,” Detroit coach Todd McLellan said Saturday. “There’s a chance he’ll be in the lineup tomorrow, but this skate’s important for his progress.”

The forward who last played in a 2-1 overtime loss at the Philadelphia Flyers on Jan. 21, has 30 points (11 goals, 19 assists) in 42 games this season.

“He’s obviously one of our most skilled guys, controls the play a lot, really sets up our offense and our power play,” Red Wings forward Alex DeBrincat said. “When he’s in the lineup he takes some load off other guys and when he has been out other guys have stepped up. The power play is still ticking a little bit. But he’s definitely a bit piece of our team. We prefer him to be in the lineup for sure.”

Detroit will remain without forward J.T. Compher for the foreseeable future. Compher has missed two games because of an upper-body injury. He has 21 points (six goals, 15 assists) in 48 games this season.

“He’s likely a little further down the road from what I’ve been told, but I’m just worried about the guys that can play,” McLellan said. — Aaron Vickers

Continued