Author: George Malik

The Red Wings’ narrow 2-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night evened the team’s record at 5-5-and-1, snapping a 3-game winless streak.

It really was a matter of survival as both Cam Talbot (30 saves) and Dylan Larkin (2 power-play goals) assuaged an early mistake in a shorthanded goal against, and then the Wings did a lot of surviving the Sabres’ relentless forecheck for parts of the 1st and the majority of the 3rd periods…

But the Wings out-ground the Sabres well enough to hold onto their 2-1 lead and take the game, and, while it was not exactly ideal in terms of time spent in the offensive zone vs. time spent in the defensive zone, nor in the number of shots against (30) or attempts against (71)…

Detroit will get three days’ worth of rest and practice to re-set ahead of Wednesday’s game vs. Chicago, which opens up a stretch of 3 games to be played over the course of 4 nights.

There’s no disrespect to the Sabres intended here–they pushed the Red Wings very hard, as they told BuffaloSabres.com’s Jourdon LaBarber…

The Detroit Red Wings attempted to snap a 3-game slide (0-2-and-1) against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night at Little Caesars Arena.

The Sabres had dropped a Friday night loss to the New York Islanders, and had lost 2 straight, but playing back-to-back is usually not a problem for Buffalo, which most recently inflicted 5-3 win over the Red Wings last Saturday.

On Saturday night, well…You don’t write this kind of game up in the manual as “The Kind Of Game You Want To Play” against Buffalo, but the Wings rallied from a shorthanded Jason Zucker goal vs. Dylan Larkin via–get this–2 Dylan Larkin power play goals–and Cam Talbot was stout in the Wings’ net, stopping 30 of 31 shots against, as Detroit rallied and prevailed 2-1 over the tough-luck Sabres.

Detroit gave up too many shots against, Detroit gave up too much zone time against–again–and Detroit really had to play rope-a-dope hockey in the 1st and 3rd, but it was enough thanks to dogged effort.

Enough to snap the 3-game losing streak, and enough to build upon going into Chicago on Wednesday.

Of Red Wings-related note this afternoon:

1. DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills posted an article which sets up tonight’s match-up between the Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres (7 PM EDT start on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit/97.1 FM):

Head coach Derek Lalonde said the Red Wings have shown signs of what they can be through the first 10 games of the season but are still looking for more consistency.

“We’re sitting here 4-5-1,” Lalonde said. “We’re probably what our record is, but I think there’s some signs of hopefully we can trend this the right way. We knew we’d be up against it. Just the 10-game schedule on who we were playing, you add in Winnipeg probably exceeding expectations and being a really good team, probably feeling where our record is. Some ups and downs in there. We got to start finding some consistency, hopefully starting Saturday.”

Detroit is looking to right the ship after its third straight loss, a 6-2 setback to the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday. The matchup saw the Red Wings fall behind by three goals in the opening frame, an early deficit that proved too much to overcome against the NHL’s top club.

“Obviously a disappointing night,” said Moritz Seider, who recorded two assists against the Jets for his second multi-point game of the season. “I think we were expecting a different outcome. Other than that, we weren’t really ready to compete. We faced a team that was willing to take a little bit more on their own shoulders and respond after a loss. That’s just something we couldn’t quite handle. The good thing, though, is it was a lot of our own mistakes. We can definitely build off that and find a way to win a hockey game against Buffalo.”

…

The Sabres visit Little Caesars Arena for the first time this season after falling to the New York Islanders, 4-3, on Friday. Dylan Cozens, Jason Zucker and Owen Power all found the back of the net in the loss for Buffalo, which has dropped two games in a row.

“They obviously like to play offense,” Seider said about the Sabres. “They like to stretch us out and are willing to cheat a little bit to gain momentum in the offensive zone. If we can control that, obviously get involved emotionally, I think we’ll have a good game plan on our side and hopefully get two points.”

2. The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan posted an article which discusses the fact that the Red Wings don’t have a traditional net-front player in their top PP group:

Per the Grand Rapids Griffins:

GRIFFINS SIGN BECHER, ALEXANDER REASSIGNED TO GRAND RAPIDS

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Detroit Red Wings on Saturday reassigned goaltender Gage Alexander to the Grand Rapids Griffins from the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye. In addition, the Griffins signed right wing Ondrej Becher(AWN-dray BEHK-uhr) to an amateur tryout.  

Last season, Alexander appeared in 19 outings with the Tulsa Oilers (ECHL) and showed a 5-8-1 record with one shutout to go along with a 3.76 goals-against average and a .887 save percentage. Alexander competed in 16 AHL games with the San Diego Gulls during the 2022-23 campaign and logged a 5-7-3 ledger with a 3.59 GAA and a .887 save percentage. Throughout his three-year pro career, the Okotoks, Alberta, native has a 11-19-4 mark with two shutouts to go along with a 3.67 GAA. Prior to turning pro, Alexander spent four seasons in the WHL from 2019-23 and totaled a 33-16-6 record with a 2.81 GAA and a .902 save percentage. Alexander was selected with the 148th overall pick by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.

Becher, the 80th overall pick by the Red Wings in the most recent NHL Entry Draft, posted career-high numbers in goals (32), assists (64), points (96), and plus-minus rating (+38) in 58 games with the Prince George Cougars of the WHL last season. During the 2023-24 campaign, the 20-year-old ranked 13th in the WHL in points and ninth in assists. In two seasons in the WHL from 2022-24, Becher recorded 134 points (48-86—134) and a plus-69 rating in 121 appearances. He also suited up for his home country of Czechia at the 2024 World Junior Championship, showing 10 points (3-7—10) in seven outings en route to claiming a bronze medal. Becher competed for Team Czechia at the 2022 U18 World Junior Championship and registered two goals in six games. Prior to coming to North America in 2022, Becher spent parts of two seasons in the Czechia2 league, Czechia’s second tier of pro hockey, and contributed three points (2-1—3) in 19 outings. Becher spent his youth career split between HC Poruba and AZ Havirov in Czechia.

The Red Wings held their morning skate ahead of tonight’s rematch with the Buffalo Sabres (7 PM EDT start on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit/97.1 FM), and with Tyler Motte out, the only change in the Wings’ lineup will be Erik Gustafsson in for Justin Holl (per the Hockey News’s Sam Stockton).

The Sabres didn’t hold a morning skate after last night’s 4-3 loss to the New York Islanders, but Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will be tonight’s goaltender, and it sounds like the Sabres are going to make lineup changes as they hope to snap a 2-game losing streak.

After the morning skate, Alex DeBrincat and coach Derek Lalonde spoke with the media:

Updated at 11:04 AM: This one is going to be tricky. The Detroit Red Wings (4-5-and-1) will be taking on the Buffalo Sabres (4-6-and-2) this evening (7 PM EDT start on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit/97.1 FM), and both teams come into the game on losing streaks.

Detroit is 0-2-and-1 in its past three games; Buffalo has lost 2 in a row, most recently dropping a 4-3 decision to the New York Islanders last night.

The Red Wings will be revenge-minded after dropping a 5-3 decision to Buffalo last Saturday, but the Sabres are plain old pissed off after last night’s loss, as BuffaloSabres.com’s Jourdon LaBarber’s game preview suggests:

The Sabres opened the scoring with a power-play goal from Dylan Cozens and received a Gordie Howe hat trick from Jason Zucker (a goal, an assist, and a fight), but defensive miscues added up for the second loss in a row.

“I think we had too many mental mistakes,” Zucker said. “Gave them chances off of plays we shouldn’t have, forwards not covering for D. Too many little mental lapses. … Against a team like that that plays stingy defense with a big D corps, it’s hard to create offense. So, if you keep giving them two-goal leads, it’s going to be hard to come back.”

As far as tonight’s game is concerned, LaBarber, Buffalo Hockey Beat’s Bill Hoppe and WGR 550’s Paul Hamilton all suggest that there will be changes to the Sabres’ lineup from last night’s game, but they’re not going to hold a morning skate after traveling to Detroit overnight, so we can expect an Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in goal, and an update from coach Lindy ruff at 4:45 PM (per LaBarber).

There’s also this from Field Level Media’s game preview:

Following the Saturday contest, the Red Wings play six of their next seven games on the road. The Sabres will play four of the ensuing five games at home.

The Sabres’ PR department does a nice job of setting up tonight’s game via Tweet…

Tage Thompson is riding a six-game point streak (5+5) against Detroit and he has registered 18 points (8+10) in his last 10 games against the Red Wings. pic.twitter.com/RxC7C8Ria5

— Buffalo Sabres PR (@SabresPR) November 2, 2024

Ken Kal posted the game sheet on Twitter…

Good Morning fans! Here are tonight’s rosters to chew on. There will be scratches. Goes good with a Buffalo Chicken Sandwich, Tater Tots, and a Genny Cream Ale. Catch the game at 6:45pm ⁦@971theticketxyt⁩ pic.twitter.com/ijSYTRXis5

— Ken Kal (@KenKalDRW) November 2, 2024

You can read the rest of the game notes here…

Per the Grand Rapids Griffins on Twitter:

UPDATE: The Red Wings reassigned goaltender Carter Gylander to the @ToledoWalleye from the Griffins. In addition, the Griffins released left wing Trenton Bliss from his professional tryout, returning him to the @ToledoWalleye #GoGRG

DETAILS >> https://t.co/yZSF5MYsZr pic.twitter.com/aKdwAF8u9Z

— Grand Rapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) November 2, 2024

Here’s the press release:

The Athletic asked its NHL beat writers to discuss the “biggest concern” facing each and every one of the NHL’s 32 teams one month into the NHL season, and Max Bultman picked a familiar one for the Red Wings:

Detroit Red Wings

A lack of offensive zone time: There are a lot of concerns accompanying Detroit’s 4-5-1 start, but this is the one that sums them all up best. Detroit just hasn’t spent enough time in its opponent’s end. According to data from NHL EDGE, the Red Wings have played just 37.3 percent of the time in the offensive zone, the lowest percentage in the league. That stat is likely a symptom of multiple issues, including getting hemmed into their own zone too often and flaws with the team’s forecheck, but it sums up Detroit’s offensive woes accurately. The Red Wings knew they lost a lot of offense this summer and that it would be hard to replace, but they’re not even really giving themselves a chance to do so. — Max Bultman

Continued; the Wings’ players discussed their desire to increase their offensive “pop” with both DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills and MLive’s Ansar Khan on Friday, so they’re at least aware of the problem.

From the Detroit Red Wings comes this 2-minute clip offering the Red Wings’ “Hardest-Working Plays of the Month” of October:

Shutouts, a shorty & more! 🚨

Check out our Hardest Working Plays of the Month, presented by @carhartt! ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/qYTiw9PAE9

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) November 1, 2024

According to DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills, the Red Wings’ leadership corps believes that the team needs to improve its self-confidence in order to succeed in November:

“It’s guys wanting the puck on their stick and feeling confident to make plays,” [Dylan] Larkin said after practice at Little Caesars Arena’s BELFOR Training Center on Friday morning. “I think we have to build that. We have guys like myself that can do it and want the puck on their stick. It’s just confidence individually, as a team and when we walk into any building on any night, we have confidence that we’re going to win that game.”

Patrick Kane agreed “100 percent” with Larkin.

“I think we’ve had stretches and periods where we’ve played fearless, and took it to some of these teams,” Kane said. “That’s the way you got to play in this league. You can’t think about making a mistake. That mistake is probably going to happen. You got to play with some swagger and fearlessness. Try to take it to some of these teams, stay on the attack and stay aggressive. I think when we do that, we’ve shown we’re a pretty good team.”

Building confidence isn’t an overnight thing, hence why Larkin and Kane both pointed to the Red Wings’ ability to maintain possession in the offensive zone as a way of taking off some pressure defensively.

Per NHL EDGE, at even strength, Detroit is spending 44.2 percent of its time in the defensive zone compared to 37.3 percent in the offensive zone and 18.5 in the neutral zone this season.

“When we get into that O-zone, we have a lot of players that can make plays, create some time and space, and capitalize on those opportunities,” Kane said. “We’ve done it throughout the season, just not consistent enough. It’s something we’re talking about every day and trying to build on.”

Continued