Author: George Malik

My name is George Malik, and I'm the Malik Report's editor/blogger/poster. I have been blogging about the Red Wings since 2006, and have worked with MLive and Kukla's Korner. Thank you for reading!

Red Wings-Blackhawks wrap-up: efficient Wings, checking line sweep the Blackhawks

The Detroit Red Wings swept their preseason slate against the Chicago Blackhawks by defeating the Hawks 2-0 on Friday evening at Little Caesars Arena. Detroit also took down the Hawks 4-2 in Chicago on Wednesday, so this was a satisfying sweep of the hated Hawks (even if it is only preseason hockey).

Detroit will continue its preseason slate against the Pittsburgh Penguins tomorrow night (7 PM EDT start on DetroitRedWings.com) with Patrick Kane in the lineup and Ville Husso and Sebastian Cossa splitting goaltending duties (per DetroitRedWings.com’s Carley Johnston).

Neither the Red Wings nor the Blackhawks iced their preseason best on Friday–Detroit’s lineup consisted of the Tarasenko-Compher-Berggren line, the dominant Rasmussen-Copp-Fischer line, and mid-season form from Chiarot and Seider on defense, with an astute Alex Lyon in goal for the first two periods, but then there were a significant number of young players and the Wings’ two try-outs in Isaac Ratcliffe and Alex Chiasson.

Chicago’s lineup was very young, though it included Mt. Clemens’ Frank Nazar and fellow rookie A.J. Spellacy, and their best player was goaltender Arvid Soderblom, who stopped 29 shots…

But the Red Wings deserve full marks for serving as a strong under-card to the playoff-clinching Detroit Tigers thanks to an efficient first 40 minutes, registering a goal at 4:10 of the 2nd thanks to a pretty passing play from Rasmussen and Copp to Christian Fischer, and then a power play goal in which Vladimir Tarasenko took a set of passes from Copp and J.T. Compher, and #11 roofed the puck over Soderblom…

And when the Hawks pushed in the 3rd period, a superb 9-save performance by Cam Talbot (after Lyon stopped 13 shots) sewed up a shutout and a sweep.

It wasn’t the Tigers making the playoffs, but it was fun to watch, audio glitches from the Red Wings’ stream included.

Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde told the Free Press’s Helene St. James that he was satisfied with his team’s effort:

Continue reading Red Wings-Blackhawks wrap-up: efficient Wings, checking line sweep the Blackhawks

Tweets of note: Kane will skate vs. Pens; Husso and Cossa to split netminding duties

Per DetroitRedWings.com’s Carley Johnston, regarding Saturday night’s game vs. the Pittsburgh Penguins:

Red Wings-vs-Blackhawks preseason quick take: Undercard Red Wings efficient in a 2-0 victory over Sweep Home, Chicago

The Detroit Red Wings played the back half of a home-and-home series with the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night at Little Caesars Arena.

Detroit won their first game against Chicago 4-2 on Wednesday in the Windy City, and Friday’s lineup for the home opener was a little different:

The Red Wings were of course the undercard to the playoff-clinching Detroit Tigers on Friday night, but they were nonetheless efficient, defeating Chicago 2-0 on the strength of an even-strength goal by Christian Fischer (from Copp and Seider) at 4:10 of the 2nd, a 5-on-4 power play goal from Tarasenko (from Copp and Compher) at 12:32 of the 2nd, and fine performances by Alex Lyon and Cam Talbot, who stopped 13 and 9 shots, respectively.

Continue reading Red Wings-vs-Blackhawks preseason quick take: Undercard Red Wings efficient in a 2-0 victory over Sweep Home, Chicago

Marco Kasper, ‘rink rat’

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a notebook article which discusses both Alex Chiasson’s recovery from hip surgery and Marco Kasper’s evolution as a young pro hockey player:

If you’re looking for Marco Kasper, you can usually find him on the ice still working on his skills after practice. The Wings’ 2022 first-round draft pick (eighth overall) is a genuine rink rat, along with several other young Detroit players.

“It’s just us, all of the players, pushing each other,” Kasper said. “We all want to get better and really strive to be a hard-working team. Just working with the skill guys out there. That makes us get better.”

After a slow start last season, Kasper ended on an impressive note in Grand Rapids, with 35 points (14 goals, 21 assists) in 71 games. Kasper was one of the better Griffins in the playoffs, with seven points (four goals) in nine games. Kasper felt his first pro season in Grand Rapids was a big step in his career.

“I have a lot more confidence this year,” Kasper said. “We worked a lot last year in Grand Rapids. That was a big part for us young guys to develop, get a chance to adjust to the pro level over here in North America and just work on our game a lot.”

Lalonde has been impressed by the amount of work Kasper has put in.

“He doesn’t even look like the same athlete as last year at this time,” Lalonde said. “He built some confidence from his growth last year and that was very valuable for him. He’s got some attitude into camp this year, which is certainly a positive.”

Continued

Pittsburgh will be sending its ‘B Team’ to Detroit on Saturday

The Pittsburgh Penguins are playing back-to-back games this weekend, coming to Detroit for Saturday night’s 7 PM game vs. Detroit and then heading to Sudbury, Ontario for Kraft Hockeyville on Sunday, so their lineup for Saturday’s game, released today, is not inspiring:

Continue reading Pittsburgh will be sending its ‘B Team’ to Detroit on Saturday

Prospect round-up: Bicker’s earning ice time in the DEL

Of Red Wings prospect-related note:

In the Finnish Liiga, Jesse Kiiskinen finished even with 2 shots in 12:35 played as HPK Hameenlinna won 5-2 over Kiekko-Espoo;

In the Swedish Allsvenskan, Liam Dower Nilsson finished even with 1 shot as IF Bjorkloven won 4-3 in a shootout over Sodertalje SK;

Maximilian Kilpinen didn’t play in Osterlunds IK’s 3-2 shootout win over Vimmerby HC;

In the Swedish J20 league, Charlie Forslund finished even with 2 shots as Mora IK lost 4-2 to Leksands IF;

And in the DEL, Kevin Bicker finished even in a very solid 15:13 played (he was playing 5-8 minutes last year) as the Frankfurt Lowen lost 2-0 to ERC Ingolstadt.

Update: in the OHL, Landon Miller gave up 4 goals on 11 shots and was pulled in the Soo Greyhounds’ 6-4 loss to the Saginaw Spirit.

Tweets of note: Wings post official lineup for tonight’s game, and cheer on the Tigers

The Red Wings posted their official lineup for this evening, and it reflects the lineup appoximated by the Wings’ beat writers during the morning skate…

And the Red Wings are all Tigers fans today:

Vladimir Tarasenko’s evolving as he makes his Wings debut

MLive’s Ansar Khan posted an article noting that Vladimir Tarasenko is making his Red Wings game debut tonight:

Tarasenko makes his Red Wings preseason debut tonight against Chicago at Little Caesars Arena (7 p.m., no TV, livestreamed on detroitredwings.com).

He’ll be skating on a line centered by J.T. Compher, with Jonatan Berggren on the left wing. Patrick Kane might ordinarily be in Berggren’s spot, but Berggren is getting a look with more skilled players.

Kane has played against Tarasenko for many years.

“He’s a great shooter and he’s similar to (Alex) DeBrincat in the way he’s able to find open areas and get his shot off quickly,” Kane said. “So, hopefully if I’m controlling the puck I can find him in certain areas where he can have a good chance to score. I think we know each other from our time in New York as well, so pretty familiar with personality and the way he wants to play. We’re both right wingers, so it’ll be a little bit different to see who’s going to move over to the left or what we’re going to do in that respect. But playing with J.T. and Vlad, there’s a lot of potential there and could really be a good second scoring line.”

…

Coach Derek Lalonde said Tarasenko’s game has evolved.

“He was an offensive-only type guy, maybe leaned a little bit for the offense, and I think he’s seen winning a little bit,” Lalonde said. “Watching him in Florida last year, he’s F-3 (third forward high), he’s above the puck. Hopefully, he can bring some of that to us because that’s an area we need to grow as a group.”

Continued

Eyes on Seider and Chiarot

The Hockey News’s Connor Eargood offers 3 items of note to watch in tonight’s rematch between the Red Wings and Blackhawks (7 PM EDT start on DetroitRedWings.com/ChicagoBlackhawks.com), and while I must suggest that all preseason games need to be taken with some salt, I’m interested in Eargood’s 3rd item the most:

Moritz Seider and Ben Chiarot Building off Experience Together

The Red Wings’ top pairing heading into both Friday’s preseason game will be Ben Chiarot and Moritz Seider. While Lalonde stressed not reading too much into line combinations, it appears as though this is the most likely top pair duo for the season as well. After playing together parts of the past two seasons, Chiarot and Seider build on a wealth of experience together. The hope is that this experience can make them more effective together.

“I think over the years, I’ve learned (you’re) just not so much complimenting the other guy. You just play your game, and he plays his game,” Chiarot said Friday. “And over time, through camp and over the years now, we’ve played together a decent amount. We know what to expect of each other. I know what he’s going to try and do in most circumstances, and I think he has a good read on what I’m going to do.”

When Chiarot first joined the Red Wings, the vision was that he and Seider would comprise the top pair. But struggles showed up early. He and Seider were one of Detroit’s least efficient units, finishing the 2022-23 season with a meager 44.4% expected goal share while bleeding 2.66 goals against per 60 as tracked by Moneypuck. And on the heels of Seider’s Calder-winning rookie season, a lot of fans pinned these struggles on Chiarot. 

Right or wrong, once Jake Walman and Seider played together after that, they took off as one of Detroit’s better pairings. The Chiarot-Seider pairing was left on a shelf until late last season, when Jake Walman was out of the lineup with an injury. The statistical results were once again poor — an even worse 43.1% expected goal share and 2.98 goals against per 60 compared to their previous campaign. But this came in the context of tougher usage, and they were also the best numbers among all of Seider’s consistent pairings.

So now, the Chiarot-Seider pairing is together yet again, and this time they have more experience to work off of. The hope is that increased experience can help them improve.

Continued; I’m still hoping that the Wings find a way to spare Seider and Chiarot of some of their difficult shut-down minutes, be that by adding a defenseman via trade or by organically finding someone on the team who can step up and play shut-down time (Simon Edvinsson at some point?).