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!

The Wings may be frustrated by their own play of late, but they still care about getting better

The Detroit Red Wings were out-shot 11-8 over the course of the 3rd period in last night’s 2-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche, with the vast majority of the Wings’ 8 shots coming during the game’s final 2 frantic minutes of play.

As Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff notes, the Avs’ relentless play during the 3rd period “taught the Wings a lesson” as to how to play with a lead:

Carrying a 2-1 lead into the third period, it was easy to decipher why Colorado is now 10-0 this season when leading after two periods. Instead of sitting back and sitting on their one-goal advantage, from the drop of the puck to start the final period of regulation, the Avs got after the Red Wings.

They were playing aggressively, attacking Detroit. It was a formula that wound up pinning the Wings in their own zone, wearing them down and winning shift after shift in closing out their 2-1 victory.

“They just won some shifts and they got some zone time,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said.

Detroit’s first shot on goal in the third period was by Alex DeBrincat at the 6:30 mark. The Wings wouldn’t register another until there was 2:31 left in the frame and they’d pulled goalie Ville Husso for an extra attacker.

“I think it’s something that we can learn from, what they did in the third,” Red Wings center JT Compher said. “It’s a close game, they’re only up a goal. They stayed aggressive on us and we didn’t execute well enough to get out of our zone quickly, and then they kind of get the momentum of rolling lines over on us, and we weren’t able to flip that fast enough.”

Continued; it was frustrating to watch the Wings come out and play so flat for the early part of the 3rd period, so it wasn’t simply the Avs imposing their will against the Red Wings…

But the Red Wings were also out-played and out-worked not only for the majority of the 3rd period, but also for the majority of the 60-minutes worth of play during last night’s game.

Detroit’s been out-worked for long stretches by the Devils, Canucks, Bruins, Senators and now the Avalanche, and that’s not acceptable. At least the team is admitting that it’s frustrated with its own play instead of continuing obliviously forward.

How so? MLive’s Ansar Khan took note of the other comments that the Red Wings made after last night’s game…

Continue reading The Wings may be frustrated by their own play of late, but they still care about getting better

An early Red Wings-Sabres preview

The Associated Press has already posted a preview of Monday night’s game between the Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres:

BOTTOM LINE: The Detroit Red Wings head into the matchup against the Buffalo Sabres as losers of five games in a row.

Buffalo is 11-13-3 overall with a 3-3-0 record in Atlantic Division play. The Sabres are fifth in NHL play with 116 total penalties (averaging 4.3 per game).

Detroit is 10-13-4 overall and 1-4-1 against the Atlantic Division. The Red Wings have a -16 scoring differential, with 67 total goals scored and 83 conceded.

Monday’s game is the third meeting between these teams this season. The Red Wings won 2-1 in the previous meeting.

TOP PERFORMERS: Alex Tuch has scored eight goals with 16 assists for the Sabres. Jason Zucker has two goals and four assists over the last 10 games.

Dylan Larkin has 12 goals and nine assists for the Red Wings. Lucas Raymond has eight goals and four assists over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Sabres: 3-5-2, averaging 2.1 goals, 3.1 assists, four penalties and 9.7 penalty minutes while giving up 2.8 goals per game.

Red Wings: 3-4-3, averaging 2.5 goals, 4.2 assists, 3.8 penalties and 8.1 penalty minutes while giving up 2.8 goals per game.

Red Wings-Avalanche wrap-up: frustrated Red Wings believe hard work is their solution

The Detroit Red Wings have an 0-3-and-2 record over their past 5 games thanks to a 2-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night.

Detroit just can’t seem to get out of its own way right now. When they play great defensively, they can’t score. When they score, they can’t play defense. And their special teams remain mixed (Detroit was 0-for-1 on the PP and 0-for-1 on the PK), to boot, which can just kill momentum, as the Avs did when taking their 2-0 lead only 2:44 into the 2nd on a Cale Makar goal.

Ville Husso was very good on Saturday evening, too, stopping the 23 shots he saw; the Avs’ screens were the reasons why two pucks got past him.

The Avalanche had lost 4 of their past 6 games coming into Saturday night’s affair, so it wasn’t as if they were rolling along, but Colorado Hockey Now’s Aarif Deen notes that the Avs turned the ship around in a hurry:

Continue reading Red Wings-Avalanche wrap-up: frustrated Red Wings believe hard work is their solution

Red Wings-Avalanche quick take: Georgiev, Avs stifle Detroit’s meager offense

The Detroit Red Wings hosted the Colorado Avalanche at Little Caesars Arena for the Wings’ only home game for almost two weeks’ worth of play.

The 14-13-and-0 Avalanche have lost 4 of their past 6 games, but the Avs believed that the return of Ross Colton would stabilize their lineup. The 10-12-and-4 Red Wings hoped to snap an 0-2-and-2 streak while continuing to play without the services of goaltenders Cam Talbot and Alex Lyon, who will likely remain out until the Wings host the Maple Leafs next Saturday night.

On Saturday evening, the Red Wings dropped a particularly frustrating game to the Avs, losing 2-1 as the Avs took a 2-0 lead on goals by Nichushkin and Makar, and while Lucas Raymond’s chest tipped in a Dylan Larkin shot at 18:13 of the 2nd, Colorado out-shot Detroit 11-1 over the first half of the 3rd period, and Detroit rallied with 7 shots in the 2nd half…

But Alexandar Georgiev stopped 28 of 29 shots, Detroit was only afforded 1 power play, which went 0-for-1, the Avs scored on theirs…

And that was the game. Detroit sure tried hard to make their own breaks, but sometimes they couldn’t get out of their own way, and Colorado persisted and prevailed because they earned the upper hand.

Detroit is now 0-3-and-2 in its last 5 games, and the Wings head to Buffalo on Monday and Philadelphia on Thursday.

Continue reading Red Wings-Avalanche quick take: Georgiev, Avs stifle Detroit’s meager offense

Husso’s happy to be back in Detroit

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan spoke with Red Wings goaltender Ville Husso about his status as having returned to the Wings after spending a chunk of the 2024-2025 season with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins:

“It’s been a little crazy, not knowing (what’s next),” said Husso, who is healthy after fighting injuries that wiped away the second half of last season for him. “But now, I feel like it has calmed me down a little bit. And for me, whatever happens, happens.”

After the opening night loss to Pittsburgh (10 saves on 14 shots), Husso made a start Nov. 9 against the New York Rangers (20 saves, 4-0 loss), then relieved Cam Talbot on Sunday in an overtime loss against Vancouver (15 saves on 18 shots).

Husso started the 3-2 overtime loss Tuesday in Boston (season-high 32 saves) and Thursday’s 2-1 loss in Ottawa (30 saves), playing well enough to earn victories both times.

“(Husso) has done great for us,” Lalonde said. “Very tough circumstances and situation, and he’s gotten points in (two of three games) for us.”

The move to Grand Rapids was beneficial as it enabled Husso to knock some rust off after a long period of inactivity. Husso won all four his decisions with the Griffins (in five total appearances), with a sparkling 1.58 goals-against average and .944 save percentage.

“I had some good games in Grand Rapids, good practices,” Husso said. “But it was nice to come back here for sure.”

Continued (paywall)

Red Wings and Avs game-day notebooks

Of Red Wings-related note this afternoon/evening:

  1. MLive’s Ansar Khan filed a game-day notebook which discusses the Red Wings’ inability to win one-goal games of late:

The Colorado Avalanche are 8-1-0 in games decided by a goal. The Red Wings are winless in four (0-2-2) and each game was decided by a goal. Detroit’s past six losses were one-goal games, including three in overtime. Had the Red Wings (10-12-4) flipped even half of those games they might be sitting in a playoff position today.

“No doubt it increases the frustration level,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “The encouraging part is our process. We could be sitting here talking about a three-game winning streak. The underlying numbers are probably telling us we should have won all three games but we didn’t. We got to find a way to create our own breaks, make the play in the end which the opposing teams made and stay with it. But there’s no doubt about it, there’s definitely a huge frustration level to it because we’re a pretty good group on holding ourselves accountable on performance and we’ve done some good things.”

Defenseman Moritz Seider added: “I think we have to take away the positive first, that we are in every single game until the last second. And obviously, on the other side, we have to find ways to win those hockey games. I mean, you’re putting so much on the line, and it’s really frustrating when you don’t get the results you’re looking for. We just have to make sure we mature a little bit and find ways to win hockey games, because those are all winnable games.”

2. DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills posted a game-day preview as well…

Continue reading Red Wings and Avs game-day notebooks

Twitter video: Bruce, Kal preview Wings-Avs on ‘The Forecheck’

Superb game preview from Daniella Bruce and Ken Kal as always:

Video: Petry and Lalonde speak with the media ahead of tonight’s Wings-Avs game

The Detroit Red Wings host the Colorado Avalanche this evening (7 PM EDT start on FanDuel SportsNet Extra/Altitude/97.1 FM), and the Red Wings will be starting Ville Husso, probably for the next couple of games, with Erik Gustafsson and Joe Veleno rotating into the Wings’ lineup tonight.

Meanwhile, the Avs’ morning skate took place at Little Caesars Arena around 11:30 AM…

Continue reading Video: Petry and Lalonde speak with the media ahead of tonight’s Wings-Avs game

Red Wings-Avalanche post-morning skate Tweets: It’s (probably) Husso’s crease for the next three games; Gustafsson and Veleno are ‘in’ tonight

The Detroit Red Wings are starting Ville Husso and making one lineup change two lineup changes (Erik Gustafsson is in, Albert Johansson will sit, and Joe Veleno is in for Christian Fischer) as they prepare to host the struggling Colorado Avalanche this evening (7 PM EST start on FanDuel SportsNet Extra/Altitude/97.1 FM).

After Detroit’s morning skate, the players and coach Derek Lalonde spoke with the media:

The Avs website’s Coby Maeir posted a Colorado-centric game preview as well:

Continue reading Red Wings-Avalanche post-morning skate Tweets: It’s (probably) Husso’s crease for the next three games; Gustafsson and Veleno are ‘in’ tonight

Red Wings-Avalanche morning skate Tweets and game preview: Husso starts, Johansson-Gustafsson rotation continues

The 10-12-and-4 Red Wings host the 14-and-13 Colorado Avalanche tonight (7 PM EST on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit Extra/Altitude/97.1 FM). As you know by now, the Red Wings are 0-2-and-2 over their past four games; the Avs have lost 4 of their past 6 games, too, most recently having lost a 5-3 decision to Carolina on Thursday.

The Avs have brought in Scott Wedgewood to try to stabilize their goaltending, and Valeri Nichushkin recently returned from the NHLPA’s Player Assistance Program, so Colorado is a lot like Detroit–they’ve been on the skids of late, but they hope to turn things around in a meaningful manner as they play game 4 of a 5-game road trip tonight.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen took note of the Avs’ struggles in goal thus far:

Detroit players are looking to shake off a four-game losing streak (0-2-2) tonight when it faces the Colorado Avalanche at Little Caesars Arena (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network). Detroit has scored two or fewer goals in 14 of 26 games (53.8%). But maybe coach Derek Lalonde’s squad has a higher probability of scoring against the Avalanche. They have surrendered three or more goals in 18 of 27 games (66.7%) this season.

The Red Wings hit the ice at Little Caesars Arena around 10:30 AM for their morning skate…

And it appears that the Albert Johansson-or-Erik Gustafsson rotation continues:

There are no changes for the power play, however…

If you’re interested, here are the NHL’s Game Notes, all 79 pages of them:

Continue reading Red Wings-Avalanche morning skate Tweets and game preview: Husso starts, Johansson-Gustafsson rotation continues