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!

Lyon and Talbot are on a run

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff affords Red Wings coach Todd McLellan and forward Alex DeBrincat the opportunity to praise the Red Wings’ goaltending duo of Alex Lyon and Cam Talbot:

“I think it’s essential,” McLellan said of having two goalies he can count on. “Often you have two goalies but one’s not playing as well so you run the hot one and try to get the other one playing again.”

McLellan was able to alternate his goalies during the club’s four-game Western win streak. As the team comes home to face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, Alex Lyon gets the nod in net.

“We’re fortunate both are playing well and contributing to the team’s success,” McLellan said. “They play off each other, they both practice hard. We haven’t had to go and rescue a goalie yet, if I’m trying to find a word, recover and rescue a goalie that hasn’t played well and overrun another one. So that makes the dual goaltender luxury even better.”

…

“They’ve been awesome,” Red Wings forward Alex DeBrincat said. “Big saves when we need them. They’re our best players right now. Hopefully they can keep that going.”

Lyon is 8-2-1 in his last 11 decisions. He allowed two goals or fewer in five of his last six starts and hasn’t lost back-to-back games since mid-November.

Counterpart Cam Talbot has won five games in a row and his save percentage has finished above .920 in four of those five wins. He is 10-1 over his past 11 decisions. He’s allowed two goals or fewer in seven of his last 10 starts.

Continued

Tweet of note: Patrick Kane speaks with WDIV’s Hobie Artigue

Here’s Red Wings forward Patrick Kane speaking with WDIV’s Hobie Artigure:

Finish strong!

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed his afternoon notebook article, discussing the Red Wings’ desire to close out their pre-Four Nations Face-Off schedule with a crucial win against the Tampa Bay Lightning tomorrow (1 PM EST start on ABC/Sportsnet/97.1 FM):

“I dislike the last and first games coming out of the All-Star breaks or Christmas breaks or whatever,” McLellan said. “Because it can get away on you. A 1 p.m. afternoon game (Saturday), so they’ll probably be waking up in the morning and their wives have the bags packed for the kids already and stuff like that. We have a task in front of us and we expect a lot from each other. So while there will be distractions, expectations are high from player to player and from coach to player and back and forth, that we give each other all we have. Let’s focus and get it done.”

Forwards Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond aren’t getting much of break since both will competing in the 4 Nations Face-Off; Larkin for Team USA and Raymond for Sweden. But both feel the Wings will be ready mentally to finish this part of the regular-season schedule the right way.

“All of the games are important,” Raymond said. “Against divisional opponents, it always means more, especially the way the standings are right now. But at the same time for us, we need to play our game and the way we’ve been doing it the last seven games and just keeping that momentum.”

Still, regardless of Saturday’s outcome, the Wings will be heading into the break in a significantly better frame of mind knowing they are in the thick of the playoff chase and the season has been transformed by the 15-4-1 record since McLellan has taken over.

“With the way we’ve been playing and how our line is playing, before Christmas I remember thinking just maybe trying to get there (in the schedule), grinding mentally to get there and something to look forward to,” Larkin said. “The way the guys have responded post-Christmas and the way things are going, you almost don’t want to stop when you get on a roll like this. The break will be good for guys but when you are playing this well, you want to keep it going and keep playing.”

Continued (paywall)

Video: Raymond, Larkin, coach McLellan speak after Friday’s practice

The Red Wings held practice at Little Caesars Arena’s BELFOR Training Center on Friday, preparing for Saturday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning (1 PM EST start on ABC/Sportsnet/97.1 FM). After practice, coach Todd McLellan confirmed that Alex Lyon would start against the Bolts, and that J.T. Compher would return from an undisclosed injury.

The Red Wings posted a video of post-practice remarks from Lucas Raymond, Dylan Larkin and coach McLellan:

On Compher’s return and Lyon starting vs. Tampa Bay

The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton provides personnel updates from Friday’s practice, noting that J.T. Compher will return to the lineup on Saturday vs. Tampa Bay, and that Alex Lyon will start, per coach Todd McLellan:

Per coach Todd McLellan, Compher “looks good” to return to the lineup Saturday.  “I don’t know if he came off of IR yet or not, but I talked to him this morning.  He feels good, so I don’t see any reason he doesn’t play,” the coach added.

At Friday’s practice, Compher practiced in a fourth line role between Joe Veleno and Jonatan Berggren.  Based on McLellan’s post-practice assessment, it seems like a safe assumption that is where he will be for Saturday’s game.

McLellan also tapped Alex Lyon as Detroit’s starter in net for Saturday’s game, while also speaking to the luxury of having two goaltenders simultaneously in strong form.  “I think it’s essential,” McLellan said, of having two reliable goaltending options in the modern NHL.  “Often you have two goalies, [and] one’s maybe not playing as well, so you run the hot one, and you try to get the other one playing again.  We’re fortunate that both are playing well and contributing to the team success.  They play off each other.  They both practice hard.  We haven’t had to go and rescue a goalie yet, if I’m trying to find a word, to recover and rescue a goalie that maybe hasn’t played well and overrun another one.  So that makes the dual goaltender luxury even better.”

Tweet of note: BIG 10 Network profiles Red Savage

The BIG 10 Network posted a 5-minute Twitter video profiling Red Wings prospect and Michigan State University captain Red Savage:

Cotsonika on the Red Wings’ resurgent performance under coach McLellan

NHL.com’s Nicholas J. Cotsonika posted a lengthy column about the Red Wings’ performance under coach Todd McLellan:

“Obviously, I’m not sure any of us really thought we’d be in this position right now,” forward Patrick Kane said after a 5-4 shootout win at the Seattle Kraken on Sunday, “but what a spot we’re in.”

That sets up a huge game Saturday, Detroit’s last before the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off, a best-on-best tournament featuring Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States in Montreal and Boston from Feb. 12-20. The Red Wings host the Lightning at Little Caesars Arena on national television (1 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, SN).

“Ever since Todd came in, I think we’ve just proved that we’re a good hockey team,” defenseman Moritz Seider said Sunday. “I mean, we knew we had it in the locker room, and we just couldn’t find a spark, and obviously he brought that extra spark, brought us back to life.”

This is the simplest way to explain it: The Red Wings had been stuck in a downward spiral, playing on their heels, losing games, losing confidence. McLellan called them “mechanical.” That’s why he told them to just play [bleeping] hockey.

McLellan jump-started their energy and emphasized aggressiveness, playing to their strengths. Along the way, he made structural adjustments and gave young players more opportunities. Instead of a downward spiral, they’re in a virtuous cycle — on their toes, winning, gaining confidence.

McLellan said Thursday the Red Wings are “pretty close” to establishing an identity.

“I think we can skate,” he said. “I think we can play with pace. Combine that with checking for chances and taking pride in that, seems to be how we’re rolling out wins.”

Continued

Post-practice Tweets: Lyon starts vs. Tampa Bay, Compher to return

The Detroit Red Wings will attempt to extend their winning streak to 8 games when they play an important divisional game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday (1 PM EST start on ABC/Sportsnet/97.1 FM). When the Red Wings practiced on Friday, it appeared that J.T. Compher would rejoin the lineup, and that Alex Lyon would start against Tampa.

After practice, the Red Wings’ players and coach spoke with the media:

Unleashing the hounds

Michigan Public’s Doug Tribou spoke with author and sports guru John U. Bacon about the Red Wings’ resurgence, and here’s what Bacon had to say:

DT: Let’s turn to the NHL. The Red Wings started out the season with just 13 wins in their first 35 games. Then they fired head coach Derek Lalonde and replaced him with Todd McLellan. Since then, Detroit has won 15 of 20 games, including seven in a row. What has McLellan done differently since taking over?

JUB: It’s actually quite simple, and I love it. Derek Lalonde, the previous coach, had them doing all kinds of very strict systems. They’re not called plays in hockey, but systems. Kind of railroad tracks that you have to follow in the offensive zone. So instead of responding and reacting and being aggressive, you’re thinking too much and you’re going too slow. So what did McLellan do? He said, Unleash the hounds. One of his first speeches was, you guys been playing this game your entire life. You know how to play offense. Go do it. And so he let them go.

A book called Let Them Lead, that reminds me of that book. Some high school hockey coach, I think, advocated this. I’m sure [McLellan’s] read it, too, by the way [laughs].

DT: [Laughs]

JUB: But it boils down to a very simple idea. Boils down to: trust your people. He did. These guys can play. The last 20 games, they’re the best team in the NHL. That’s a turnaround.

Continued