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!

Morning news: Wings’ reset under coach McLellan finds Detroit in a Wild Card spot

As noted after last night’s 3-2 overtime victory over the Vancouver Canucks, the 27-21-and-5 Detroit Red Wings now have 59 points, and they sit in the Eastern Conference’s first Wild Card spot. Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

  1. As Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff notes, it’s been a hell of a transformation since Todd McLellan took over as the Red Wings’ coach on December 26th:

“Tip our hat to all the players for crawling back into this thing, but all we’ve done is get back to the start line,” McLellan was saying after Sunday’s win.

Fair enough. That’s one of McLellan’s strengths, after all. Yes, he wants his team to keep their eyes on the prize. At the same time, he knows the best chance of completing that arduous journey is by embracing the challenge of every step along the way.

“I’m not changing how I approach it,” McLellan said. “A game at a time, a practice at a time. Find ways to get better.”

While we’re talking about doffing chapeaus of recognition, save some of those kudos for the new coach. Can a mid-season replacement with the Jack Adams Trophy as NHL coach of the year? McLellan is certainly doing his utmost to state his case.

It was Christmas Day when McLellan got the job offer from Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman. When he was arriving in town, the Red Wings were eight points out of the playoffs. Following a 14-4-1 run under their new coach, they’ve already completely erased that deficit.

2. The Free Press’s Helene St. James spoke with Patrick Kane, Alex DeBrincat and coach McLellan after last night’s 3-2 OT win over Vancouver. She focuses on the same point as Duff does while pointing out that the Wings have won 6 straight games, and are 14-4-and-3 under McLellan:

Continue reading Morning news: Wings’ reset under coach McLellan finds Detroit in a Wild Card spot

Red Wings-Canucks wrap-up: Lyon, DeBrincat deliver as Detroit defeats Vancouver in overtime

The Detroit Red Wings earned one point and then two on Sunday night, defeating the trade-revamped Vancouver Canucks 3-2 in overtime.

As such, the Red Wings earned their 6th straight victory, and they swept Western Canada, and the Wings can go 4-for-4 on their 4-games-in-6-nights road trip if they defeat the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday evening.

The other “big deal” about Sunday’s win is this: the Red Wings sit in the Eastern Conference’s first Wild Card spot for the first time since what feels like forever:

The Red Wings also sit 1 point behind the Ottawa Senators for 3rd in the Atlantic, and 5 points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for 2nd. Detroit’s still a full 8 points behind the Atlantic-leading Florida Panthers. They’re unlikely to close that particular gulf, but the actual hope that is behind the Red Wings’ attempt to remain at least playoff-relevant is real.

The Wings are 14-4-and-1 under coach Todd McLellan, and the expectations of excellence aren’t going to wane as the season progresses. That’s a good thing.

Now the Red Wings played anything but an elegant game on Sunday night–they were pretty evidently gassed at times, mentally as well as physically, from the 3-games-in-4-nights grind…

But arguing over who the “better team” was when Detroit got the result is like arguing as to whether the Canadian fans who booed the U.S. national anthem were of poor taste, or were simply exercising their right to free speech (though you have to feel bad for the anthem singer in this instance; sounds like she’s a nice lady). It’s a zero sum game, and there are no winners in this instance.

With all of that being said, Canucks coach Rick Tocchet was pretty sure who should have won the game, as he told the Vancouver Province’s Ben Kuzma:

Continue reading Red Wings-Canucks wrap-up: Lyon, DeBrincat deliver as Detroit defeats Vancouver in overtime

Red Wings-Canucks quick take: Detroit survives Vancouver, wins 3-2 in OT

The Detroit Red Wings attempted to earn their 6th straight win by battling the revamped Vancouver Canucks on Sunday night. Detroit was playing its 2nd game in 21 hours and its 3rd game in 4 nights, so no one was expecting an on-ice Picasso…

And on Sunday night, the Red Wings did not paint anything less than a Rorschach print, but it was pretty ugly enough to count as the team’s 6th win in a row and 3rd in 4 nights. Detroit prevailed 3-2 in overtime over the Canucks, with Alex DeBrincat (2) and Ben Chiarot scoring, Alex Lyon stopping 25 of 27 shots, and DeBrincat earning the winner from Raymond and Seider at 4:17 of overtime.

Continue reading Red Wings-Canucks quick take: Detroit survives Vancouver, wins 3-2 in OT

The Dominik Shine fan club

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a Sunday evening notebook article which discusses the Red Wings’ impressions of Dominik Shine, who’s easy to root for:

Players know his story, understand the long struggle he’s been through, and love the touch of success he’s having.

“It’s such a feel-good story,” [Cam] Talbot said. “He just never wanted to be anywhere else but Grand Rapids, and to get an opportunity to come up here and don the Winged Wheel, it meant a lot to him. And for us to, seeing how excited he is and how much he’s put in to this point. You can see how much it means to him, and we’re trying to feed off that energy because it’s fun to watch.”

The NHL regular season is long and can be draining. In these dog days of the season, a story like Shine’s can invigorate a team and give it some energy.

“Certainly can,” coach Todd McLellan said. “And it has. You get to this point, in January and February, and now teams are giong to wonder what is going to happen. Teams, not just the Wings, are going to start to look ahead and thinking we’re close to some rest (4 Nations Tournament, two-week break). Some healing time. But maybe Dominik can drag us into the games.”

Shine was “pumped” about contributing to Larkin’s goal and getting a point in another Wings victory.

“It means the world,” Shine said. “We wanted to get a good start, so I was pumped to be on the ice for the first one (goal), and to get a point is awesome.”

Continued

Red Wings activate Patrick Kane, place J.T. Compher on Injured Reserve

Per the Red Wings on Twitter:

Update: Per NHL.com’s Aaron Vickers:

Patrick Kane could return to the lineup when the Red Wings visit the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday.

Kane was activated off injured reserve earlier in the day after missing the past 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.

One more Red Wings-Canucks game preview

The Associated Press, Field Level Media and the Canucks’ website all posted previews of tonight’s game between the Detroit Red Wings and Vancouver Canucks (8 PM EST start on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/Sportsnet Pacific/TVA Sports/97.1 FM), and the Canucks’ morning skate revealed that all of the Canucks’ new acquisitions will make their debuts with the team this evening, with Kevin Lankinen starting in goal.

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills has also posted a game preview from the Red Wings’ perspective, noting that the Red Wings are aiming to earn their 6th straight win:

Puck drop for the season series finale between the Red Wings (26-21-5; 57 points) and Canucks (23-18-10; 56 points) is set for 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The last time these clubs faced off was on Dec. 1, when Detroit earned a point in a 5-4 overtime loss at Little Caesars Arena.

“We need to get off to a good start,” Dominik Shine said after the Red Wings’ 3-1 victory over the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday night. “If we can get off to a good start, we have a good chance.”

Shine collected his first career NHL point on Saturday, getting the secondary assist on captain Dylan Larkin’s game-opening goal in the first period. Larkin now has four points (two goals, two assists) during a three-game point streak and 23 points (11 goals, 12 assists) in his last 18 games.

And with one more point this season, Larkin (23-26-49) can become the first Red Wings player to notch four straight 50-point campaigns since Henrik Zetterberg did from 2014-18.

“The leadership of [Larkin], he just kind of pulls everyone along with him,” said goalie Cam Talbot, who made 33 saves against the Flames. “You see [Lucas] Raymond elevate his game, a couple of other guys too. You put Marco Kasper in that category as well, he’s been hot since we put him on that wing. [Larkin’s] just been dragging everyone into the fight, and everyone’s been following.”

As good as some individual offensive performances have been for Detroit, head coach Todd McLellan said the netminder tandem of Talbot and Alex Lyon has also been a key part of the club’s success this season.

“In my opinion, you need to have two [goalies] in the NHL to win,” McLellan said. “You just can’t ride or run one guy anymore. The game’s too intense. There’s volume shooting, so the numbers are going up in the 30s and 40s. The travel, as you can see what we’re going through, is too hard on a single goaltender. To have both playing the way that they are is a real good sign, but often that’s a reflection of the group around them doing some of the things that they need to do.”

Continued

Morning skate Tweets: Vancouver to incorporate acquisitions, start Kevin Lankinen in goal

It’s a circus in Vancouver at the best of times. The Vancouver Canucks are covered with a media frenzy only exceeded by Toronto and Montreal.

Ahead of tonight’s game between the Red Wings and Canucks (8 PM EST start on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/Sportsnet Pacific/TVA Sports/97.1 FM), the Canucks held an optional morning skate, and after having made two dramatic trades on Friday, coach Rick Tocchet told the media that Vancouver will incorporate its new additions into the team’s lineup this evening:

Canucks captain Quinn Hughes is a “game-time decision,” however, with an undisclosed lower-body issue:

As the Red Wings headed to Vancouver after last night’s 3-1 win over Calgary, they’re not holding a morning skate today–after all, today’s game starts at 5 PM local time–so we may not know who’s starting in the Red Wings’ goal, or whether there were any casualties over the course of last night’s game against the Flames, until pregame warmups.

Khan on the Wings’ statistical turnaround

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…

Climbing across the red line

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