Author: George Malik

The Detroit Red Wings attempted to extend their winning streak to 5 games against the struggling New York Islanders on Saturday night at Little Caesars Arena.

The Islanders came into Saturday night’s game on an 0-8-and-1 slide, but they received several lineup reinforcements for Saturday’s game.

Detroit nearly fell into the Islanders’ trap repeatedly–surrendering an early shorthanded goal, affording the Islanders 2-2 and 3-3 ties, and a regulation point as well…

But Givani Smith scored a goal and added an assist, Filip Hronek and Sam Gagner registered pretty markers, and Moritz Seider put on a f***ing clinic in overtime with his game-robbery goal on Sorokin.

Are you kidding me?! #LGRW pic.twitter.com/jpPayJTYDy— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 5, 2021

So Detroit won their 5th straight game and advanced to 9-2-and-2 at home in Game 25.

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan discusses Red Wings defenseman Nick Leddy’s first game vs. his old team, the New York Islanders, tonight:

“A lot of excitement,” said Leddy, who spent the last seven seasons with the Islanders before a July trade brought him to the Red Wings (in exchange for forward Richard Panik and a second-round draft choice).

“For me personally, I’ve played with most of those guys for north of five years. The long playoff runs, some of the tougher years (the Islanders had), and then some of the great years we had together. All those memories and bonds are huge.

“A lot of excitement. (There will) probably have a little nerves out there. I’ve always had great times playing against friends. It’ll be even better playing against some real good friends.”

The strange thing heading into Saturday night is where each team currently sits in the standings, and how, respectively, the seasons have gone.

The Wings are 12-9-3 and have won their last four games. As the schedule curls into December, the Wings have been one of the surprise stories in the NHL.

The Islanders have been too – but for opposite reasons. Entering Saturday’s game, the Islanders were a dismal 5-10-3. But there are likely reasons for the rough start out of the gate.

Continued

The Grand Rapids Griffins posted a Game Day Preview video ahead of tonight’s game vs. Rockford:

The Red Wings posted “The Forecheck” ahead of tonight’s game against the New York Islanders:

Of Red Wings prospect-related note in Europe on Saturday:

In the Finnish Liiga, Eemil Viro finished even with 1 shot in 16:13 played as TPS Turku won 1-0 in a shootout over HPK;

Otto Kivenmaki had an assist, finishing at +1 with 1 shot in 16:49 played as the Lahti Pelicans won 4-2 over KooKoo;

In the SHL, Albert Johansson finished at +1 with 4 shots in 19:42 played, and Gustav Berglund finished at +1 in 7:34 played as Farjestads BK won 5-0 over Oskarshamn;

William Wallinder finished even with 3 shots in 18:44 played as Rogle BK lost 5-4 in overtime to Orebro;

And in Frolunda HC’s 2-1 overtime loss to Linkoping:

Simon Edvinsson finished at -2 with 3 shots in 20:33 played;

Theodor Niederbach finished even in 8:49 played;

And Elmer Soderblom finished at -1 with 5 shots in 15:02 played.

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills spoke with Red Wings executive Jimmy Devellano and former Wing Nick Libett regarding the legacy of one Alex Delvecchio as Delvecchio turns 90 today:

For Red Wings senior vice president & alternate governor Jim Devellano, one of the people lucky enough to know the man, Delvecchio’s commitment to the team and the city of Detroit is the first thing that should be talked about more.

“Alex was somehow able to never leave Detroit as a player, as a coach, as a general manager and he remains here in Detroit some 70 years later,” Devellano said. “I know no other Red Wings player has ever done that. It’s impossible.”

The Fort William, Ontario, Canada, native spent his entire 24-year regular-season career with the Red Wings and missed just two games between 1957-58 and 1967-68. In Delvecchio’s first four seasons, he helped the Wings capture three Stanley Cups.

During his career, Delvecchio was surrounded, and often overshadowed, by some of the best to ever play the game. As the center on Detroit’s famous “Production Line,” he found himself slotted between wingers Ted Lindsay and “Mr. Hockey,” Gordie Howe.

“He tended to kind of play second fiddle in those days,” Devellano said. “But certainly, he was a very, very gifted player.”

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MLive’s Ansar Khan posted a notebook article which discusses Nick Leddy’s “fit” with the Red Wings thus far as his former team, the New York Islanders, come to town for the first of 3 meetings between the teams this month:

“A lot of excitement [going into tonight],” Leddy said. “I’ve played with most of those guys for north of five years, the long playoff runs, some of the tougher years and then some of the great years we had together. I think all those memories and bonds are huge. Probably have a little nerves out there. I’ve always had great times playing against friends. It’ll be even better playing against some real good friends.”

These teams are trending in opposite directions. Detroit has won four in a row and has points in five consecutive games (4-0-1), having allowed only 10 goals in that stretch. Alex Nedeljkovic is expected to start in goal tonight.

“We’ve had great goaltending; they’ve come up huge for us in the times we’ve needed them, and I think we’re really starting to figure out how to win,” Leddy said. “There may be some stretches in the game where we’re not playing our best but we’re competing and working hard and finding ways to win.”

Meanwhile, the Islanders are winless in nine (0-8-1). Their 2-1 overtime loss Thursday to San Jose snapped an eight-game regulation losing streak and marked their return after having two games postponed due to COVID-19. They started the season with 13 consecutive road games while construction of their new arena was being completed.

“They’re trying to get their traction and we don’t want them to get their traction against us,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said.

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I have been feeling particularly under the weather for the past couple of weeks, but I’m trying my best to grind things out as best as I can content-wise.

I apologize for not posting a prospect round-up last night; I’ll try to catch up as able.

Right now, I’m trying my best to get through the Islanders’ morning skate; after that, I’ll rest up ahead of the game and may be posting the game-day notebooks a little late.

Again, I’m sorry for any inconveniences that this might cause, but I’m really not feeling well.

I’m looking forward to the two-day break on Sunday and Monday to recharge my batteries a bit before the Wings play 3 games in 4 nights this upcoming week.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen posted an article this afternoon discussing the fact that Danny DeKeyser is out of COVID protocol, which might yield a deserving player getting bumped from the lineup in Jordan Oesterle:

The Red Wings own a four-game winning streak. Dekeyser is ready to play again after four games on the COVID-19 list, but the expectation is coach Jeff Blashill will follow the standard coaching code [and keep the same lineup].

It presumably comes down to Dekeyser vs. Jordan Oesterle, and Oesterle has been in the lineup for all four wins. Plus, Oesterle has played well in his nine games this season. In his last six games, he’s +4 with one assist. The Red Wings are 4-1-1 in those games.

You can make a case, and fans do, that the Red Wings’ best defensive alignment has Oesterle in and Dekeyser out on a permanent basis. The Red Wings, who break down video and grade players on a game-to-game basis, believe Dekeyser is playing better than the fan base does. However, he hasn’t played good enough to consider his job safe.

Right now, Moritz Seider, Nick Leddy, Filip Hronek and Marc Staal are the entrenched defensemen, although Hronek got himself benched for a couple of games earlier in the season.Gus Lindstrom is another favored young defenseman. But he still trying to prove himself.

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DobberHockey.com’s Benjamin Geherels weighs in on the draft class of 2018 today, and he offers this take on Filip Zadina’s development thus far:

6th (DET) – Filip Zadina

44 pts in 108 GP (0.41 ppg)

Verdict: Developing

Zadina hasn’t been scoring much so far but has consistently had some of the best play-driving and possession metrics on the Red Wings this year. He’s seeing power-play time and playing well as part of Detroit’s strong second line. It’s just a matter of time (say, 90 more NHL GP) until he ups his current 30-point pace into the 60s with an emphasis on syrupy sweet goals like this:

Yeah, you just knew @zadina_filip was going to finish that. pic.twitter.com/7edBPmzzTH

— NHL (@NHL) December 1, 2021

The next two seasons will be critical for Zadina’s development. At this point, his career progression looks a lot like those of Kyle Okposo and Jared McCann—guys who step up when needed but generally provide secondary scoring. But Zadina was a prolific goal scorer in junior (44 goals in 57 QMJHL GP) and likely possesses more offensive upside than those comparables.

That upside should begin to show itself partway through next season, though his points ceiling is probably lower than the Red Wings initially hoped. Taking Zadina at #6 will always be a tough selection to defend given the star power selected after him, but in Detroit’s defence most of that star power was on defence. If they were set on taking a forward, Zadina still looks like one of the more dynamic forwards available in this draft after Svechnikov.

Continued