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!

Back to abnormal in The Athletic’s power rankings

The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn and Sean Gentille are back at it again with their power rankings, and the Red Wings dropping to 8-9-and-2 means that it’s time to pile on the draft lottery jokes:

25. Detroit Red Wings

Record: 8-9-2
Last Week: 23
Dom rank: 25
Sean rank: 25

Dom: It was nice while it lasted thanks to sizzling starts from rookies Lucas Ramond and Moritz Seider, but it looks like reality is starting to set in for the Red Wings who have dropped back below .500. Detroit has lost four of its last five and the team’s only win was against Montreal in overtime, which barely counts. The underlying numbers remain solid, but the talent outside the team’s top line remains sparse.

Sean: Yeah, weren’t just saying that Wings fans should just try to enjoy whatever was going on and not worry about lottery placement? Might’ve been a little early there. Rack up those ping-pong balls, baby!

Continued; ah, yes, wins that don’t count as wins and, “Now we suck again!” Charming.

Tweet of note: Grand Rapids Griffins to hold annual Teddy Bear Toss game on November 26th

FYI from the Grand Rapids Griffins:

Bultman on Larkin’s early-season success

The Athletic’s Max Bultman posted a late-night column discussing Dylan Larkin’s early-season successes with the Red Wings despite dealing with adversity in the form of a one-game suspension, a family emergency and a false positive COVID test:

It’s certainly early, less than 20 games into the season, and his 16 percent shooting percentage is by far the highest it’s been in his career. But Larkin’s eight goals and 15 points in 15 games have him off to exactly the kind of bounce-back start he sought coming into the season, after a down campaign by his standards last year.

To do that with everything that’s been going on in the periphery makes it all the more impressive. And if you ask Larkin, part of the way he’s achieved that start is precisely by managing that turbulence — whether it be on-ice bounces, or some of the weightier experiences of recent weeks.

“I think the highs and lows of this league, they’re pretty dramatic at times,” Larkin said Thursday morning. “And especially if you let them. And at times I feel like I’ve really let them get to me, and this year I really worked on not letting that happen, whether it’s going well or it’s not. Whether things come into your life and take you out of the lineup for a week, or you can’t play a third period, I’m really just trying not to let it get to me and be grateful that I’m here.”

Certainly, managing highs and lows is not an idea unique to Larkin. It’s a quintessential pro sports talking point that has long since become cliché.

But its ubiquity in the hockey lexicon doesn’t invalidate its meaning, either.

“I imagine a lot of guys are like that,” Larkin said. “There’s a lot of pressure. But I’ve always felt that I put the most pressure on myself. And this year I’m just trying to play hockey.”

Continued (paywall)

Khan in the morning: Givani Smith steps up

The Detroit Red Wings didn’t display many positive signs over the course of their 5-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday, but, as MLive’s Ansar Khan notes, the break-out play of forward Givani Smith, who has struggled thus far, was indeed a good sign:

Givani Smith, whose struggles have caused him to be a healthy scratch in six games, played his best game of the season and was rewarded with his first point. He scored his team’s first goal at 10:19 of the second period, jamming in a loose puck. It cut Vegas’ lead to 2-1, providing brief momentum before the Golden Knights stretched the lead with a pair of goals in the final eight minutes of the period.

Smith also distracted goaltender Robin Lehner to facilitate Joe Veleno’s goal late in the third period.

“He’s a guy who can create a lot of havoc with his size and I thought tonight he did that,” Gagner said. “He got a goal in the paint, and that’s something we’ve talked about. We have to be able to get to the paint to score goals, and we got to be better defensively. I thought Smitty did his thing tonight. Hopefully something to build on.”

Continued; if Smith and Adam Erne can find some consistency to their games, the Red Wings would benefit greatly from their respective presences.

Red Wings-Golden Knights wrap-up: Wings lose 3rd straight on the road, Seider to unspecified shot block injury

The Detroit Red Wings dropped a 5-2 decision to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night, and it was a particularly frustrating loss because the Red Wings pretty much kept up with the Golden Knights until the game got away from them.

Detroit is now 0-and-3 on their road trip, and has given up 5 goals against in 3 straight games, with Saturday’s road finale in Arizona wrapping up a brutal stretch of 11 games played over the course of 17 nights (and the Red Wings have lost 4 of their past 5).

Coach Jeff Blashill told Bally Sports Detroit’s Trevor Thompson that the Wings’ inability to practice due to the proximity of games and travel meant that the team’s defensive structure and overall structure “have dipped,” and he felt that an actual road practice in Arizona would help the Wings remedy their structural issues.

All of that being said, the Red Wings’ relative lack of depth has everyone worried about Moritz Seider after he took a shot off the right knee late in the 3rd period:

Sending good vibes to big Mo. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/IZZKWSOf6E— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) November 19, 2021

Our friends from Las Vegas are afflicted with a slew of their own injuries, so there was no sympathy from the Golden Knights for any potential personnel issues in Detroit. In fact, Zach Whitecloud, who scored the 2-0 and 3-1 goals for Vegas, returned to the lineup coming off an injury, as Vegas Hockey Now’s Owen Krepps noted:

Continue reading Red Wings-Golden Knights wrap-up: Wings lose 3rd straight on the road, Seider to unspecified shot block injury

Red Wings-Golden Knights quick take: Vegas scored on their chances, and Seider got hurt. Ouch.

The Detroit Red Wings attempted to snap their 2-game road slide opposite the surging Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night.

Detroit gained Dylan Larkin back into their lineup, and after a scoreless first period, things looked good for the Red Wings, but Vegas blew the doors off the game in the 2nd period, taking 2-0, 3-1 and ultimately 5-1 leads before Joe Veleno’s late goal made the score a semi-respectable 5-2.

Givani Smith got the only Wings goal that mattered, and Moritz Seider got dinged in the side of the knee with the puck late in the 3rd period, having to leave the game…

Sending good vibes to big Mo. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/IZZKWSOf6E— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) November 19, 2021

So we waited for news on that front.

And Detroit dropped to 0-and-3 on their road trip, which ends on Saturday night in Arizona.

Continue reading Red Wings-Golden Knights quick take: Vegas scored on their chances, and Seider got hurt. Ouch.

Game-day notebook round-up: Larkin got a false positive test, is okay to rejoin team; Staal is out

The Red Wings’ beat writers shared the news that Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin “false positive” tested for COVID during the Red Wings-Stars game on Tuesday, so Larkin will rejoin the team tonight in Vegas.

MLive’s Ansar Khan has more…

“Disbelief, frustration and then the possibility that I had COVID and trying to get out of there and not infect anyone, although I’d played two periods,” Larkin said. “I thought a lot about the guys and not having a bigger situation come out of it. Just an unfortunate situation and I really felt like we were coming on. I wasn’t really able to watch the third there.”

Coach Jeff Blashill noted how quickly COVID can spread through a team.

“It’s frustrating, but at the end of the day everybody is probably going through different things that can be frustrating with COVID,” Blashill said. “That’s just the reality of it. You got to deal with it.”

Vaccinated players and team personnel are required to be tested every 72 hours, but in a situation like this, they were all tested again after the Dallas game. Tyler Bertuzzi, the NHL’s lone unvaccinated player, is tested daily.

The Red Wings were tested earlier in the day Tuesday, but results weren’t available until later that evening.

“We’re at the mercy of the home team,” Blashill said. “Most of the teams in the league have the ability to get those turned around quickly (30 minutes, he said). Dallas doesn’t have that. I think they’re working towards that.”

As does the Free Press’s Helene St. James…

Continue reading Game-day notebook round-up: Larkin got a false positive test, is okay to rejoin team; Staal is out

Prospect round-up: Kivemaki 1A in Liiga; Wallinder’s 1A bests Soderblom’s goal in Rogle-Frolunda showdown

Of Red Wings prospect-related note in Europe today:

In the Finnish Liiga, Otto Kivenmaki had an assist, finishing even in 14:22 played as the Lahti Pelicans won 5-3 over SaiPa;

Eemil Viro finished at +1 in 18:26 played as TPS Turku won 5-2 over Assat Pori;

In the SHL, Albert Johansson finished even with 1 shot on goal in 17:44 played as Farjestads BK lost 3-2 to Malmo;

William Wallinder had an assist, finishing at +1 in 8:29 played as Rogle BK won 4-3 over Frolunda HC.

Theodor Niederbach finished even with 1 shot in 12:44 played for Frolunda, Elmer Soderblom had a goal on 3 shots, finishing at +1 in 15:50 played, and Rakapuckar’s Henrik Lehman reports that Simon Edvinsson was injured at the World Junior Championship’s Four Nations Cup and had to sit out the game:

Update: And in North America, Oscar Plandowski finished even in the Charlottetown Islanders’ 7-3 win over Moncton.

In the OHL, Pasquale Zito finished at -3 with 3 shots and a 7-for-15 faceoff record in the Windsor Spitfires’ 7-4 loss to Erie.