97.1 the Ticket’s Will Burchfield notes that the Red Wings received praise from a surprising source after last night’s 3-2 overtime win–their opponents:
They are a good team,” [Lars] Eller said. “They’re probably better than people give them credit for. Could we have played better? Yeah. Did we play poorly? No. Even when we were up 2-0 it was a game. They kept playing and we weren’t good enough to close it off today.”
Seven games into the season, the Wings are 4-2-1 — tied for second place in the division with the Sabres. Which is an apt reminder that the season is young. That a lot will change. But things are changing for the better in Detroit. This is the team’s best seven-game start since 2016-17, when everything crumbled. Those Wings were growing old. These Wings are growing up.
“We’ve been in situations where we’ve found our way to wins, and I think that breeds confidence,” Blashill said. “That’s part of it. I also think we have some guys that have matured over the years in terms of living through some of that. As hard as those moments are to live, I think a number of our guys have grown through some of the difficulties we’ve faced. And then I think we have some new faces that have a calm demeanor to them and just keep playing.”
The newest faces picked up the assists on Larkin’s game-winner. Raymond leads all rookies this season with four goals and eight points. The three players picked ahead of him in last year’s draft, in the lottery the Wings may have won by losing, have one goal and five points combined — not that we’re keeping track (yet). Seider leads all rookies with six assists and, not for nothing, 21:50 of ice time per game.
“We had them out there (in OT) because we think that they’d give us a chance to make a real good hockey play, and they did,” Blashill said. “Both guys have played good hockey for us and deserved the opportunity to go out there.”
Continued; this year’s Wings are plucky, that’s for sure.
