Author: George Malik

The Grand Rapids Griffins suffered a 3-2 overtime loss to the Texas Stars on Sunday, and the Griffins’ website posted a recap thereof:

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Despite earning a point, the Grand Rapids Griffins fell to the Texas Stars 3-2 in overtime on Sunday at Van Andel Arena courtesy of a power-play game-winner. 

Dominik Shine tallied his seventh goal of the year during the outing, good for his third point in the last four games (1-2—3). Elmer Soderblom earned his second goal of the campaign, while Brogan Rafferty and Shai Buium were credited with assists. Goaltender Sebastian Cossa turned away 27 shots, maintaining a .919 save percentage and a 2.31 goals-against average alongside a 10-5-3 record. 

Just 3:27 into the contest, Shine broke loose from the Texas defense and gave the Griffins an early lead with an unassisted goal. Grand Rapids quickly added to its lead when Soderblom sniped the puck home at 8:28. Soderblom skated into the Stars’ zone and went bar down past the netminder at the top of the right circle. Grand Rapids finished the first frame ahead 2-0, as The Griffins’ first two shots resulted in goals. 

The Stars earned their first tally of the outing with 3:34 left in the second period when Justin Hryckowian scored. Each team killed off a penalty in the frame, as the Griffins preserved a 2-1 lead entering the third.

Grand Rapids jumped out to an 8-3 shot advantage in the final period and held the lead, but with 1:24 remaining, Hryckowian tied the score at two with his second goal. A Griffins’ penalty left them short handed for the final 1:18 of regulation but they denied the Stars’ scoring efforts, extending the contest to overtime. 

Grand Rapids entered overtime short handed and turned away three shots, but Arttu Hyry snuck the puck past Cossa for the game-winning goal at 1:28, as the Griffins fell 3-2. 

The Griffins’ website posted a photo gallery, a highlight clip and an interview clip…

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported in his Saturday Headlines that former NHL defenseman John Klingberg is still looking to play hockey this season.

As such, the Hockey News’s Adam Proteau believes that the Red Wings and two other teams may benefit from signing the offense-only defenseman:

Detroit Red Wings: The Red Wings haven’t been afraid to sign an older, former star player to come in and help them try to get into the post-season – see Patrick Kane for proof – and Klingberg might see Detroit as his best shot to play playoff hockey without being traded after he signs with a team.

The Wings are on the periphery of the playoff race at the moment. But if Klingberg is fully healthy, he might be able to produce enough offense – at a very low price that fits in with Detroit’s cap situation – to put the Red Wings over the top in their race for a post-season spot.

Finding an experienced hand on the back end isn’t easy, but if Klingberg chooses the Wings as the team he wants to play for on his redemption tour, Detroit could wind up benefiting in terms of a subsequent trade – or Klingberg may help them get a playoff spot.

Continued; with the signing of Erik Gustafsson not working out, the Red Wings could use some offense from their blueline, and while Klingberg is not very good at actually defending, I could see the Wings finding a fit here.

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan discusses the Red Wings’ 5-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens this morning, offering something of a “post-mortem” of last night’s loss:

“We just got out-competed and out-worked,” defenseman Moritz Seider told reporters after Saturday’s loss. “That’s a very frustrating feeling. Coming in here, obviously we had a gameplan but couldn’t really emphasize on that. Now, we just have to turn the page and regroup. Find a way to win hockey games, especially find a good reason to get to the locker room the next couple of days with a little bit different energy.”

Brief lulls in the Wings’ overall game cost them dearly in both losses to the Canadiens. And when their game dipped, it erased any chance of a victory. What’s missing in the Wings’ game right now?

“The intensity over 60 minutes,” Seider said. “It’s hard to win when you have little dips and lags in your game. Obviously you’re not going to be perfect every time, but we always have to aim for perfection. We’re just not good enough right now.”

It’s deep enough in the NHL season where it’s fine to talk about jockeying for playoff spots. Being eight points away from a potential playoff spot with six teams to pass is hardly a good position, no matter how relatively close the standings look.

“It definitely hurts us standings-wise,” forward Joe Veleno told reporters of the defeats. “Bigger picture, obviously it’s a long year. But we got to realize how crucial these division points are and how you can really get a leap on teams by winning in your division. It’s a four-point weekend that we just let slip away.”

Continued; things are tough all over right now.

Sportsnet’s Luke Fox accentuates the positive with the following Wings-related story among his “Quick Shifts“:

Following last Thursday’s ugly 4-1 loss to the rebuilding Flyers, Patrick Kane sat in his stall and called for a momentum-shifting homestand in Detroit.

“Whether it’s being hard on each other, keeping each other accountable, looking yourself in the mirror, make sure you’re playing better yourself — all those things come into account when the team is struggling,” Kane said.

The future Hall of Famer insists his health is in good shape following hip surgery, but he isn’t happy with his own performance since re-signing with the Red Wings as a free agent for $4 million.

At the time of his honest, hard self-evaluation, Kane ranked ninth among Wings in points (10) and eighth in goals (three). He was a minus-8. A reporter asked the 36-year-old where the “pop” in his game had gone.

“It’s definitely been missing, right?” Kane conceded. “I gotta be more demanding with the puck. I gotta find ways to get it on my stick and do what I can when I get it. But I don’t think I’ve had the puck enough this year. That’s on me to demand it, to get it back.”

I was struck by Kane’s candour and his resolve fielding some pointed questions. He didn’t duck the criticism, yet he stressed a belief that he could get his game back on the rails.

“The production hasn’t been there, so it’s been disappointing and probably a big reason for where we are as a team,” Kane said. “At this point, it’s like maybe you’re hoping for things to happen. It’s not a good thing. When things are going like that, you gotta go make it happen. So, let’s make tomorrow the night to do that.”

Continued; the better Kane goes, the better the Wings go.

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a mailbag feature this morning. Here’s what she has to say about the Wings’ disappointing 2024-2025 season:

It’s interesting that entering Saturday, the Wings had played 32 games, and were 13-15-4, good for 30 points and sixth place in the Atlantic Division. Last year on Dec. 20, they likewise had played 32 games – and were 15-13-4, good for 34 points and fifth place in the division. That’s not much of a disparity. It wasn’t until the new year that last season’s squad took off and turned the conversation from draft lottery positioning to possibly ending the playoff drought.

It’s hard to picture this season’s team performing a similar resurrection. Last season’s squad could score: At the date referenced above, the 2023-24 Wings averaged 3.50 goals-per-game and 3.25 against, with a plus-8 overall goal differential. This season’s squad’s average is 2.69 for, 3.15 against, and a minus-15 differential. When the 2024-25 Wings have defended well, they’ve struggled to score. When they find their offense, it seems to come at the cost of their team defense.

The list of players from whom much more was expected offensively coming into the season is lengthy: Vladimir Tarasenko, who makes $4.75 million and 31 games in had four goals among 12 points. J.T. Compher, ($5.1 million); with 16 points after 31 games. Michael Rasmussen ($3.2 million); 12 points in 31 games. Joe Veleno ($2.28 million), five points in 28 games. Those are just some of the forwards. On defense, whatever the Wings expected when they signed Erik Gustafsson for two years, $4 million, it wasn’t for him to struggle so much he’d end up a healthy scratch. What an indictment on him that in the game against the Philadelphia Flyers, when Simon Edvinsson got hurt in the first period, Gustafsson was the only defenseman who played less than his average.

The fact is, the Wings are closing in on the midpoint of their season, and there’s been no indication so far that they can gain any traction. They had such a great opportunity this past week with beating the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Flyers and then hosting the Canadiens at home. And what happened Friday? The Wings didn’t give it their best, and they handed their opponent the two points. It was the same the previous week in Philadelphia, it was the same in November in California.

Continued; I want to believe that this year’s Red Wings team has a 2023-2024-like second half of the season in them, but it’s hard to do so right now.

Of Red Wings prospect-related note:

In the ECHL, Carter Gylander stopped 21 of 25 shots as the Toledo Walleye lost 5-2 to the Wheeling Nailers.

Detroit struggled in its two games against the Canadiens, and they’re 1 point down vs. Montreal in the Atlantic Division standings as a result.

Detroit lost 4-3 on Friday and 5-1 on Saturday, and the Wings host the Blues on Monday to close out their pre-Christmas season, having won 3 of their past 11 games.

Things are gloomy and getting desperate for the Red Wings, who also lost defenseman Ben Chiarot in the 3rd period to an “upper-body injury,” so we’re going to cut to the chase here: the Free Press’s Helene St. James asked coach Derek Lalonde if he’s worried about his job security after the game, and here’s what he had to say:

The Detroit Red Wings dropped the first game of their back-to-back slate against the Montreal Canadiens, so the Wings headed into Saturday night’s game at the Bell Centre desperately needing to win against a Canadiens team that was only a point behind Detroit in the Atlantic Division standings.

On Saturday night, the Canadiens went with the same lineup against Detroit–goaltender Samuel Montembeault included–while the Red Wings went with Alex Lyon in goal, and tweaked their lineup as necessary.

Montreal dismantled the Red Wings on Saturday night, responding to Joe Veleno’s goal 6:41 in with 5 straight goals, including a power play goal by Patrik Laine, and the Habs won 5-1.

Montreal now leads Detroit by 1 point in the Atlantic Division standings, and Detroit will try to at least get a couple of points on Monday when they host the St. Louis Blues…but falling to 13-16-and-4 is not good at all.

Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin has struggled to score over the last 11 games, so Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen posted a subscriber-only article noting that Larkin hopes to follow Patrick Kane’s example in breaking out of his slump:

“He’s just been all over the puck and I think he’s elevated it, he’s raised his compete, and it’s great to see,” Larkin said. “I think he’s found a way to get himself out of it and even myself. I need to start to follow that lead and start to play with that jam that he’s been playing with.”

Larkin is looking for his team to play better tonight to salvage a split out of a home-and-home with the Montreal Canadiens. But Larkin clearly is looking to push himself to play at a higher level.  What Detroit coaches, fans and the media have witnessed each time Larkin is injured is this team goes as he goes.

That’s why Larkin looks at Kane, certainly one of the most dominant players in U.S. hockey history, and wonders if he should follow his lead.

“He’s kind of forcing himself into the game and sticking with it when it doesn’t go well. There’s no flow to the game,” Larkin said.  “So stuff like that.”

Continued (paywall)

FYI from WXYZ’s Brad Galli:

Elf on the Shelf!? No, it’s Razor in a Blazer!

The Red Wings are planning a Lucas Raymond plush figure giveaway for Dec. 23. The first 7,500 fans get one pic.twitter.com/rWaTVfMDcc

— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) December 21, 2024