Author: George Malik

The Detroit Red Wings’ first road win of the season, a 4-1 victory over the Florida Panthers on Sunday, was almost as shocking as Anthony Mantha’s healthy scratch. The Red Wings snapped an 8-game losing streak, a 6-game winless streak, and ended the 6-0-and-2 Panthers’ 8-game unbeaten streak. According to Ken Daniels, Sunday’s win was the first Red Wings win in the state of Florida in 20 tries, which isn’t necessarily surprising given how much the Wings struggle against the Panthers and Lightning.

More surprisingly, the Wings did all of the above while playing without the services of the injured Tyler Bertuzzi, the healthy Anthony Mantha, and, for the majority of the game, Luke Glendening, who absorbed a nasty hit to the chin from Radko Gudas halfway through the first period.

The near-shocking nature of the Wings’ ability to knock off the NHL’s last unbeaten team was no less satisfying due to its complications. The Wings will doubtlessly face a tougher Panthers team come Tuesday, when the teams rematch in Sunrise, but the Wings–and their fans–desperately needed some good things to happen, from the previously-winless Thomas Greiss to Givani “Gordie Howe Hat Trick” Smith, and everyone in between, and Sunday’s game was finally an example of the “repeatable” hockey that the Wings insisted could produce a winning game for them.

Our friends from the Sunshine State were not thrilled with themselves after Sunday’s loss, as Florida Hockey Now’s George Richards noted…

The Detroit Red Wings delivered a mildly surprising 4-1 victory over the Florida Panthers on Sunday, and after the game, Fox Sports Detroit posted several post-game videos, including interviews with Thomas Greiss, Robby Fabbri, Givani Smith and coach Jeff Blashill:

Here are Sportsnet’s highlights, too:

#RedWings Blashill said Mantha was a healthy scratch.— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) February 7, 2021

Wouldn’t comment further.— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) February 7, 2021

Mantha was a healthy scratch today— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) February 7, 2021

Mantha a healthy scratch #RedWings— Ted Kulfan (@tkulfan) February 7, 2021

Jeff Blashill says Anthony Mantha was not an injury issue. Was sent a message by being made a healthy scratch.— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) February 7, 2021

I’m baffled. Mantha was fine against Tampa Bay, and the Wings could have used him.

Update: Here’s the full quote from MLive’s Khan:

“I just made a decision to go with the group I went with and any conversations I have with Anthony are private, between Anthony and I, and I’m not really going to comment further on it,” Blashill said.

The Detroit Red Wings attempted to snap their 6-game losing streak and 0-6-and-2 overall losing streak opposite a team which they have trouble beating in the Florida Panthers this afternoon.

Sunday’s game kicked off the second 2-game series between the teams, and the Red Wings…won…in stirring fashion?

According to Ken Daniels, the Red Wings earned their first win in 20 tries in the State of Florida via a 4-1 victory over the Panthers, a win in which Givani Smith got a Gordie Howe Hat Trick, Troy Stecher had 2 assists, Thomas Greiss earned his first win as a Wing with 36 stops, and Detroit kicked the Panthers off their winless-to-start-the-season streak with a complete game–minus Anthony Mantha, Tyler Bertuzzi, and, for most of the game, Luke Glendening.

Of prospect-related note today:

In Europe, in the ICE Hockey League, Jesper Eliasson served as the back-up in the Red Bulls Salzburg’s 4-3 win over the Graz99ers;

Malte Setkov scored a late-game game-tying goal, finishing even with 4 shots in 25:35 played as AIK Stockholm lost 3-2 in OT to Vasteras IK. Gustav Berglund finished at -1 with 1 shot in 15:15 played for Vasteras;

And, at 2 PM EST today, in NCAA Hockey, Jack Adams and the Providence College Friars will battle Patrick Holway and the Merrimack College Warriors.

Update: Patrick Holway finished at -1 with 3 shots in the Merrimack College Warriors’ 3-2 win over Providence. Jack Adams finished at +1 for Providence.

Updated @ 1:20 PM: Chris Dreidger will start opposite Thomas Greiss: The Detroit Red Wings and Florida Panthers kick off their second two-game series of the season this afternoon (3 PM EST on FSD/FS Florida/97.1 FM). The Wings enter the series with an 0-1-and-1 record versus the unbeaten Panthers.

Last night, I did my best to set up today’s morning skate-less matinee game, emphasizing that the Panthers’ lineup was subject to change; this morning, FloridaPanthers.com’s Jameson Olive offers a game preview…

Already their third meeting this season, the Panthers won back-to-back games in Detroit on Jan. 30 and 31, taking both contests by a score of 3-2. Overall, Florida has won each of its last eight games against the Red Wings, while also earning at least one point in each of its last 10 games.

Sitting in last place in the Central Division at 2-8-2, Detroit has dropped each of their last eight games, including a 3-1 loss across the state at Tampa Bay on Friday. During their losing streak, the Red Wings have been outscored 33-13 while scoring more than two goals in just one game.

“We controlled what we could control and we showed up,” Detroit captain Dylan Larkin told reporters after the loss to the first-place Lightning. “That’s a heck of a hockey team over there.”

Let’s skip ahead to the goaltending match-up, which will probably involve CHris Driedger vs. the winless (0-6-and-2) Thomas Greiss…

Good news for the Mathias Brome fans:

Update: Forwards Mathias Brome and Givani Smith have been recalled from the #RedWings taxi squad.

Additionally, defenseman Alex Biega has been assigned to the taxi squad. pic.twitter.com/6YAVcVs7bl

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) February 7, 2021

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted an article which discusses the Red Wings’ belief that their reinforced roster can play “repeatably” better hockey over the next couple of weeks. As St. James notes, Wings coach Jeff Blashill and forward Bobby Ryan gave very similar answers regarding the team’s ability to find a winning formula now that its COVID-sidelined players have returned:

“It’s kind of cliche, but the answer kind of never changes,” Ryan said. “When you look at video and dissect the game, you have to look at the things that you did well and then find those bullet points and build on them. The first game (against the Lightning), we gave them the neutral zone and they had a field day with it. So when you look at the difference between the two, it’s a major contrast. We clogged the neutral zone up and made it hard for the to get through.

“We have to understand, we are not going to win track meets and things like that with offenses in this league. We are going to have to be low-scoring, one-goal games. Mentally those can get wearing when you are on the losing side of those things, but you just have to continue to go to work, and continue to do those little things and then eventually you start to see the fruit of the labor. The games get a little easier to play like that and then you build and you hope it turns. Especially in a year like this, you have to do it fairly quickly because there’s no runway to get behind teams.”

Continued

The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler has been going through the NHL’s 31 teams’ prospect pipelines over the past month-and-a-half, ranking each and every team’s prospect pool. Wheeler ranks the Detroit Red Wings as having the 4th-best prospect pool in the NHL this morning:

No team has made more picks in the past four NHL Drafts than the Detroit Red Wings. In 28 draft rounds from 2017 to 2020, they have made 44 selections — in effect drafting more than six draft classes in a four-year span.

Being ranked No. 4 is the outcome of that. Many teams have done better, and been more consistent, relative to the picks they’ve had during this span, but the Red Wings’ commitment to acquiring picks through their rebuild has allowed them to take a lot of swings and connect often enough to have one of the better prospect pools in the league — even after graduating a player like Filip Zadina or trading a prospect like Alec Regula.

They should stay in this tier, give or take, for the near future too. Because even though several of their top prospects are set to graduate in the next year or two, the Red Wings are well-positioned to replace them at the 2021 draft, with six picks in the first three rounds at the moment and likely another top-five draft slot on the way.

The Red Wings’ pool has impressive depth at forward and on defence, with players of all different shapes and talent levels. They’re weakest in net, a position they have dedicated a ton of selections to with mixed results.

Continued at extended length (paywall)

Of prospect-related note in North America this Saturday:

In the USHL, Chase Bradley finished at -1 with 2 shots and a penalty taken in the Sioux City Musketeers’ 3-1 loss to Des Moines;

Kienan Draper finished even with 1 shot in the Omaha Lancers’ 3-2 loss to the Lincoln Stars, who played without Cross Hanas;

In NCAA Hockey, Sam Stange finished even with 3 shots in the University of Wisconsin Badgers’ 8-1 win over the University of Minnesota;

Keith Petruzzelli stopped 15 of 16 shots in the Quinnipiac Bobcats’ 2-1 win over St. Lawrence;

Carter Gylander stopped 26 of 27 shots in the Colgate Raiders’ 1-1 tie with Clarkson;

Jack Adams finished even in the Providence College Friars’ 5-1 win over Merrimack. Patrick Holway finished even with 4 shots for Merrimack;

Seth Barton finished even in the UMass-Lowell Riverhawks’ 7-6 OT loss to New Hampshire;

Antti Tuomisto had an assist, finishing at +1 with 2 shots in the University of Denver Pioneers’ 5-4 loss to the University of Nebraska-Omaha.