Author: George Malik

The Detroit Red Wings hoped to earn some sort of consolation after dropping a 5-1 decision to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday, and as the Lightning possessed an 18-game unbeaten streak against Detroit, a more competitive outing against Tampa would have to do (and go from there)…

BIG SIGH. On my 43rd birthday, the Red Wings were a lot better than they were on Wednesday, but better is not necessarily good. The Wings lost 3-1 to Tampa Bay, continuing the Bolts’ now-19-game unbeaten streak, affording Tampa Bay its 7,000th goal as a franchise, and just looking downright uncomfortable with the puck on their sticks in offensive situations during the second and third periods, where the Wings looked like they were waiting for a lucky break instead of trying to dictate events themselves.

Now the Wings got back to Florida, where they never win, for a Sunday matinee (3 PM EST start on Sunday) and Tuesday game, and they conclude their 6-game road trip with tilts against Nashville.

Given the fact that the Red Wings have had half-a-dozen players contract or be closely associated with someone who had the coronavirus, enough to put them on the COVID reserve, Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill is aware of the holes in the NHL’s coronavirus prevention measures, and Blashill discussed some of the issues he feels need addressing with the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan:

The Wings likely contracted the virus playing Carolina on the season-opening weekend (Jan. 14-16), as the Hurricanes saw their schedule paused the next week after a slew of confirmed cases.

Nobody was, or is to blame, said coach Jeff Blashill, who feels the NHL and individual clubs are doing all they can in a monstrous fight.

“That’s just the reality of testing being delayed, it’s really hard to avoid (contracting the virus),” Blashill said. “It didn’t spread with our team any more than that. We’ve enforced protocols that have been in place to make sure we mitigate any further spreading. Our staff and players did a real good job.”

Playing hockey inside in a rink, said Blashill, has its owns unique issues during this pandemic.

“The problem with hockey is we played in a rink where the humidity is dry and the air is cool, and my understanding, with the research I’ve done, that potentially lets that virus sit right there in the air and it doesn’t dissipate,” Blashill said.

“So one team has it and you play a game, it’s hard. You don’t get an instant (test) result that is reliable. The fact that games are getting postponed is unfortunate, but from our perspective we just got to keep trying do the best we can with the protocols.”

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Of prospect-related note in Europe:

In the ICE Hockey League, Jesper Eliasson out-dueled old friend Jared Coreau, stopping 37 of 39 shots as the Red Bulls Salzburg won 3-2 over the Bratislava Capitals;

In the Swedish Allsvenskan, Gustav Berglund finished even with 3 shots in 15:02 played as Vasteras IK defeated AIK Stockholm 5-4. Malte Setkov had 2 assists for AIK, finishing at +2 with 1 shot in 27:29 played;

In the Finnish Liiga, Victor Brattstrom stopped 16 of 20 shots in KooKoo’s 4-1 loss to SaiPa;

Eemil Viro finished even with 1 shot in 21:38 played as TPS Turku defeated Assat Pori 3-0. Kasper Kotkansalo finished at -1 with 2 shots in 21:57 played for Assat, which did not have Otto Kivenmaki’s services;

FYI:

UPDATE: Forward Filip Zadina has been removed from non-roster (COVID protocol). Additionally, Givani Smith has been recalled from the #RedWings taxi squad. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/sfEW7a6Exq

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) February 5, 2021

Ahead of tonight’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, MLive’s Ansar Khan asked Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill about the state of one Thomas Greiss, who will be starting this evening as an 0-6-and-2 goaltender during the 2020-2021 season:

“I’m not worried about Greisser at all,” Blashill said. “He’s mentally in a great spot. He’s been through the rigors of the NHL. He’s an even-keeled person. He knows games like (Wednesday) happen and he’s going to move on. I think said he it to our goalie coach (Jeff Salajko), he’s been in those games before and he’ll be in them again. That’s just the reality of playing goal. I think he has a good demeanor about him. We just all have to grind together and find ways to play better hockey and find ways to win.”

The Red Wings (2-7-2) face the Lightning (6-1-1) again tonight at Amalie Arena (7 p.m., Fox Sports Detroit), when Greiss, in all likelihood, will get another chance for his first win. He will need more support from a team that is winless in seven (0-5-2) and is averaging only 1.91 goals per game (30th in the NHL).

“He started off playing real good, he just didn’t get much offensive support,” Blashill said. “He should have wins on the board. He certainly played good enough to win. Like the rest of our team, all our games have slipped a bit. I think confidence is a factor in that.

“We have to find a way to grind through and get our confidence back. The only way is to grind your way to some wins. I think Greisser is in the same boat. We certainly don’t want to give up the kind of chances we gave up (Wednesday) at the start of the game. We want to make the game easy on him, and I think for the early part of the year enough times we did that.”

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Yes, this Tweet is worth its own post, because it spells out the stark differences between the Lightning and Red Wings over the course of Tampa Bay’s 17-0-and-1 record over the Red Wings of late:

A look at how we stack up tonight! ? #DETvsTBL pic.twitter.com/rg3U0B3n4W

— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) February 5, 2021

Ugly, ugly numbers.

Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill spoke with the Detroit media for approximately 11 minutes after today’s morning skate in Tampa Bay, ahead of tonight’s game against the Lightning (7:00 PM EST on FSD/FS Sun/97.1 FM):

Update: If you wish to watch Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper or forward Blake Coleman, here are their Zoom calls from the Bolts’ website:

Red Wings prospect Theodor Niederbach is currently on loan to MODO Hockey of the Swedish Allsvenskan from the SHL’s Frolunda Indians, and the promising (if undersized) center spoke with Hockeysverige.se’s Leo Buttafoco Ohlsson regarding his lessons learned at the World Junior Championship, as well as his temporary homecoming to Ornskoldsvik.

What follows is roughly translated from Swedish:

Returned to O-vik after World Junior Championship: “Hopefully [they’re] happy to see me again.”

He has been drafted by the Swedish team the Detroit Red Wings, scored his first NHL goal, played at the WJC and been loaned to Modo. Theodor Niederbach has had an eventful year when Hockeysverige.se talks about the Swedish prospect who has now temporarily returned home to Ornskoldsvik.

“Hopefully they were happy to see me when I got home,” says Theodor Niederbach, jokingly.

The Detroit Red Wings wrap up a two-game series against the unbeaten Tampa Bay Lightning this evening (7:00 PM EST on FSD/FS Sun/97.1 FM), with the Red Wings both attempting to rebound from a 5-1 loss on Wednesday while facing a team that possesses a 17-0-and-1 record against the Wings of late.

They’ve surely got a win in them for my 43rd birthday, right? Maybe? Okay, maybe not, but it would be damn good to see the team show up and show more competitive play, especially with Filip Zadina likely to return to the lineup this evening.

Our friends from Tampa Bay took to the ice first at Amalie Arena, just before 10:30 AM, for their morning skate:

If you had Gourde or Sergachev as the first players on the ice for #MorningSkate today, you WIN!!! #GoBolts #LGRW #DETvsTBL @953WDAE @BecklesRecher pic.twitter.com/IXFXDSLbu9— Jay Recher (@jayRecher) February 5, 2021

It looks like the Bolts “took an optional” morning skate, so we’re going to lean on TampaBayLightning.com’s Bryan Burns’ game preview for a estimated Lightning lineup:

Lines from Wednesday’s game (subject to change)
Forwards
Ondrej Palat – Brayden Point – Steven Stamkos
Alex Killorn – Anthony Cirelli – Tyler Johnson
Blake Coleman – Yanni Gourde – Barclay Goodrow
Pat Maroon – Mathieu Joseph

Defensemen
Victor Hedman – Jan Rutta
Ryan McDonagh – Erik Cernak
Mikhail Sergachev – Luke Schenn
Cal Foote

Goaltenders
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Curtis McElhinney

You would figure that both the Lightning and Panthers wouldn’t be playing on a Superbowl Sunday on which the game’s taking place in Florida, but the Red Wings play the Panthers in a Sunday matinee (3 PM EST start). The Lightning are off on Sunday, and Blake Coleman told Recher that they’ll find a way to watch the game:

The Athletic’s Max Bultman posted an excellent article this morning, discussing Michael Rasmussen and Dennis Cholowski’s respectively lengthy paths toward gainful NHL employment via a longer developmental curve with the Grand Rapids Griffins (who open their regular season tonight vs. the Chicago Wolves at 8 PM EST):

On Oct. 4, 2018, Dennis Cholowski and Michael Rasmussen made their NHL debuts together in a Red Wings overtime loss to Columbus. It was opening night, and Detroit’s 2016 and 2017 first-round picks had made their way into the lineup. Cholowski even scored Detroit’s first goal, the start of a torrid month to begin his pro career.

At the time, it looked like it could be the start of Detroit’s next generation. All this rebuilding? Simple enough.

As it turned out, not so much. Two seasons later, both Rasmussen and Cholowski will be in the opening-night lineup together again, this time for AHL Grand Rapids, which begins play Friday against the Chicago Wolves.

It’s certainly a striking difference from that NHL opener in 2018, albeit not an inexplicable one. Rasmussen, Detroit coach Jeff Blashill freely admits, would have been better served in the AHL that year, had it been allowed by the NHL-CHL agreement. Accordingly, Rasmussen went on to spend his entire 2019-20 season in Grand Rapids. For Cholowski, meanwhile, his eye-catching start in 2018 cooled off after that first month, and the team’s discomfort with his defensive game eventually landed him in Grand Rapids, too. Then it happened again in 2019-20, despite breaking camp with the Red Wings again.

And now, both former first-rounders are facing the same question as the Griffins’ season gets set to begin: What will it take to make it back?

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