Category: Uncategorized

Khan: Red Wings face more challenges as they begin a 3-game home stand

MLive’s Ansar Khan discusses the necessity of the Red Wings earning points as the team finds itself amidst a half-dozen-team logjam in the Eastern Conference:

The Red Wings (21-21-5, 47 points) are in danger of falling further behind if they don’t stop their three-game slide (0-2-1) Thursday against Montreal in the start of a key three-game homestand (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network).

The Canadiens (24-19-4, 52 points) are 13-3-1 in their past 17 and sit in the final wild card spot. They swept a home-and-home set from the Red Wings on Dec. 20-21, winning 4-3 at Little Caesars Arena and 5-1 at home. Montreal was last in the league in 2021-22 and now it’s a playoff contender.

“It’s a team that’s around us in the standings,” Lucas Raymond told media following Tuesday’s 2-1 overtime loss at Philadelphia. “They’ve been having a good year. They’re a good team but so are we. It’s home ice for us and it’s about taking care of it. I think everyone’s excited to get out there, get back on the right track and play the way we did previous to this trip for 7-8 games. We know the way we’re supposed to play, so it’s just about getting back to that.”

…

Scoring has improved under McLellan, who has given players more rope to be aggressive offensively and has encouraged a shot mentality. They rank 24th at 2.79 goals per game.

But they’re still struggling five-on-five, ranked 30th with 76 goals.

“It’s been better,” Dylan Larkin told media after Tuesday’s game. “We’ve had way more of a shot focus. Shoot it and get it back and play that way. Especially when things aren’t going our way Todd is very vocal about being direct. We haven’t been as much on the outside. Five-on-five is hard in this league. I thought we did a better job tonight of getting around the crease and second and third looks.”

Continued (paywall)

Tweet of note: Red Savage’s ‘upper-body injury’ troublesome

Not good news from the Detroit News’s Connor Eargood:

Tweet of note: Trey Augustine named a Hobey Baker Award nominee

Per Red Wings Prospects on Twitter, Red Wings prospect and Michigan State University goaltender Trey Augustine has been named a nominee for the Hobey Baker Award:

Wednesday’s fundraising post

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Roughly translated: A snippet of Lucas Raymond’s interview with Hockeynews.se

As you know by now, Hockeynews.se posted a 37-minute interview in which Henrik Sjoberg interviews Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond (in Swedish) a couple of days ago.

And today, they share a few of Raymond’s comments translatable form:

“He loves to share his knowledge”

Lucas Raymond is the future of the Detroit Red Wings, and will soon be joined by Axel Sandin Pellikka.

Now Raymond is visiting the latest episode of Hockeynews video podcast Shoot The Puck, and he tells about superstar Patrick Kane’s importance on the road to becoming a powerful team again.

“He loves to share his skills and I’m just sucking them in,” Raymond said in the podcast.

The spotlight was directed at Lucas Raymond as soon as he stepped into his teens.

And all the way from Gothenburg, to a star with the Detroit Red Wings, “Razor” has delivered magnificently.

Now he is visiting the latest episode of Hockeynews video podcast “Shoot The Puck,” and tells us, among other things, about Patrick Kane’s importance.

“How it’s cool to see how he does things on a daily basis. How he is dedicated to hockey. He loves to talk hockey, he loves to share his skills,” Raymond says.

The Red Wings are chasing a long-awaited playoff spot and soon Axel Sandin Pellikka will move over to North America.

Raymond tells us that the pair have never met before, but many things point to a long and successful partnership with the historic NHL team.

Raymond was impressed during the World Junior Championship.

“He looked good, it was extremely fun to see. He’s so ‘skilled.’ He sees the game well and his shot, I think, will fit well here.”

An early Red Wings-Canadiens preview

The Detroit Red Wings return home for a set of games against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday, the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, and the Los Angels Kings on Monday, all at Little Caesars Arena.

That’s a bit of a gauntlet as the Wings try to earn some points in the Eastern Conference’s Wild Card race, and the Associated Press posted an early game preview of the Wings-Habs affair:

BOTTOM LINE: The Detroit Red Wings head into a matchup with the Montreal Canadiens after losing three in a row.

Detroit is 5-8-1 against the Atlantic Division and 21-21-5 overall. The Red Wings are 3-6-3 in games they serve more penalty minutes than their opponents.

Montreal is 24-19-4 overall with a 9-4-0 record against the Atlantic Division. The Canadiens have committed 201 total penalties (4.3 per game) to rank third in league play.

The teams meet Thursday for the third time this season. The Canadiens won the last matchup 5-1.

TOP PERFORMERS: Lucas Raymond has 19 goals and 32 assists for the Red Wings. Dylan Larkin has seven goals and seven assists over the past 10 games.

Cole Caufield has 24 goals and 20 assists for the Canadiens. Patrik Laine has four goals and three assists over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Red Wings: 6-3-1, averaging 3.4 goals, 6.2 assists, two penalties and four penalty minutes while giving up 3.1 goals per game.

Canadiens: 7-2-1, averaging 3.1 goals, 5.1 assists, 4.6 penalties and 10.6 penalty minutes while giving up 2.8 goals per game.

Morning news: Three post-Red Wings-Flyers things

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

  1. The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted her customary 6 AM recap of the Red Wings’ 2-1 OT loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night:

“We limited them to two goals, one in overtime,” Lucas Raymond said. “Our defensive structure was really good most of the time, especially desperation around the net. But, it’s not a successful trip in our point of view. We have a couple of these games that we want to get back and it’s about learning from it.”

The Wings (21-21-5) are 8-4-1 since Todd McLellan was named coach Dec. 26. This was their first extended trip, and began on a high note with a 5-2 victory over the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, a terrific response after a 6-3 loss at home to the struggling San Jose Sharks.

“To start in Florida and play against that team and weather their storm, that was a really good win,” McLellan said. “Tampa, a little bit disappointing because I think we got tricked with the volume of shots but not the intensity around the net. Dallas, after falling behind 3-0 we settled in. But I think the game really does change for both teams at that point. And then we finished strong and hard.

“You never head out for 50-50, you always want more, and we came up a little short. An average trip for our group but I think we are making strides in certain areas. We’re a little better in our zone, we’re breaking the puck out a little better than we have in the past. We checked through the neutral zone better. Those are all good things. But we have to find a way to score more than one a night five-on-five if we’re to have success.”

Continued (paywall);

2. The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton also posted his day-after-the-game notebook…

Continue reading Morning news: Three post-Red Wings-Flyers things

DGB ranks goalie goals, including Chris Osgood’s goal

The Athletic’s Sean McIndoe discusses “every goalie goal ever scored” in exacting detail this morning, and he gives Chris Osgood’s goal a mediocre grade…Not knowing that the last game PASS didn’t air was the Wings-Whalers game where Osgood scored, yielding clips with either the Hartford Whalers’ call or the Wings’ radio call:

12. Chris Osgood, March 6, 1996

Situation: This one comes with 10 seconds left in a game between a record-breaking Red Wings juggernaut and a Whalers team that was, uh, not that. But it’s also the first goalie goal in almost seven years, and the first that wasn’t scored by Ron Hextall, so there’s a neat “Oh right, that’s a thing you’re allowed to do” factor. 7/10.

Style: Nothing too fancy, but the way Osgood manages to knock down and control the puck with his extended stick is pretty impressive. After that, it’s just about the shot, and he pretty much drills it. 7/10.

Continue reading DGB ranks goalie goals, including Chris Osgood’s goal

Duff: Datsyuk extends contract with Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg

Pavel Datsyuk always said that he wanted to work with kids in hockey when his playing career ended.

Datsyuk reiterated that point when he came over to the U.S. to take part in the Red Wings’ Summer Development Camp last July, and again when he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame this past November.

As such, Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff reports that Datsyuk, who works for in player development for his hometown organization, Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg, has signed an extension with his team:

Earlier this week, Datsyuk was truly putting an end to any hope he might be changing his mind. He was confirming that he’s extending his relationship as a development and skills coach with KHL club Avtomobilist in his Russian hometown of Yekaterinburg. After leaving the Red Wings, he would finish his playing career with this club from 2019-21.

“I work for the Avtomobilist club, for which I am very grateful,” Datsyuk told Russian news agency Tass. “They trusted me and allowed me to do what I love, I like it. It’s not that easy, obviously I’m still learning.

“I like being in the arena with the guys, being part of the club and helping it. I will continue to do this with pleasure.”

Continued; no surprise here. Datsyuk