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Tuesday morning’s ‘Season Preview’ round-up

Of NHL season preview-related note this morning:

  1. The Athletic’s Sean McIndoe posted “oddly specific predictions” for each and every one of the NHL’s 32 teams:

Detroit Red Wings

Patrick Kane comes into the season only 31 points away from tying Mike Modano for most career points by a U.S.-born player, and 48 points back of Brett Hull for the most by an “American” player. He’s got a good chance to hit both marks, but we’re going to go with something far less likely. Did you know that of his 1,343 points, only one has come short-handed? That was an assist back in 2009, meaning one of the most dynamic forwards of his generation has played 18 NHL seasons without ever scoring a short-handed goal. It’s going to be tough ask for a guy who never kills penalties, but I’m saying he gets one this year. (And if that goal also breaks one of the scoring records, I’ll retire this column permanently.)

2. USA Today’s Mike Brehm mentions the Red Wings in a roundabout way in his NHL preview articles, saying this about the Wings’ situation…

The Detroit Red Wings hoped they addressed their goaltending concerns by adding John Gibson.

3. And ranking the Wings’ two 21st century Stanley Cup-winning teams fairly highly…

Continue reading Tuesday morning’s ‘Season Preview’ round-up

HSJ in the morning: Red Wings have Tigers fever, too

The Free Press’s Helene St. James reports that the break between the end of the Red Wings’ preseason and the start of the regular season affords the team the ability to attend today’s Detroit Tigers playoff game:

“The locker room is in a really good spot,” captain Dylan Larkin said after practice on Monday. “We’re going to be going to the Tigers game on (Tuesday), so do a little root for them and hopefully, you know, be ready to go Thursday night.”

The Detroit Tigers host the Seattle Mariners in Game 3 of the ALDS, with first pitch scheduled for 4:08 p.m. at Comerica Park.

The Wings weren’t able to do something similar last October because they were playing games.

“I don’t think last year we were able to go to a playoff game with our schedule and their schedule,” Larkin said. “So it will be my first ever playoff baseball game, so I’m excited about it.”

Axel Sandin Pellikka, a Swede, is looking forward to the outing, even if he may need some explainers.

“It will be fun,” he said. “I’ve been to one when they play the Mets, I think. I’m still learning about everything. I’m learning umpire, or strike – all those kinds of stuff. I’m still learning.”

Continued

Bloggy blog update: back soon!

Hey, everybody. I certainly did not intend to spend two weeks on the IR, but my physical health was not good over the course of the last two weeks.

I know today is a busy day, with Justin Holl and Erik Gustafsson clearing waivers and the Wings due to release their opening-night lineup by 5 PM today, but Aunt Annie and I received a visit from our Adult Services caseworker, and my job as Aunt Annie’s caregiver supersedes this job at times.

So I’m going to return within the next day or two, and things might sputter to life, but I’ll both try to keep up with the cascading cavalcade of stories ahead of the 2024-2025 Red Wings’ season debut, and I’m going to do my best to try and spotlight the stuff that you might want to pay attention to from my absence.

Here’s hoping that the Wings’ long-term roster includes Sandin Pellikka and Brandsegg-Nygard. Finnie, too.

Red Wings-Maple Leafs game #2 Tweetcap: Detroit rallies to end the exhibition season with a 6-5 OT win over the Laffs

The Detroit Red Wings wrapped up their 8-games-in-12-nights exhibition game season with a home affair against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Little Caesars Arena.

Toronto dressed a unit of prospects and players reflective of a road exhibition game; the Red Wings went with a game-night roster, with the exception of giving Emmitt Finnie, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and Axel Sandin Pellikka one last opportunity to push for a spot on the opening-night roster.

On Saturday night, the Red Wings won a wild one via a 6-5 overtime tally. Toronto took 2-1, 3-2, 4-2, and 5-3 leads, but the Red Wings rallied with a 3rd period PPG from Dylan Larkin, a goal with 31 seconds left from Albert Johansson, and a second goal from Dylan Larkin 3:21 into OT, on the power play.

Detroit’s John Gibson did not have his best night, surrendering 5 goals on 25 shots, but the Red Wings’ 1st and 2nd period malaise gave way to a scintillating 3rd period, with the Red Wings being awarded 4 3rd period PP’s and 1 OT PP, upon which they capitalized. Detroit went 1-for-1 in 5-on-3 and 4-on-3 PP’s, going 2-for-7 overall.

Otherwise, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard had 2 goals, Axel Sandin Pellikka had 2 assists, Emmitt Finnie faded a bit, Larkin scored 2, Edvinsson had 2 assists, Raymond had 2 assists, Kane went 1G, 2A, 3 PT and Moritz Seider played a tremendous 28:38 of ice time.

1ST PERIOD: The Red Wings and Maple Leafs dressed the following starters and lineups:

Continue reading Red Wings-Maple Leafs game #2 Tweetcap: Detroit rallies to end the exhibition season with a 6-5 OT win over the Laffs

Red Wings-Maple Leafs game #1 Tweeetcap: Wings win 3-1 despite 0-7 power play and Stolarz’s saves

The Detroit Red Wings and an NHL-level Toronto Maple Leafs team took to the ice at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday night for the first of 2 exhibition games to close out the teams’ respective preseason slates.

The Red Wings dressed a roster combining NHL’ers and prospects who’ve made a good impression over the course of the first 6 exhibition games, while the Leafs dressed their NHL roster…

On Thursday night, the Red Wings won a strange game. Toronto opened the scoring only 2:08 into the 1st, with Auston Matthews scoring a power play goal…

But Detroit was awarded a total of 7 power plays, including 52 seconds of 5-on-3 time and a 4:00 double-minor for high-sticking to Brandon Carlo. Detroit did not score on any of their power plays…

But the Red Wings stuck with it, in no small part due to a superb performance by Cam Talbot, and the Red Wings scored 3 3rd period goals–Dylan Larkin (from Chiarot and Finnie) scored at 5:04, Alex DeBrincat scored (from Brandsegg-Nygard) at 12:28, and Emmitt Finnie scored an empty-netter on a stretch pass from Moritz Seider at 18:37…

Affording Detroit a 3-1 victory. Detroit out-shot Toronto 43-20, but Anthony Stolarz was excellent, preventing the Wings from scorching Toronto with power play markers.

1ST PERIOD: Here are the starters and official rosters, with Andrew Copp earning a turn on the Larkin-Raymond pairing, and Simon Edvinsson returning from injury:

Continue reading Red Wings-Maple Leafs game #1 Tweeetcap: Wings win 3-1 despite 0-7 power play and Stolarz’s saves

Red Wings-Blackhawks Game #2 Tweetcap: Wings’ penalty-kill stars in 3-1 victory over Chicago

The Detroit Red Wings hoped to snap a 2-game losing streak as they battled a stacked Chicago Blackhawks lineup on Tuesday evening, with the Wings dressing 2 NHL forward lines and a mostly prospect-heavy lineup.

On Tuesday night, the Red Wings were not necessarily on their best behavior, so Detroit was out-penalized 6 to 1, but J.T. Compher opened the scoring (from Soderblom) only 3:36 in, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard scored (from Larkin and ASP) at 9:16 of the 1st, and Lucas Raymond scored on a slick play from a coming-out-of-the-penalty-box Jonatan Berggren at 16:24 of the 2nd, and while Colton Dach broke Cam Talbot’s shutout 2:53 into the 3rd, Talbot stopped 27 more shots…

Affording Detroit a 3-1 victory, and snapping a 3-game losing streak.

Detroit killed all 6 Blackhawks power plays, and Dylan Larkin did exit the game for a period of time in the 3rd (as per Darren Pang of CHSN), but he returned during the Wings’ sixth penalty-kill and looked really good overall.

This was perhaps Axel Sandin Pellikka’s best game, Mason Appleton looked really solid, Jacob Bernard-Docker was strong, and Elmer Soderblom was a force to be reckoned with. That, and Talbot played like he knows his job is on the line, as did Berggren.

1ST PERIOD: The teams dressed the following rosters, starters included:

Continue reading Red Wings-Blackhawks Game #2 Tweetcap: Wings’ penalty-kill stars in 3-1 victory over Chicago

Health update: stupid bug persists

Hi, everybody. I wanted to let you know that I’m still trying to recover from this cold/virus/flu type thing.

It’s been miserable to deal with the symptoms thereof (fever, congestion, body aches and pains, fatigue), but it’s been worse to miss hockey stuff and talking about hockey with you as the preseason continues. I’ve been able to do “Tweetcaps,” but it takes a full day of recovery afterward.

My aunt’s also got a really bad back issue, so whether I’m back on Friday or not, I’m going to be spending from about 1 PM until 5 PM at Aunt Annie’s doctor’s office as she’s a real mess in her own way.

I hope all of you are doing well and I want you to know that I’m doing everything I can to get back to work ASAP.

Red Wings-Blackhawks game will stream on DetroitRedWings.com, ESPN+

FYI: Tonight’s preseason game between the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks (8 PM EDT start) will air on both DetroitRedWings.com and ESPN+ (CHSN feed) outside Chicago.

Update: Here’s the Red Wings stream:

https://www.nhl.com/redwings/video/detroit-red-wings-live-stream-6336964314112

Red Wings-Penguins game #2 Tweetcap: Pens’ youngsters out-play a ‘stronger’ Detroit team, win 2-1 decision as a result

The Detroit Red Wings took on a fairly strong Pittsburgh Penguins team as the second “half” (read: four games) of the exhibition season began on Monday night.

Before heading to Chicago tomorrow (8 PM EDT start on ESPN+), Detroit wanted to assuage a bit of a stinker of a loss on Friday to Pittsburgh, and the Wings iced about half an NHL team’s worth of players vying for spots on the big club, and half a roster’s worth of players jockeying for AHL duties in Grand Rapids.

On Monday night, the Red Wings plain old played a weird hockey game, losing 2-1 to the Pittsburgh Penguins despite a late goal from Dominik Shine via Ian Mitchell’s half-boards steal.

John Gibson was excellent in stopping 18 of 20 shots against, but he just didn’t get that much help in terms of stifling the Penguins’ possession and control in the offensive zone, and as both teams went 0-for-2 on the power play, the Wings’ “better lineup” got out-worked, out-hustled and out-executed by a “lesser” Penguins team.

Pittsburgh surged out to a 2-0 lead in the game’s first 24:38, leaned a bit on Tristan Jarry, who was both good and bailed out by a crossbar and goalpost, and the Pens just out-worked Detroit for about 55 of the game’s 60 minutes.

1ST PERIOD: The teams dressed the following rosters:

Continue reading Red Wings-Penguins game #2 Tweetcap: Pens’ youngsters out-play a ‘stronger’ Detroit team, win 2-1 decision as a result

Red Wings-Sabres preseason game #2 Tweetcap: Buffalo’s ‘A Team’ outworks Detroit’s ‘B+ Team’

The Detroit Red Wings played their 3rd game over the course of 3 days on Saturday, taking on a stacked Buffalo Sabres lineup with the Kasper line and Copp lines up front, the Chiarot-Johansson pair on defense, and Sebastian Cossa in goal.

Buffalo would win 5-2. This one was a real head-scratcher, because the DeBrincat-Kasper-Kane line was excellent, generating both Red Wings’ goals (Kane from DeBrincat and Kasper form Chiarot and DeBrincat), the Rasmussen-Copp-Appleton line was good defensively, Albert Johansson had a hell of a game, working with Ben Chiarot, Axel Sandin Pellikka was good…

Did it come down to goaltending? Sort of. Sebastian Cossa was not at his best at times, surrendering 4 goals on 20 shots against, while Alex Lyon was better, stopping 26 of 28, but the Wings also gave up a tremendous number of scoring chances via odd-man rushes and plain old territorial advantage as the Sabres cycled, regrouped, and cycled in Detroit’s zone over and over again.

To me, given that most of the team didn’t play in Pittsburgh the previous evening, coach Todd McLellan is likely to discuss why the Wings dropped a 2-0 lead to Buffalo in the first 12:17 of the game, and why the Wings could not stop Tage Thompson (2 goals, 1 assist) or Josh Norris (1 goal, 2 assists) from there on out. Preparation was an issue here, and execution was another.

For everybody, from Cossa on out.

1st period: The teams started the following players:

Continue reading Red Wings-Sabres preseason game #2 Tweetcap: Buffalo’s ‘A Team’ outworks Detroit’s ‘B+ Team’