The Athletic’s Topher Scott offers his weekly “view from a coach” regarding the Red Wings‘ ups and downs over the past week:

1. Offense comes from good defense: Many of the Red Wings’ scoring chances came from good defensive play. I have written about how Detroit’s roster makeup requires the team to play a flawless defensive game to be able to win. Strong defensive play from the five-man unit on the ice creates turnovers, leading to transition offense going the other way. A lot of times, this comes from strong gaps, good backchecks and shot-blocking in the neutral and defensive zones.

…

2. Defense jumping in the play creates offense: Over the last three games, I saw the defensemen involved in the offense more than any other time during the first half of the season. It led to a lot of scoring chances and even a few goals. Maybe they saw how Brent Burns was playing and decided to emulate him?

Whatever it was, I loved it. Having the defense involved in the rush and even the cycle is where the NHL is heading today. You will see in the video below how the Red Wings’ defense jumped right into the play offensively, leading to scoring chances and goals.

Continued (paywall)

Henrik Zetterberg told the Free Press’s Helene St. James and the media attending Monday’s practice that the Wings are still frustrated with the NHL’s inconsistency of rule interpretation:

Jeff Blashill joked that “Tomas Holmstrom called, he’d like to come back and play.” (Because based on Saturday’s game at Florida, goalie interference isn’t what it used to be).

— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) February 5, 2018

Henrik Zetterberg: It is hard for us to know what rules apply for us. … The goalie interference rule, obviously it changed during the All-Star break but we are not really certain what it changed to.”

— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) February 5, 2018

Henrik Zetterberg following today’s practice: pic.twitter.com/CmyTsEtfRe

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) February 5, 2018

Most importantly, Zetterberg tells the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan that the team has to play better going forward…And coach Blashill agreed:

“We gotta get out of our zone faster and we gotta make sure we do a better job on those, and that’s what I can focus on. I can’t control the other stuff.”

Jeff Blashill speaks with the media ahead of tomorrow’s game. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/0glsCzEjMh

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) February 5, 2018

Okay, so I turn 40 today. My birthday plans involve going out grocery shopping with the mom, working on the blog, taking a nap, and doing a Wings-Bruins set-up.

I would kindly ask for a self-serving favor: please let people know that The Malik Report exists (at https://themalikreport.com), and that I’m trying to crowdfund the blog instead of relying on commercials. Or if you don’t want to go that far, please add TMR to your bookmarks.

At this point, getting the word out is the best thing you can do to put a candle on the Zetterberg cake. 🙂

The Toledo Walleye are going hold a “Pink in the Rink Weekend” on March 2nd and 3rd. Here are some of the details thereof:

SUPPORT PINK IN THE RINK WEEKEND: MARCH 2-3

Pink ice is nice! The Toledo Walleye will host a special weekend to raise awareness about breast cancer and fundraising activities for Komen of NW Ohio, during Pink in the Rink presented by Hondros College of Nursing on Friday, March 2 and Saturday, March 3.

The Walleye will play both games on pink ice at the Huntington Center. Special recognitions will be made throughout both games in support of breast cancer survivors.

POMPOM GIVEAWAY

The first 1,500 fans entering the Huntington Center on March 2 and the first 2,000 fans entering the Huntington Center on March 3 will receive a pink pompom courtesy or Hondros College of Nursing.

JERSEY RAFFLES

The Walleye will hold a jersey raffle on March 2 and another raffle on March 3, with proceeds benefitting Komen of NW Ohio and the Walleye Wishing Well.  Look for the raffle table on the main concourse. For both raffles, tickets will be $5 each or 5 for $20, with winning numbers selected at the end of the second intermission.

Continued

 

 

 

FanRag Sports’ Chris Nichols snagged a set of quotes from TSN’s Bob McKenzie, who spoke with Montreal’s TSN 690 this morning, and among McKenzie’s comments:

“I know Nashville – well, they’ve been watching a lot of teams and you don’t read too much into where guys go, but I think they’ve been checking the Detroit Red Wings out. Gustav Nyquist is a player who could become available. Tomas Tatar – I don’t think Detroit wants to trade Tatar; but again, they’re in a mode where they’re going to be rebuilding and they’re also looking to offload some contracts.

“So yeah, there’s a lot out there. Right now, I would say it’s a buyer’s market for those scoring wingers. But that can change in a hurry. And at the end of the day, whether you’re Montreal with Pacioretty or Hoffman with Ottawa, you’re not obliged to trade these guys so you’re not moving them unless you get top dollar on the return. And if the Preds aren’t going to pay top dollar for that, then maybe they’ll go a more bargain way with a rental or to get a guy like Nyquist out of Detroit.”

Nyquist has this season and next left on his contract at a $4.75 million hit, while Tatar has three more years beyond this one at $5.3 million.

Pacioretty has one more season after this one, and his cap hit is $4.5 million.

Nichols continues (as does McKenzie), and I wonder whether the Wings really are considering moving Nyquist and/or Tatar.

The Red Wings hit the ice at Little Caesars Arena just after 11 AM, preparing for the Boston Bruins…

Back to work on Monday. #LGRWpic.twitter.com/7hUBh5eFO9

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) February 5, 2018

And DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji reported in…

Detroit Public School students watch #RedWings practice at BELFOR Training Center. Part of STEM Day. pic.twitter.com/4GUIa5oVrP

— Dana Wakiji (@Dwakiji) February 5, 2018

#RedWings Zetterberg not practicing today, most likely a maintenance day.

#RedWings Helm also not on the ice today at BELFOR Training Center.

As did the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan:

Continue reading Tweets from practice: More maintenance days for Zetterberg, Helm

MLive’s Ansar Khan tends to post feature articles at 6 AM. This morning, he discusses several Red Wings-related topics, including the fact that Petr Mrazek’s making a stand in the Wings’ crease:

The Red Wings will look to move one of their goaltenders — Jimmy Howard or Mrazek, whoever garners the better return – but that might not be possible with few playoff-contending clubs seeking help in net.

Mrazek is 4-1-1 in his past six starts and has a 1.30 goals-against average and .958 save percentage over his past seven appearances. Howard has played better than Mrazek most of the season, but suddenly, Mrazek (2.75 GAA, .914 save percentage) has better overall numbers than Howard (2.82 GAA, .911 save percentage).

If Mrazek continues to play well, he’ll not only get the bulk of the starts, he’ll likely get qualified. If the Red Wings aren’t able to move either goalie between now and training camp, they could start 2018-19 with the Howard-Mrazek tandem again.

Khan continues, discussing the Bruins’ dominance over the Wings, as well as possible trades with the Islanders and Capitals.

 

The evening after the Detroit Red Wings lost 3-2 to the Florida Panthers thanks to a heavily-disputed goal, I don’t want to poke the wound, per se, but:

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan penned a “the day after” notebook, and these player comments stood out to me:

“It’s frustrating because we battled our tails off to get at least a point in this game and to get that ripped away from us, at this stage of the season, it’s probably the most frustrated I’ve been,” Abdelkader said.

Especially when the rule is so hazy.

“Losing a game like this, with the points so important, on a call that yesterday could have been goalie interference and tonight it’s not,” Zetterberg said, “that’s what’s frustrating.”

The Wings are still only 7 points behind the Flyers with a game in hand, but they’d have to climb over the Islanders, Hurricanes, Rangers and now the Panthers to swipe the Flyers’ Wild Card spot.

Worse, the Wings have only 17 regulation-or-overtime wins, which is 3rd-worst in the Eastern Conference, so Detroit would have to earn more points than their opponents to break any ties in the standings.

The loss to Florida isn’t going to be what kicks the Wings out of the playoffs, but it will serve as a moment that makes Wings fans go, “Damn, if we could’ve had that one…”

The Grand Rapids Griffins did an excellent job of “tackling” a 3-game road stint in Cleveland, taking 2 of 3 games from the Cleveland Monsters.

Grand Rapids lost 3-2 in a shootout on Thursday, the Griffins won 4-2 on Friday, and on Sunday,  Eric Tangradi scored 2 goals, Matt Puempel had a goal and 2 assists, Filip Hronek had 2 assists (finishing at a stunning +5) and Jared Coreau stopped 25 of 28 shots as the Griffins won a 6-3 decision.

The Griffins’ website posted a recap:

Continue reading Prospect round-up: Griffins take 2 of 3 from Milwaukee; Gallant scores for Petes

The Grand Rapids Griffins posted a late-breaking Game-Day Preview video in which Bob Kaser profiles the Griffins ahead of their 1 PM EST game against the Cleveland Monsters: