The Malik Report

The Detroit Red Wings did a fine job of winning a 4-1 decision over the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday evening; the Wings will attempt to extend their winning streak to 3 games as they face the Florida Panthers on Saturday night (7:00 PM EST on FSD Plus/FS Florida/97.1 FM).

The Red Wings played at least a solid 50 of 60 minutes against the Hurricanes, and the Hurricanes’ players tipped their hats to the Red Wings’ desire and determination, as noted by the Raleigh News & Observer’s Chip Alexander:

Continue reading Red Wings-Hurricanes wrap-up and Red Wings-Panthers set-up:

The Detroit Red Wings attempted to build a modest 2-game winning streak as they faced the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday evening. Carolina had won 3 straight games, and was looking to slide back into one of the Eastern Conference’s Wild Card spots.

The Red Wings did an excellent job of out-playing the Hurricanes for the game’s final 50 minutes, out-scoring Carolina 4-1 and out-hustling the Canes by a substantial margin. Darren Helm had 3 points (1G, 2A), Anthony Mantha had 6 shots, Petr Mrazek had 37 saves and Henrik Zetterberg passed Pavel Datsyuk on the team’s all-time assists list.

Henrik Zetterberg collected the 605th assist of his NHL career (all w/ DET) to pass former teammate Pavel Datsyuk for sole possession of fifth place on the @DetroitRedWings all-time list. #NHLStats #DETvsCAR pic.twitter.com/MzofNqoGPe

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 3, 2018

Regardless of the team’s playoff fate, it’s good to watch the Wings play such a strong game.

Continue reading Red Wings-Hurricanes quick take: Helm, Wings out-hustle the Canes

Via CBS Detroit’s Will Burtchfield, FanRag Sports’ Chris Nichols reports that Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman discussed several Red Wings-related trade rumors during an interview on Edmonton’s 630 CHED:

 

“Mike Green, he’ll be out there,” indicated NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman during a Friday afternoon appearance on Edmonton’s 630 CHED. “I think there’s going to be some interest in Mike Green. He’s already been linked to Washington. I know they were asking about him at the All-Star game last week, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Tampa takes a look… I wouldn’t be surprised if Tampa was one of the teams in there considering a look at Mike Green.”

“They’ve tried to move Tatar and Nyquist for a couple of years now. They’ve been on and off the market, and I do think they’re looking at that again.

“I’ve reported at one point this year it looked like Edmonton and Detroit were seriously talking about a Mrazek deal that didn’t happen. And I still think they’d move one of their goaltenders if the price is right. Mrazek has started to play a little better.

“I think Detroit, as you mentioned, being in the position that they’re in, they’re willing to consider a lot of things. I do think that a few of their players are guys who could be available.”

Continued

Here’s the Grand Rapids Griffins’ Game-Day Preview video ahead of Grand Rapids’ second game of three against the Lake Erie Monsters in Cleveland:

 

 

DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji and the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan spoke with Petr Mrazek regarding the possibility that #34 might be traded before the February 26th deadline, and Mrazek was blunt in his answers, as noted by Wakiji…

Although the Feb. 26 trade deadline is fast approaching, goaltender Petr Mrazek said he isn’t thinking about it.

“Not really. I think players know about it, they know it can happen,” Mrazek said. “That’s how hockey is, that’s the life and lives go forward. Just every game I play, it makes me happy and I don’t worry about anything else right now.”

Mrazek is happy that he will be starting his fourth game in the last five.

“It’s way better for sure when you play more games and you don’t play once or two times a month,” Mrazek said.

And Kulfan:

“No, I don’t really care about that,” Mrazek said after Friday’s morning skate, prior to his start against Carolina. “What’s going to happen is going to happen. It’s nothing I can control. It’s another three or four weeks before that, and whatever happens, happens.

“I don’t worry about that.”

The first set of updates from today’s Red Wings-Hurricanes game post were all related to Carolina’s takes on tonight’s game (7:00 PM on FSD/FS Carolinas/97.1 FM). The Wings news will constitute a second post so that it doesn’t get buried.

1. DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji received a Wings-Canes scouting report from coach Blashill…

The Hurricanes will be playing the second game of a back-to-back after shutting out the Montreal Canadiens, 2-0, Thursday night at PNC Arena. Blashill and the coaching staff watched that game.

“Certainly, they work,” Blashill said. “They get to the net hard in the O-zone. They get tons of pucks to the net. Their shooting statistics will speak for that. Cam Ward was very good, I thought Carey Price was very good. The work ethic and the get to the net – I thought the Staal line was excellent last night as well, and they obviously have a real good D corps. I thought Montreal had moments where they looked like they were going to get an opportunity and a stick on puck or a block by the D corps happened.”

Continue reading Red Wings-Hurricanes game-day updates II: Wings wary of Canes, hope to continue shooting from the hip

The Athletic’s Craig Custance discusses Henrik Zetterberg’s future today, wondering aloud how long Zetterberg might play:

As one Western Conference head coach put it: “He’s made millions and millions and still absolutely loves to compete. That’s why you respect Zetterberg and the Sedins so much. They’re approaching 38 and 39 and they play like a son of a bitch.”

Zetterberg isn’t doing it with high-end skating or some other skill that might fall off a cliff as 40 approaches. He’s successful because he has an iron will. And continues to stay a step or two ahead of the young players populating the league.

So there’s definitely a temptation to rethink that two-year assumption that emerged in the summer.

“If I can go in and have the year I had last year for four more years, I am more than happy to be the guy who can play,” Zetterberg told The Athletic when asked about his plans for the future earlier in the season.

Custance continues (paywall)…

The Red Wings battle the Carolina Hurricanes this evening (7:00 PM on FSD/FS Carolinas/97.1 FM). Both teams held optional morning skates today, and all signs point to Cam Ward and Petr Mrazek facing off for a battle in the teams’ respective goal creases.

After the morning skates, CarolinaHurricanes.com’s Michael Smith filed a game-day update:

Continue reading Red Wings-Hurricanes game-day updates: Canes aim for 4th straight win

The NHL’s website has posted a “Trade Buzz” article that happens to include some familiar “buzz” about the Red Wings’ possible trades:

Coach Jeff Blashill said goaltender Petr Mrazek will start at Carolina on Friday (7 p.m. ET; FS-CR, FS-D, NHL.TV), which could provide another opportunity to showcase the 25-year-old goaltender for a possible trade.

It will be the fourth start in five games for Mrazek, a pending restricted free agent who is looking like a valuable commodity again. After going 3-5-1 with an .885 save percentage in his first 12 games this season, he has gone 3-0-1 with a .965 save percentage in his past five games.

Continue reading NHL.com talks Wings trade possibilities

Updated 2x at 12:36 PM: The Detroit Red Wings kick off a stretch of 2 games to be played over the course of 2 nights as they face the streaking Carolina Hurricanes this evening (7:00 PM on FSD/FS Carolinas/97.1 FM).

Carolina has won 3 straight games heading into tonight’s match-up, and the Canes sit 8 points ahead of the Wings in the Wild Card standings.

If you’re interested, the Hurricanes’ website posted a set of game notes ahead of the Canes’ morning skate, and CarolinaHurricanes.com’s Mike Smith penned a game preview:

Continue reading Red Wings-Hurricanes morning skate Tweets: Canes, Wings ‘take optional’ skates