The Malik Report

Of Red Wings prospect-related note in Europe on Saturday:

In the Finnish Liiga, Otto Kivenmaki had an assist, finishing even in 16:21 played as the Lahti Pelicans lost 2-1 to Assat Pori;

Eemil Viro did not play out of an abundance of caution in TPS Turku’s 3-1 loss to SaiPa. Viro took a hit to the head in TPS’s last game, but he’s okay;

In the SHL, William Wallinder finished even in 12:10 played as Rogle BK won 3-0 over Skelleftea AIK;

In Frolunda HC’s 4-0 loss to Brynas:

Simon Edvinsson finished at -2 with 1 shot in 21:46 played;

Elmer Soderblom finished at -1 with 1 shot in 16:09 played;

And Theodor Niederbach finished at -1 with 1 shot in 11:09 played;

In Farjestads BK’s 3-2 win over Leksands IF:

Gustav Berglund played 1:30, finishing even as the team’s seventh defenseman;

And Albert Johansson finished even with 4 shots in 18:44 played.

In the Allsvenskan, Albin Grewe has been battling a concussion that’s lingered, and he did not play in Mora IK’s 2-1 loss to Tingsryds IF;

In the Swedish J20 league, Liam Dower Nilsson (???) did not play in Frolunda HC’s 5-4 overtime loss to Rogle BK;

In the HockeyEttan, Jesper Eliasson served as the back-up in Vasby IK’s 5-2 loss to the Nybro Vikings.

MLive’s Ansar Khan discusses the Red Wings’ rather mediocre defensive game both at and away from Little Caesars Arena during an off-day notebook, noting that the Avalanche were able to exploit the Red Wings with ease over the course of last night’s 7-3 loss:

Colorado (15-7-2) is by far the highest-scoring team in the league (4.38 goals per game) and has tallied seven goals in three consecutive games, which is unheard of in today’s NHL.

“You give them time, they roll around, they make plays. It’s hard,” Larkin said. “You got to find a way to grind out your shift and stay tight. We just got beat on our assignments, especially early. Absolutely it’s disappointing. It was a back-to-back, four points on the line and we didn’t come up with any. We had a good stretch and we’re a little banged up right now, but we got to find a way to get something.”

Blashill called this game a litmus test for his team defensively and said too many players had their ‘C’ game early when the Avalanche led 3-0 less than 11 minutes into the game. He praised their character in coming back to make it competitive for a bit.

“They certainly didn’t quit, had chances in the third to at least make it interesting,” Blashill said.

Team defense continues to be an issue. The Red Wings have allowed 18 goals in their past three games and rank 27th in goals-against average (3.43).

“We’re going to get back to work and get better, especially in our D-zone coverage,” Blashill said. “We can’t give up nearly the number of chances we gave up. But we did create lots of chances. Our guys stayed with it in a tough environment. I’m happy for that but we got to grow here. We got to get back, take a breath and be ready for a big game on Tuesday.”

The Red Wings (13-12-3) are 4-9-1 away from home.

Continued; between slot coverage when in a defensive shell (i.e. not collapsing in the slot) and just plain old asking the forwards to not cheat toward offense every chance they get, the Wings could use a couple of very simple fundamental changes to their defensive game to improve dramatically.

Well, why not all three?

Vegas, baby! ?✨

You can now vote for Dylan Larkin, Mo Seider & Lucas Raymond in the 2022 @NHL All-Star Fan Vote!

Details: https://t.co/PEbr1MzKxH
Vote: https://t.co/9ZMQ81K3xA pic.twitter.com/k74YNCRhMn— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 11, 2021

Here’s the hype reel:

???https://t.co/lOBLQudphM pic.twitter.com/bAL3u5gNEk— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 11, 2021

This makes sense given that Grand Rapids plays tonight in Manitoba:

The #RedWings today assigned center Kyle Criscuolo and defenseman Brian Lashoff to the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins.

Details: https://t.co/JTfnxmA26q pic.twitter.com/3quy9ax2nt— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 11, 2021

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan has already filed an off-day notebook which focuses on the Wings’ defensive struggles over the course of last night’s 7-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche:

“It was a litmus test for us defensively and we know we have to grow and get better,” coach Jeff Blashill said. 

The Wings (13-12-3) have lost their last three games, and have been outscored 18-7 in the process. They continue to have difficulty winning away from Little Caesars Arena, with a dismal 4-9-1 record.

“I’ve talked about it a lot — when you’re on the road you have to be great defensively and you have to manage the puck great to win,” said Blashill, who added the Wings haven’t been overly great in those two areas lately at LCA either. “Those two areas, if we want to be a team that can with both on the road at home, we have to do better at. It’s a lesson our guys are learning.”

To have any sort of success Friday, it was important for the Wings to have a good start and keep the Ball Arena crowd — which, incidentally, had a large segment of Wings fans, Detroit natives who arrived early for the Lions’ game here Sunday — out of the equation.

But the Avalanche scored three quick goals in just over 10 minutes, and the rout was on.

“They’re a premier offensive team, you give them time and they’ll roll around and make plays,” forward Dylan Larkin said. “You have to find a way to grind out your shift and stay tight and we just got beat on our assignments, and especially early. It was a disastrous start and you can’t have that kind of start in this building.”

Continued; Kulfan also reports that Tyler Bertuzzi and Marc Staal *may* return from COVID protocols in time for Tuesday’s game vs. the Islanders.

Former Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg spoke to Hockeysverige.se’s Ronnie Ronnqvist at length regarding the early-season success of one Lucas Raymond. What follows is roughly translated from Swedish:

Henrik Zetterberg praises Lucas Raymond: “A little sensational”

Lucas Raymond is the Detroit Red Wings’ top scorer and leads in the points league for rookies in the NHL. At home in Sweden, the legendary Henrik Zetterberg follows the progress of the great Swedish talent with pleasure.

“You have to say that it’s a bit sensational,” says “Zata” to Hockeysverige.se.

After the overnight game between Detroit and Colorado, 19-year-old Lucas Raymond has played in 28 games and has posted 10 goals and 24 total points. With that, he’s the Red Wings’ best scorer thus far. Together with Moritz Seider, he is perhaps the league’s best rookie thus far.

Someone who is impressed with Lucas Raymond is former NHL star and team captain of the Detroit Red Wings, Henrik Zetterberg.

“Before the season, I had hopes that he would get a chance in Detroit, that he would go up and down a little between Detroit and Grand Rapids. That’s what I saw in front of me,” says Henrik Zetterberg to Hockeysverige.se, and he continues:

How did you see the start to his season?

“It must be said that it’s a little bit sensational. There were also a lot of coincidences. Jakub Vrana suffered an injury, needed to have shoulder surgery. Ta da, there was a place in the top six. Lucas got the chance and he took it.”

“It’s not just that there was only one place, but that he really deserved that spot. He’s taken it and now it’s his spot. Had Vrana not gotten hurt, who knows whether he would have gotten the chance immediately.”

“Now he gets to play on the first “PP” (power play) and has played mostly with Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi. It’s a good line and they complement each other very well.”

Continue reading Roughly translated: Henrik Zetterberg discusses Lucas Raymond, Steve Yzerman and Niklas Kronwall with Hockeysverige.se

Of Red Wings prospect-related note in North America on Friday night:

In the ECHL, Kaden Fulcher served as the back-up and Billy Christopoulos stopped 30 of 32 shots as the Toledo Walleye lost 3-2 to the Iowa Heartlanders in a shootout;

In the QMJHL, Jan Bednar pitched a 21-save shutout as his Acadie-Bathurst Titan won 5-0 over the Oscar Plandowski-less Charlottetown Islanders. Bednar was named the game’s second star;

In the OHL, Pasquale Zito had an assist, finishing at +2 with a penalty taken and a 4-for-7 faceoff record in the Windsor Spitfires’ 4-1 win over London;

In the WHL, Cross Hanas finished even with 1 shot in the Portland Winterhawks’ 4-1 win over Spokane;

Alex Cotton finished at -1 with 7 shots in the Vancouver Giants’ 4-3 loss to Victoria;

The Sebastian Cossa-less Edmonton Oil Kings lost 3-2 to the Brandon Wheat Kings;

And in NCAA Hockey, Robert Mastrosimone had an assist, finishing even with 3 shots in the Boston University Terriers’ 3-3 overtime tie with Boston University;

Cooper Moore had an assist, finishing at +1 with 3 shots in the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks’ 5-2 win over Colorado College;

Sam Stange had an assist, finishing at +1 with 2 shots in the University of Wisconsin Badgers’ 4-1 win over Penn State;

Jack Adams had an assist, finishing at -1 in the Notre Dame Fighting Irish’s 3-2 win over Michigan State;

Ryan O’Reilly had a goal and an assist, finishing at +1 with 5 shots in the Arizona State University Sun Devils’ 4-3 win over Clarkson;

And in the University of Denver Pioneers’ 5-0 win over Minnesota-Duluth:

Shai Buium scored his first NCAA goal, finishing at +3 with 2 shots;

Carter Mazur had an assist, finishing at +2;

And Antti Tuomisto finished even with 1 shot.

The Grand Rapids Griffins sort of had “opposite night” when compared to their parent club on Friday evening in Winnipeg: Grand Rapids actually scored the game’s first two goals, with Tyler Spezia and Turner Elson opening up a 2-0 lead…into which the Griffins fell like a chasm, surrendering four 3rd period goals (including an empty-netter) to the hometown Moose, ultimately losing a 4-2 decision.

Calvin Pickard was still named the game’s first star as he stopped 38 of 41 shots for the Griffins, but the goalie can’t score goals.

Anyway, here’s the Griffins website’s recap:

Continue reading Recap: Griffins drop road-and-road opener to Moose in Winnipeg

The Detroit Red Wings have lost 3 straight games, and they sit at 13-13-and-3 after an ugly 7-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche, wrapping up a nasty set of back-to-back losses on the road (in both St. Louis and Denver), on top of a bad home loss to the Nashville Predators.

Our friends from Denver now sit at an impressive 15-7-2, while Ken Daniels informed those of us who were paying attention on Thursday night in St. Louis that, in terms of “difficulty of schedule,” the Red Wings, who sit at 13-12-and-3, have the hardest remaining schedule of any NHL team (in terms of their remaining opponents’ win percentage).

Long story long; between the 7-3 loss to Colorado on Friday and the 6-2 loss to St. Louis on Thursday–never mind the 5-2 home loss to Nashville on Tuesday–the Red Wings have learned a lot about what not to do defensively, as well as how not to stage a comeback from multiple-goal deficits.

As ColoradoAvalanche.com’s Laken Barker notes, the Avs’ win was one for the record books, or at least the record-tying ones…

Continue reading Red Wings-Avalanche wrap-up: Wings lose 3rd straight on the road, so lessons abound

It translates pretty well, given that it’s mostly a highlight clip: