The Detroit Red Wings got off to a hot start this season going 5-1 through their first six games before cooling off to a 7-5-1 record through their first 13 games played. I don’t think even the most optimistic Red Wings fans saw Detroit being third in the Atlantic Division this far into the season.
Detroit Red Wings Start Compared to Last Season
Last season the Red Wings went 7-3-3 through their first 13 games played, which is remarkably similar to the current record. Following that record, Detroit would lose their next 3 games to the New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings, and Anaheim Ducks. Detroit dropped to 7-6-3, eventually sold off key players at the deadline, and missed the playoffs by a significant number of points. Looking at history shows the importance of these next slew of games and determining whether playoffs are the goal or the expectation. I will admit last season the Red Wings were pretty hot going into that 3-game skid, while this team is 2-3-3 since their 5-game win streak snapped.
The Next Slew of Games
With Detroit’s early success, a lot of people have talked about it in the sense that this isn’t what the Red Wings will look like when playoffs come around. At the same time, when does “it’s just beginning of the season success, or luck” turn into “okay, this a Detroit team that’s ready to make some noise in the postseason”? Right now, we are about 15% of the way through the season. That is still pretty early, but the 20-game mark is about a quarter of the way through the season. There are seven games between where the Red Wings are now and the quarter mark. With a good mix of teams ranging from heavy hitters like the Boston Bruins, to middle-of-the-pack Montreal Canadiens, and even bottom feeders like the Minnesota Wild and Ottawa Senators.
If the Detroit Red Wings want to show that they will be ready for playoff contention, or at least ready to battle it out in March to get into a playoff spot, they will absolutely need to win five or six of these games. After the previous run of games there are some fairly easy wins in these games, but making sure none of those slip away and stealing a couple from a heavy hitter or two would be great. Especially if it’s Boston again.
Will the Red Wings Fold or Show Up Under Pressure?
Looking at last season, history doesn’t favour Detroit when they need to get their game sorted out. This is not the team of last season though. The Red Wings went big in the off-season on purpose as they didn’t want this to be a rebuilding team anymore. Compared to last year, there is a lot more skill and more importantly experience in the lineup. A lot of Detroit’s faults last year were from small mistakes that added up while they may have also needed more skill to help make up for those mistakes. It was still too many mistakes to be truly competitive in today’s NHL.
When you look at the current lineup you see a lot of NHLers, not AHLers or prospects trying to become NHLers. There wasn’t a single rookie on the roster until Jonatan Berggren made his season debut against the Calgary Flames in late October. You see players who have played in the NHL for a while and know how to play at that level and get into the postseason. Steve Yzerman also did this without risking too much on players who may be heading out of their prime. The average age of this lineup according to elite prospects is not even a full year older than last season. With that said, it will take some gelling to truly see how good this team can be.
Concluding Thoughts
Detroit’s five-game win streak was built off of mostly puck luck. Don’t get it wrong though you need a tremendous amount of skill and smarts to get to a place where puck luck can win or lose a game for you, but the puck was going in way more than it should have. Since then it’s been harder for the Red Wings to find the back of their net. Their shooting percentage has gone down, their xGF is becoming almost the same as their actual GF (xGF 40.31, and 48 goals scored) according to naturalstattrick.com. Alex DeBrincat also hasn’t scored in the last six games and only has one assist in that time.
Detroit is due for some puck luck and it’s time for their offence to get going again if they want to show they deserve to be in the upper part of the league and more importantly the playoffs. Their next game is against the Montreal Canadiens tomorrow at 7 p.m. ET. The Detroit Red Wings will be at home ready to defend their barn and their place in the standings against a division rival. Hopefully, this game will be the start of another win streak.
Main Photo Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
