What if I told you the Detroit Red Wings look like a playoff team?
You might have laughed at me before the season started.
You probably wouldn’t have believed me after the season opener, when they blew three-goal leads twice and lost in overtime to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
But now?
After Tuesday night’s impressive 4-2 win at Little Caesars Arena over the Edmonton Oilers, one of the NHL’s best teams, no one’s laughing.
And as far as what everyone is seeing with their own eyes? Now that the Wings have played nearly 20% of their schedule, well what does that song tell us about south Detroit? “Don’t Stop Believin.'”
“We believe in each other and we have a good team,” said Vladislav Namestnikov, a fourth-line winger who scored twice. “When we roll four lines it’s hard to play against us. We want to be that team that teams come in here and say, ‘Wow, it’s hard to play against these guys.’ ”
And if they don’t say it, Vlad, I will. Wow, it’s hard to play against these guys.
By beating the Oilers, the top team in the Western Conference, the Wings improved to 7-5-2 and moved into second place in the Atlantic Division. That means, if the season ended today — not only would a lot of people want a refund on their season-ticket packages but — the Wings would be a playoff team.
But it’s just not about beating handing the Oilers (9-2) their second loss and ending their four-game winning streak. Beating a good team like Edmonton isn’t an anomaly.
The Wings beat the Vegas Golden Knights, preseason Stanley Cup darlings, on Sunday. They came back in Washington and won in overtime. They salvaged a point against the Florida Panthers, the NHL’s top team.
None of the Wings wanted to call this game a barometer for where the team stands. Frankly, it would be a little unfair because they’ve already proved they can beat top teams.
“I think we treat every team the same,” Namestnikov said. “I think it’s up to us to play to the standards we set and I think that’s what we did today. It’s not about the other team, it’s about the way we play.”
The Wings played an inspired game, matching their effort with their intelligence. It’s clear the Oilers have more established talent with players like Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, the league’s respective top two leading scorers. But the Wings did a great job of containing them, often using two players to shadow McDavid and pushing him and Draisaitl to the perimeters of the ice, making them less effective.
A season that began with the same nagging questions about the Wings’ inability to score has suddenly turned into a season about shoring up the defense. And with so much scoring prowess on the ice — five of the NHL’s top scorers were present between the two teams — LCA boasted more firepower Tuesday than the Detroit Arsenal did in the 1940s.
The game seemed destined to be a shootout. And yet it wasn’t because the Wings did what they had to do against Stuart Skinner, the Oilers’ third-string goalie, and played a controlled defensive game that was bolstered by the outstanding play of Alex Nedeljkovic, who made 31 saves.
“We need to get better for sure,” coach Jeff Blashill said of his defense. “Some of that is McDavid can break you down, Draisaitl can break you down and all of a sudden there’s a little bit of a scramble. But again, I think we’re learning and I think there’s areas where we took a step tonight.”
And let’s not forget that. Taking a step is really what this season is about for the Wings, who happen to growing by leaps and bounds at this point.
McDavid got his goal, though it came in at a sharp angle from the left circle. But Draisaitl was held without a shot on goal.
The Oilers were without Mike Smith, their injured top goalie. But they were well-rested, playing for the first time in four days. Yet it was the Wings who looked like the team with more energy and urgency.
After Nedeljkovic made a big save in the first period, the Wings spent about two minutes in the Oilers’ offensive zone and received a well-earned standing ovation. By the time Namestnikov scored his second goal for a 2-0 lead early in the second period, the Wings had outshot Edmonton, 24-9.
Blashill was asked after the game if it had been the best in regard to the pace his team showed, and his answer said a lot about how well the Wings are playing.
“It’s hard to say. I think we’ve had some real good games,” he said. “But I thought the first two periods we did a really good job against a team obviously that has a heck of a record that’s a really good team. …
“We made lots of plays. We got the puck in the O-zone and then we tracked and gapped real well, and I think that’s how you have to play to be successful.”
We’ve seen a lot of playoff hockey in Detroit in the not-too-distant past. Former general manager Ken Holland, who is now Edmonton’s GM and was at the game, was acknowledged for his efforts leading those glory years in Detroit. But this is Steve Yzerman’s team now and it looks like it’s going to somewhere next spring that it hasn’t visited for a while.
Contact Carlos Monarrez at cmonarrez@freepress.com and follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez.