The first quarter of the 2021-22 NHL season has shown the promising and the prosaic from the Detroit Red Wings.
There have been times they’ve shown how good they can — such as their road game against the Washington Capitals on Oct. 27 and their home game against the Edmonton Oilers on Nov. 9. But they enter the second quarter of games on a down note following a four-game trip that saw them earn only one point. It has been a hectic start to the season for the Wings, who at this point have played three games more than two-thirds of the league. It will even out in the end, of course, but that doesn’t alter how grueling the past few weeks have been.
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“It’s hard to bring it every night,” captain Dylan Larkin said. “But we’re a young team and we have to find ways to bring 90%, and a really good 90%. Once you get more experience, you realize when you don’t feel well, playing simple, playing the right way, it helps the team game. It will come. We’re a young team. That will come.”
The Wings can finally surface this week, with only two games on the slate, both at Little Caesars Arena. They’ve played well at home — their 8-9-3 record includes a 5-2-2 mark at LCA — and they will have the opportunity for quality practices.
“It’s about what we’re doing moving forward and we know the areas we have to grow,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “We are going to get the chance to practice more until the end of the year and that’s an important part of us continuing to get better.
“We can write whatever story we want to write. We have to decide what we want to be.”
Here are 10 thoughts on the Wings at the quarter mark.
Deserving a rally
They’ve got to get back to feeling like they deserve to win. That feeling was evident when they rallied from two-goal deficits to beat the Capitals and the Canadiens, and in their best performance of the season, against the Oilers. And it was missing in Columbus last Monday, when they couldn’t close out the Blue Jackets despite twice holding a late lead. There has been a tendency to sit backm rather than continue to push. That’s a key lesson the Wings need to absorb.
Back on ‘D’
So is team defense. Goaltenders Alex Nedeljkovic and Thomas Greiss deserve better than the performances in front of them on the past trip. The Wings improved here last season, but a slight uptick in scoring (2.70 goals per game compared to 2.23 last season) seems to have eroded some of that mentality (3.35 goals allowed per game compared to 3.30 last season).
Captain on track
Dylan Larkin has allayed concern within the organization over his mediocre performance last season. He has been through trying times — the neck injury in April, a family emergency at the start of November, a COVID-19 scare last week when he received what turned out to be a false positive — and has focused on enjoying himself more. It shows on the ice, where he’s playing well at both ends and averaging a point a game.
Luke at him
Lucas Raymond picked up his 12th assist of the season on Larkin’s goal Saturday. The rookie’s performance really is remarkable for his consistency. He has points in 12 gams, and 19 after 20 games. That’s only two behind Steve Yzerman’s pace in his rookie year of 1983-84.
Calder Mo-mentum
The other rookie making a play for the Calder Trophy, Moritz Seider, sent a scare when he limped off in pain after getting hit on the knee by the puck in the third period Thursday. This hasn’t been his best stretch of hockey, but Seider already has established he’s the best defenseman on the team.
Bert backs off
Tyler Bertuzzi’s early scoring pace — 14 points over his first 10 games — was not sustainable, but his overall play has dropped. He has two points during his past seven games, has been prone to turnovers and hasn’t played with the grit that makes him so effective. For the Wings to rebound, they need Bertuzzi back on his ‘A’ game.
Fil’ it up
Filip Zadina slammed his stick on the ice Saturday after his attempt to stuff the puck into Arizona’s net in the final seconds was thwarted. Zadina plays on the second line and the power play, averaging 15-16 minutes a game. The former No. 6 overall pick has just three goals and seven points. He likes the one-timer from the circle, but teams are onto that and block his lane.
Second line
The second line needs to find ways to contribute more Larkin, Bertuzzi and Raymond have combined for for 25 goals on the top line, while Zadina, Pius Suter and Robby Fabbri have only combined for 10. Fabbri was denied on several chances Saturday — including a blistering slap shot — and Suter plays a crafty game. But they need to score more consistenly.
Power outage
The Wings have one power play goal in their past seven games, during which they’ve had roughly 21 minutes total with an extra skater. They had two power plays in the second period Saturday but weren’t able to build on their 1-0 lead. It’s been an issue for several seasons, but this season there are enough skilled players to form two units. Coaches have moved players around on the units, but this is another area where the Wings need to gain some confidence.
Playoffs?
The Wings are right in the middle of the pack in their division; they entered Sunday at No. 4 in the Atlantic, a couple points out of a playoff spot (though it’s skewed somewhat by the disparity in games played). But they’re only a bit below .500, which is pretty good, all in all. They’re certainly more fun to watch than the previous couple seasons’ version of the franchise. They need to use this mini-break to recharge and get back to being a team that out-hustles its opponent regularly.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her book, The Big 50: The Detroit Red Wings is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.