It was just short of two weeks ago that I wrote about how the Red Wings loss to Arizona and how they responded to it would ultimately be the first real opportunity to see who this team was.
Boy, did the respond. Since losing to Arizona 2-1 which was their fourth straight loss, the Red Wings had a few days off and have now ripped off four wins in a row. Some haven’t exactly been pretty, and certainly saw the Red Wings outplayed (the Boston win immediately comes to mind). But if we’re peaking at Wings games of season’s past, those are games they not only lose, but unravel and lose badly.
Instead, it’s been the steady performance of Alex Nedeljkovic, the consistent goal scoring of Lucas Raymond and the occasional depth scoring kicking in has been a nice development.
In short, it sure beats the last few seasons of long losing streaks.
Red Wings Improving but Some Still Need Work
If you read Alex’s eight observations from yesterday, Michael Rasmussen has certainly struggled for stretches this season. Against Boston, he missed two empty net opportunities. During the Seattle game, his shift in overtime nearly resulted in a goal against and the shift seemed over before it could even begin.
Filip Zadina has also been a case study–advanced stats wise he’s looked solid but on the ice at times, he’s looked brutal. Zadina found himself in Blashill’s doghouse after a pass to Jordan Oesterle which eventually led to a goal against. There’s enough consternation about Zadina’s performance from many in the fanbase, which centers around where he was taken in the draft.
The ups and downs will happen. But Rasmussen and Zadina are two being watched closely because it was expected they would be taking bigger strides by now.
Red Wings Will Continue to be Tested
With the Islanders on Saturday and then some rest in between and then a Tuesday-Thursday-Friday tilt with Nashville, St. Louis, and Colorado respectively. Sitting on a four-game winning streak, Detroit will still have a test ahead against some good teams.
Without Tyler Bertuzzi for any of the games, they’ll need that secondary scoring to kick in. But regardless of outcome, the excitement continues to build for what this Red Wings has been so far–and what they could be soon.