The Detroit Red Wings kicked off a challenging four-game road trip with a victory over the defending Stanley Cup champions, beating the Florida Panthers 5-2 on Thursday night to give them eight wins in their last nine games.
The hot topic of discussion leading up to the game was how Detroit would respond after its first true disappointment (writing off that first game they played without a full practice) under the new coaching staff, and tonight was… about as good as anyone could have hoped.
Weathering the Storm Early and Late
If you were to only look at the boxscore of this one, you may not see the full story. The Panthers came out strong and controlled play early in the first, but the Red Wings started to find their footing after their first power play of the game (7:12 in) before a fairly uneventful second period that felt fairly even.
Detroit went into a full-on defensive shell to protect a two-goal lead heading into the third, which I know is something fans have criticized in the past. I suppose that’s rightfully so when it doesn’t work, so it’s only fair to give some props when it does. Although they were outshot in that final frame 23-5 for a full-game total of 43-20, I’d argue it didn’t feel like it (those third-period numbers feel a tad homecooked). I don’t think Florida had many strong chances for the majority of the period. They certainly turned up the heat on the man advantage with around six minutes left and kept that momentum going until Dylan Larkin iced it with an empty-net goal. That was the only stretch where the Red Wings looked scrambly and on their heels, but that was also Cam Talbot’s strongest stretch of the night.
Power Play Nearly Automatic
I’m burying my own lede a bit here, because the Red Wings only had that lead to sit on thanks to a power-play converting at a ridiculous rate. They scored on three of their four chances, with Jonatan Berggren, Dylan Larkin and Patrick Kane each lighting the lamp.
While the power play has been good all season, currently sitting second in the NHL behind only Winnipeg, they’re 17-of-34 under Todd McLellan. It’s worth noting that assistant coach Alex Tanguay oversees the power play, and it’s unlikely (and certainly doesn’t look like) they changed much given that it had already been good before the coaching change — there were higher priorities to fix. But a 50% clip in a 10-game stretch is absurd and shows the confidence the top unit especially (but props to Berggren as well for getting one on the second unit) is playing with right now.
Also interesting is those 34 power-play opportunities since Dec. 26 is the most in the NHL — only five other teams have more than 25 in that same span (Carolina, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Calgary and Dallas). While there’s some randomness to that over a short stretch, it’s also data that shows Detroit is working harder — when you’re skating, holding the puck, keeping your feet moving, you’re more likely to draw a penalty.
Wingers Rounding into Form
There are a lot of individual performances to applaud over the last three weeks, and two worth mentioning tonight were Patrick Kane and Marco Kasper. Early in the season, Detroit was getting most (and sometimes all) of its offense from Larkin, Raymond and DeBrincat. They rotated wingers off the Larkin and Raymond line, and none worked for any extended time. Kane was mostly stapled to DeBrincat, but wasn’t scoring anywhere near the clip he was at last season. It’s still the power-play leading offensive production over 5-on-5 chances, but the top two lines look as good right now as they have at any point.
Kane has rescued what was trending towards a disappointing ending to his run here. His run last year, returning from a historically career-ending surgery to get a team he long admired within a whisker of the playoffs, was a great story. He plays so well that many fans are worried he’s priced himself out of Detroit, but he returns on a one-year deal. Then the first few months don’t go well, and he looks like a non-factor most nights on a team headed towards the draft lottery, which would have made for an anticlimactic ending after last season. Now the season is shaping up to be much more intriguing, and he looks every bit as good as last season. Tonight was probably his best game of the year.
On the other end of the career trajectory, Kasper had played well in a depth role all season but wasn’t finding any luck offensively, which has been the knock on him since he was drafted. He was elevated to the top line five games ago against Ottawa, and hasn’t looked out of place, now picking up six points in that stretch. Confidence is key for this whole roster, but Kasper finding his offensive touch could be one of the better stories of the season if he can keep it up.
The Red Wings (21-19-4) are back in action on Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning.