Make that six wins in a row for the Detroit Red Wings after Friday night’s butt-whooping of the Chicago Blackhawks at Little Caesars Arena. Could you imagine such a thing just weeks ago?
There was a whole lot to like from the Red Wings in this game. Tonight, I’m putting emphasis on some of the younger players. Todd McLellan seems to have unharnessed an element of this team that has sat semi-vacant for quite some time. In so many words — the kids are alright.
Kasper the Friendly Scorer
Marco Kasper saw over 15 minutes of ice time tonight playing mostly alongside Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond on the top line. This young man is a beast, we’ve seen it all season. He can skate with the best of them and has infinite compete in his play. Kasper picked up two points — an empty-net goal and an assist on a very important goal for one of this team’s bright young talents. (continued)
Johansson Picks Up Milestone
Albert Johansson is another one of those young players that has worked his ass off this season. In and out of the lineup, he’s shown a clear ability to play at the NHL level and his effort paid off tonight to get his first career goal. This play — it was cinema. Gritty work along the boards by Kasper to get the puck to Lucas Raymond, who pulled off a sick pass right into Johansson’s wheelhouse.
Showtime: Cats
Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat are back together and doing better than ever. DeBrincat picked up a goal and assist tonight while Kane had three helpers. Since December 29, against Washington the two have a combined 21 points. DeBrincat is now knocking on the door of a 20-goal season. It’s an amazing thing to watch right now.
Talbot Stock Declining
Cam Talbot has not played up to his standard lately. Detroit kept the Blackhawks out of the race tonight, but 12 saves on 15 shots isn’t anything to write home about. The good news in this scenario is that everything else is working. Word is that Alex Lyon will return soon, so we’ll see who gets the start on Sunday. I’m guessing it’ll either be Lyon or Ville Husso.
Power Play Shows Some Bite
One of the few critiques I have of Detroit in this game was the power play. This should have been at least a seven-goal game for this team given the penalty differential. The Wings weren’t sent to the box once, while the Hawks served four. I was pretty underwhelmed by most of what I saw, but at least the one goal Detroit managed to score was an absolute beauty of a sequence between Kane, DeBrincat, and Raymond.
The Red Wings are officially on a heater and they play Seattle and San Jose the next two games — at home. If they can keep this up, the playoffs are back in the picture.
LGRW
