Red Wings Rumblings (Weekend Thoughts)
I was originally planning on having a standalone article with some notes and observations from over the weekend but life got in the way and I wasn’t able to get around to it. So, I’ll just distill it all down and put it here for you.
Saturday
An early start for the game, but a late start for the Red Wings if you catch my drift. Buffalo opened the game with two goals about 8 minutes apart and the Wings once again lagged behind in shots on goal significantly. To Detroit’s credit, they did erase a two-goal deficit in the second period thanks to goals from Michael Rasmussen and Lucas Raymond (his first career shorthanded goal). With the game tied at three a side, Bowen Byram scored to make it 4-3 late in the second. Detroit couldn’t muster up a goal in the third period and Jack Quinn hit them with an empty-net dagger with less than a minute to go for a 5-3 final.
I really didn’t like watching this game – poor defense and an obvious mismatch of talent between the two teams. Bright spots were Simon Edvinsson (though he did have a couple of sloppy plays, to be expected from him), Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond picking up multi-point games, and Dylan Larkin who managed to win 20 (!!) face offs.
Sunday
The Red Wings started this game unlike any other so far this season. They were quick and efficient and controlled possession for pretty much the entire first period. Edmonton and Detroit would trade goals in the second period about a minute apart – that was after JT Compher opened the scoring in the first period. So, Detroit up 2-1 going into the third period – and that’s when Evan Bouchard scored the game-tying goal which would ultimately lead to a disastrous overtime that lasted not even 20 seconds. This was a poor coaching decision in extra time IMO – Lalonde put JT Compher out to win a faceoff instead of Dylan Larkin, who had been playing well against Edmonton’s top talent. This resulted in a quick goal from Leon Draisaitl.
At least they got a loser point out of this one.
Final Thoughts
I don’t have many to be honest. This defense continues to be a festering wound and while the goaltending has been decent, it’s not good enough to bail it out every night. To make matters worse, I am not sure what you can do right now that will drastically improve the team. Steve Yzerman has had some big whiffs in free agency (Gustafsson is the latest example), and to me that is a big bugaboo for this team right now. If the defense can’t do its job, then it’s going to be extremely difficult for the offense to do ITS job. I’m not hitting the panic button just yet, but with about a month out from Thanksgiving, I’m feeling pretty uneasy about this team.
On a better note, the Grand Rapids Griffins are off to their best start in franchise history thanks to a weekend sweep over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Goaltender Carter Gylander picked up his first-career pro win in a shootout decision Sunday, while Sebastian Cossa had a huge performance Saturday to bring his season stat line to 4-1-0 with a .954 SV% and 1.54 GAA. Huge weekend for Amadeus Lombardi as well, two goals and two assists for the young forward.
