The Wings survived a brutal Western Canada road trip that looked like it was going to be disastrous with an overtime win over Vancouver on Saturday night. I wouldn’t call earning three out of a possible six points on the road against three Western Conference bubble teams a “successful” trip by any measure, but I could easily say they avoided disaster at least.
The Wings still have trouble creating effective transition and finding open space in the offensive zone; the goaltending has been really good in the early going, which has made for a few games that were closer than they should have been. To top that off, the injury bug is showing its face again, having claimed Brad Richards (back, currently on IR and will miss Tuesday’s game), Kyle Quincey (concussion protocol, day-to-day), and Mike Green (upper body, day-to-day). Pavel Datsyuk continues to ramp up his skating, but is still more than a week away.
Currently, the Wings find themselves fourth in the Atlantic with an identical record to Florida, though they’re losing the goal differential tiebreaker by 9 goals. If the season ended insanely early, Detroit would be the 8-seed thanks to the fact that one of New Jersey’s wins was in a shootout.
Let’s take a look at the week to come
Sunday, Travel Sunday
Detroit is heading home getting ready for their next game on Tuesday. The NHL will continue to take Sundays relatively easy through the early going of the season. The three games feature MIN-WPG, CGY-NYR, and LAK-EDM. With the NFL season still rolling, Sundays are basically a day for Canadian teams to get some playing time in.
Monday – Practice Day
Detroit will skate and should learn more about the status of their injured players. If you’re looking to watch a division rival play, you’ve got Arizona taking on Toronto at 7:30. Otherwise, you’ve got Flames–Islanders and the Ducks taking on the hockey team across lake Michigan.
Tuesday – Red Wings vs. Hurricanes (7:30 on FSD+)
Detroit has their season series-ending rubber match against Carolina on Tuesday night. This game is on FSD+ because the Pistons will be on the regular channel to start the NBA season. The Wings have been heavily outplayed by Carolina in their two matchups, but have managed to take two points. Unless we get an unexpected playoff matchup, this will be the last meeting of these two teams. Hopefully Detroit can play at least one good game against the Hurricanes.
Wednesday – Hallow Hump Day
Just three games on the schedule, including CGY-OTT. If you want to scout the weekend’s opponent, you can catch that one at 7:30. If you want to watch an actual compelling matchup, you’ve got Pittsburgh in Washington that night.
Thursday – Meh
Eight games on the calendar for Thursday. Our division opponent games include Buffalo at Pittsburgh, Colorado at Tampa, and Montreal in Edmonton. Why not stay in and put the finishing touches on your award-winning costume?
Friday – Red Wings vs. Senators (7:30 on FSD+)
The first half of a home-and-home against the Senators starts Friday night at the Joe Louis Arena. Games against the Sens have gotten chippy in the last few years, as the Sens employ a lot of poop-hearted snot-lobsters. They also employ Erik Karlsson though and I like him. The Sens have been a trendy pick to compete for a playoff spot again. Detroit will need to prove they belong above the Senators in the standings.
Also if Montreal hasn’t lost by this point, there’s a chance they might lose to Calgary on Thursday night.
Saturday – Red Wings at Senators (7:00 on FSD)
The Wings get the regular Fox Sports Detroit channel back for Halloween. It’s hard to preview a game this far off because they’re playing the same team the night before. I’m going to guess we’ll want the Wings to improve on their Friday performance and will also want to win. Too bold? I don’t know. Can these abs be too perfect [lifts shirt]
