Detroit Red Wings 2016: Five Games at a Time, Part 1: Games 1-5
Now that the Red Wings have played their first five games, what can we take away from the first segment?
About a year ago, Jeff Blashill revealed his way of thinking as new head coach of the Detroit Red Wings. Fresh from his tenure as head coach of the AHL farm team, the Grand Rapids Griffins, Blashill noted that he likes to think of the season in five-game segments. By this logic, the team focuses on every five games as a series. Win a majority of the series in a season, and a playoff opening becomes inevitable. Well, the first segment is now over. The overall goal is six points for every ten available over those five games (60%), totaling 96 points, enough for a playoff berth most seasons. This is the same strategy he took into Grand Rapids (where he won around 63% of available points). Now in his second year, let’s assume he will apply the same approach to this season.
Given this strategy, then, here is a look at the first segment of the year. It’s a good way to think through the season. Of the first ten available points, the Wings accumulated six points. This felt like the first five games of the season: there was some evident rust after a long break, but there were a lot of promising moments as well.
Dylan Larkin, Gustav Nyquist, and Tomas Tatar have all had slow starts, and Henrik Zetterberg displayed some tiredness as well. They were balanced, though, by some really nice play from Mike Green, Darren Helm, and newcomer Thomas Vanek. Perhaps the most troubling aspect of the first few games was how drastically the Wings were outshot, in four of the five games. Despite winning three games, opponents shot 170, more than the Red Wings’ 140 attempts. But, with some excellent goaltending from Petr Mrazek and Jimmy Howard, there were a lot fewer goals than there could have been, and they still won the majority of the games.
First Segment
Game 1, at Tampa Bay, L 4-6: Lousy penalties abounded, as the Wings blew two separate two-goal leads (2-0 and 3-1) in a disappointing season opener. One of the lone bright spots, though, was the nice play from the offseason signees, with two goals from Thomas Vanek and one from Frans Nielsen.
Game 2, at Florida, L 1-4: A boring game pretty much from the puck drop. The Panthers picked up a cheap goal off of Mrazek’s pad 70 seconds in and didn’t look back from there. Despite remaining within one goal for the second and most of the third, the Wings never had much of a scoring chance at all, outshot 37-22. The game could have easily been much more out of hand than the final score shows.
Game 3, vs. Ottawa, W 5-1: Nothing could spoil an emotional night at the Joe Louis Arena. With the last home opener in ‘The Joe’ and a tribute to Gordie Howe, there was too much good karma going to keep the Wings from winning. Two goals from Darren Helm and a hat trick from Mike Green (a defenseman?!) basically wrapped up the game in the first period. The Senators controlled most of the shots, especially in the second period, but Mrazek continued to look impressive, with 31 saves. Sure, there are always some things to work on, but there was a lot to like in the Wings’ first victory of the season.
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Game 4, at New York Rangers, W 2-1: When Jimmy Howard (starting in his first game this season) allowed a goal 1:09 into the first period, the collective groan of Red Wings’ fans suggested it would be a long night. That first goal, however, also turned out to be the last goal the Rangers would score. Vanek added his third goal of the season, and Howard looked great in his season debut with 32 saves. This game might gets my vote for most exciting of the first week.
Game 5, vs. Nashville, W 5-3: If the previous game was the most exciting, this was probably the best played for the Wings. For the first time, the Red Wings took more shots (43) than their opponent (33), which translated to five goals–enough for a win. Nyquist, Tatar, and Justin Abdelkader all added their first goals of the season. Blashill continued to change lines by giving young defenseman Ryan Sproul his first bit of NHL ice time since 2014, who responded by notching an assist.
After the first five games, the first segment is in the books. Following these games, the Red Wings are on pace with Blashill’s desired six points. Despite losing the first two games, the Wings put together some good wins, beating the teams they were supposed to beat. Looking ahead, four of the next five will be in Detroit with the Sharks, the Hurricanes, the Blues (in St. Louis), the Bruins, and the Panthers for the second time this season. LGRW.