Red Wings Staying on Course in Atlantic Division

With the Detroit Red Wings 20 games into their 2017-18 season, they find themselves right in the thick of things in the early season playoff picture.

At the 20 game mark, the Wings find themselves in third place entering Nov.18 in the Atlantic Division. They are just one point ahead of the Ottawa Senators who will play today later in the afternoon against the Arizona Coyotes.

In the wild card, they would be right on the cutoff in the last wild card spot if they fell to fourth place in their division. With that being said, there are four teams in the top four spots in the wild card that have 20 points or more.

By the end of this weekend, a majority of the division will reach the 20-game mark as well. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens are only the two other teams to have already reached that mark entering Saturday’s games.

Thus far, the division has been one-sided at the top but the battle for the final automatic playoff spot is looking like it will be a close one all season long.

The Tampa Bay Lightning wasted no time proving they are one of the favorites to win the Stanley Cup. With 15 wins in 19 games, they have opened up a six-point gap at the top as the Maple Leafs trail in second place.

For the rest of the division, the Red Wings have been a bit of a surprise. There were many who did not see the Wings as a legitimate contender for that final playoff spot. However, they have yet to find themselves at the bottom of the table in the last few weeks.

Two big wins this week have given the team a glimpse of what could be if they continue their current form. Most of the Red Wings forwards are on pace to have better seasons offensively, statistically speaking, than last year.

Goal production has been there and the goaltending from Jimmy Howard has been fantastic early on. It’s hard not to call this team a playoff team at the moment but there is still a long way to go.

With the Canadiens starting to regain some ground after a rough start, and the Boston Bruins staying around, anything can happen. Wins against these division opponents will be vital in the push to the playoffs.

For the moment, we can be excited that were at least right in the middle of playoff battle entering a key stretch of the season.