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Detroit Red Wings: An In-Depth Look At Detroit’s Opening Week

By John Curran

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With the first week of the 2015-2016 NHL season officially in the books, it’s time to take a few moments to sit back and take a closer look at how the Detroit Red Wings performed/finished during their opening week. There were several exciting and memorable moments in Detroit’s first five games, as well as some not so exciting and memorable moments.

General Overview:

The Red Wings finished with three wins and two losses in their first five games last week. Detroit played a spirited and thrilling opening game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on opening night which helped to spoil Mike Babcock’s regular-season return to Detroit and the Joe Louis Arena. With Justin Abdelkader’s hat-trick and Dylan Larkin’s breakout performance on opening night, the Red Wings gave fans a taste of what this team is capable of doing.

Detroit also had a strong game at home against the Tampa Bay Lightning in their third game of the season. After being eliminated by the Lightning in seven games during the opening round of last season’s Stanley Cup Playoffs the Wings had plenty of motivation to defeat Tampa Bay 3-1 on October 13th.

Despite strong outings against Toronto and Tampa Bay, the Red Wings struggled greatly in their two games against the Carolina Hurricanes. In the two games against Carolina so far this season, the Red Wings were out-shot 83-39 by the Hurricanes. Despite being severely out-shot, the Red Wings were still able to steal one game from Carolina.

Finally, the Red Wings second and most recent loss of the season came against the unbeaten Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens are off to a 6-0 start for the first time in the team’s 100+ year history and despite a solid effort from Petr Mrazek between the pipes, there was little the Red Wings could do to stop Montreal.

They’re Red-Hot:

Justin Abdelkader: In the Red Wings’ first five games Abbey has five points (four goals, one assist). Sparked by his opening-night hat-trick, Abdelkader is building on his personal-best 44 point season last year (23 goals, 21 assists). Abdelakder was also rightfully named the NHL’s first-star of week 1.

Dylan Larkin: The first teenager to debut and score his first NHL goal on opening night for the Red Wings in 25 and 32 years respectively, Dylan Larkin has officially broke the mold of Red Wings’ prospects. The former first-round draft pick has six points (two goals, four assists) in his first five NHL games. Larkin has looked experienced beyond his 19 years alongside Henrik Zetterberg and Justin Abdelakder on Detroit’s top-line.

Henrik Zetterberg: The Red Wing’s captain has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in Detroit’s first five games. Henrik’s combined nine points currently ties him for first in the NHL alongside Vladimir Tarasenko and David Krejci. Zetterberg’s seven assists currently places him tied for second in the NHL with Martin Hanzal.

They’re Not Red-Hot:

Tomas Tatar: The electrifying Tomas Tatar led the Red Wings in goals last season with 29, but has yet to find the back of the net so far this season. Tatar has tallied two assists in Detroit’s first five games on the Red Wings’ second-line. It shouldn’t be long before Tatar starts to get rolling and finds his scoring touch.

By The Numbers:

  • Goals For: 15
  • Goals Against: 13
  • Goals For Per Game: 3.00
  • Goals Against Per Game: 2.60
  • Power Play Percentage: 15.4%
  • Penalty Kill Percentage: 80.0%
  • Shots For Per Game: 21.4
  • Shots Against Per Game: 33.4
  • Faceoff Win Percentage: 46.5%

Looking Ahead:

The Red Wings definitely have some areas of their game that they will need to work on and improve in. The defense needs to cut back on the number of shots that Jimmy Howard and Petr Mrazek face each game while the offense needs to start firing the puck at the net more. As key-players like Darren Helm and Danny DeKeyser come back from their injuries it’ll be important for Jeff Blashill to find the right line-combinations that will help the Red Wings establish and maintain their productivity.

Next: Have We Seen The Last Of Johan Franzen?

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