The Detroit Red Wings look to stay hot in Ottawa taking on the Sens
By Bob Heyrman
The Detroit Red Wings have been rolling of late, winning 7 of their last 8 contests. They will look to keep things going tonight on the road in Ottawa.
The Detroit Red Wings travel to Ottawa to take on the Senators tonight. The Sens are the owners of a very similar overall record as the Wings. They are an absolute dysfunctional franchise at the moment.
The Sens have an owner who has threatened to seek relocation if the fans don’t start showing up in waves. Over the summer they had a high up executive being charged with an alleged sexual assault. Oh, and they traded their standout captain Erik Karlsson this past summer.
Karlsson and forward Mike Hoffman had an extremely rare public dispute which involved their significant others and Karlsson’s wife being allegedly cyberbullied by Mike Hoffman’s girlfriend. The Sens decided to send each of them packing.
More from Octopus Thrower
- Detroit Red Wings forward Carter Mazur injured in Prospect Tournament
- Detroit Red Wings: What does Klim Kostin’s role look like in 2023-24?
- Detroit Red Wings: 3 players who will make biggest impact in first year
- The Detroit Red Wings need Andrew Copp to start fast in 2023-24
- Detroit Red Wings had a busy off-season; but was it enough?
Then there was this; a few Sens players were recorded in a ride-sharing company vehicle bashing their coaching staff. Matt Duchesne mentioned not paying attention during film sessions and practice. The group mocked their terrible penalty killing abilities and more. This team is a complete mess. Veteran goaltender Chris Anderson has asked for a trade, but that has yet to happen.
The Detroit Red Wings have played much better five on five of late combined with stellar goaltending, grouped with above average special teams has this club churning on all cylinders. The Sens PK is terrible, but the leader of the team shouldn’t be mocking it, he should be attempting to right the ship. The Wings should feast on the PP tonight. The PP is rolling at a 24% conversion rate, which places them ranked 8th in the NHL. The Sens PK is ranked 31st, at a mirror 67%.
The Detroit Red Wings penalty kill was also a top 10 rated unit not too long ago; they allowed a pair of PP goals the other night against the New York Rangers and one more the following night to the Carolina Hurricanes. Now the PK is ranked 14th in the league, still very efficient, killing 81% of their penalties.
Jimmy Howard will look to stay hot taking his 2.69 goals against average and his .920% save percentage between the pipes. On the evenings Dylan Larkin isn’t the Wings top player it has been Jimmy Howard. In a contract year, Howard is finding tremendous early season success.
Larkin has been sizzling of late. He has 11 points over his last 8 games. The teams top forward is on pace for a career year. He is still only 22, but after last seasons effort, we didn’t know what Larks would be without Henrik Zetterberg. Well, he has been just as advertised, thriving and dependable as ever playing more minutes for this team.
Double-A is in the midst of a mini three-game point streak where he has recorded a goal and an assist in each of the three contests. Gustav Nyquist has 8 points in his last 8 games. Anthony Mantha has 3 goals in his previous two games. The four pace the Detroit Red Wings offense on a nightly basis.
The Detroit Red Wings projected lineup;
Darren Helm – Dylan Larkin – Anthony Mantha
Andreas Athanasiou – Frans Nielsen – Gustav Nyquist
Justin Abdelkader – Luke Glendening – Tyler Bertuzzi
Michael Rasmussen – Wade Megan – Martin Frk
Danny DeKesyer – Nick Jensen
Dennis Cholowski – Niklas Kronwall
Jimmy Howard
Injuries; Thomas Vanek (day-to-day), Jonathan Ericsson (day-to-day), Jacob de La Rose (day-to-day), Evgeny Svechnikov (IR-Knee)
Detroit Red Wings: Learning the Difference between Winning and Losing. dark. Next
Game Information: