Detroit Red Wings look to salvage Canadian road trip in Edmonton
By Bob Heyrman
The Detroit Red Wings are playing their final game before the all-star break. The week off couldn’t come at a better time, all but Jimmy Howard of course who will be the teams, lone representative.
Jimmy Howard will represent the Detroit Red Wings in the all-star game, and everyone else will get a total of 9 days off to recharge, and clear their heads before they try and ride out the remainder of the season.
The Wings are in the midst of one of their worst seasons in the last 30 years. Losses are coming in the bunches and wins are as sparse as they’ve been since the early 1980s. The team has only won four games over their last nineteen, not good… They are currently dead last in the NHL standings at the moment.
The Wings wrap up their quick three-game Western Canada road trip back in the Province of Alberta to take on the Edmonton Oilers this time. The Wings lost a heartbreaking in Calgary, they had a one-goal lead numerous times and failed to cash it into a victory after allowing 3 PPG’s and 1 SHG. The story was similar in Vancouver as the Detroit Red Wings took a 2-1 lead into the third and inevitably lost the game 3-2.
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On the bright side of things forward Thomas Vanek is playing his best stretch of hockey all season long. He’s finally gained his confidence back and playing alongside Frans Nielsen who he has a history with back in the New York Islanders days and once again two years ago in Detroit. Also, Anthony Mantha is playing on this line, and he’s playing much better hockey since he’s returned from a broken hand. Vanek has 6 points over his last 5 games and is enjoying a nice 4 game point streak.
The power-play has flat out sucked really since November, but of late they’ve looked just awful. The rank 25th in the NHL, only operating at a 16.5% success rate. Recently they’ve struggled to get into the zone and set up little own find a way to sustain any type of pressure.
All too often they go “one & done” rather than having multiple scoring opportunities. Let’s face it; this team struggles to score at even strength when the power-play isn’t scoring it will become difficult to win many games, and that is exactly what’s transpired since December 1st.
Just when you are feeling bad about the lack of success the Detroit Red Wings have had in recent years, imagine what its like to be an Edmonton Oilers fan. They hadn’t had much to cheer about since the 2006 season when Chris Pronger and a flash in the pan Fernando Pisani who took the Oilers to the Stanley Cup Finals only to come up empty in game 7 to Rod Brind’Amour‘s Carolina Hurricanes.
How many first overall picks have the Oilers had over the last ten years and had nothing to show for it. They struck gold with Connor McDavid, but they’ve failed to surround him with much. They traded away their second-best first overall selection in Taylor Hall to the New Jersey Devils for defenseman Adam Larsson.
He’s notched 13 points and is a minus -13 on the season. Oh, and Taylor Hall, he’s the reigning Hart Trophy Winner, which is awarded to the NHL’s MVP. Imagine Hall playing on the wing of McDavid; they would be a serious threat.
The Oilers brought in Ken Hitchcock to right the ship, and he preaches defensive responsibilities, but he is limited with who he has to work with on the back-end. The Oilers have given up 12 goals total over their last two games, and you’ve guessed it they lost both games. They’ve fallen back to .500 with a 23-23-3 record on the season.
The Detroit Red Wings need to do what they’ve done over the last two games, and that’s getting a lead, but they need to figure out a way to hold onto it once they get it. They need to focus on defensive zone coverage and stop getting crossed up while they are chasing.
They need to exit their own zone with much more confidence and limit their turnovers. The power-play needs to break out of their slump and start producing because they will struggle to keep pace with McDavid and company with struggling special teams.
The Detroit Red Wings projected lineup:
Tyler Bertuzzi – Dylan Larkin (A) – Gustav Nyquist
Thomas Vanek – Frans Nielsen (A) – Anthony Mantha
Darren Helm – Luke Glendening – Andreas Athanasiou
Christoffer Ehn – Jacob de La Rose – Justin Abdelkader (A)
Niklas Kronwall (A) – Mike Green
Jonathan Ericsson – Filip Hronek
Jimmy Howard
Next. Jeff Blashill should consider adjusting the top line. dark
Game Information:
Detroit Red Wings 18-25-7 vs. Edmonton Oilers 23-23-3
Time: 9:00 EST
Location: Rogers Place, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
TV: NBC Sports, SN, Fox Sports Go, NHL.TV, ESPN+
Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
Oddshark Odds fav: Oilers: -160