Detroit Red Wings’ Core players shine bright in Buffalo
By Bob Heyrman
There is a youth movement happening with the Detroit Red Wings and the core players shined bright in Buffalo last night. The Wings were able to edge out the Sabres 5-4 in overtime, winning their third straight.
The Detroit Red Wings extended their winning streak to three with an impressive win in Buffalo last night. The Wings are hurting their draft lottery stock but how can you tell these young players to stop playing or tank? I mean they are out there fighting for their jobs, and many players are auditioning for next season. Although I’m not a Jeff Blashill guy, I am incredibly impressed with how this team has played over the last week.
The Detroit Red Wings have consecutive wins in Vegas, San Jose, and Buffalo. Some folks have suggested that teams’ should be rewarded for winning after their playoff hopes are shattered and bettering their draft lottery odds by winning rather than tanking. I haven’t put much thought into that, but at the moment, with how good the team is playing I wish that was the case.
Dylan Larkin buried a pair of goals, and he’s become the first Detroit Red Wings’ player to record 30 goals in a season since 2009 when the Wings had four players accomplish the feat. At the conclusion of the 09 regular season, Marian Hossa was the top dog with 40 goals, Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen and Pavel Datsyuk all scored in the 30s.
Larkin is having a phenomenal season for the Wings now having scored 30 goals adding 36 assists to total 66 points. He’s averaging nearly 22:00 TOI per game and his CF% is terrific at 54.5% considering the minutes played and the team he’s playing with. The future captain is in the driver seat, driving this Red Wings’ bus into the future.