Detroit Red Wings’ Core players shine bright in Buffalo
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.
The name Bertuzzi although brief quickly became popular in Detroit and it appears it will remain a fan favorite for years to come.
Tyler Bertuzzi had one of his best games of the season last night also scoring a pair for the Wings including the overtime game-winning goal along with adding an assist. Bertuzzi took a nasty high stick in the chops in the first period. Jack Eichel was clearing the puck while working on a penalty kill near the half boards.
The follow-through hit Bertuzzi, he immediately dropped his stick and fired both gloves off as he skated to the Wings bench. Blood poured from his face onto his jersey, and there was no penalty called on the play because the incident happened during a shot (clearing) attempt. Bertuzzi would later have the last laugh.
As Micky Redman likes to say “the big Frenchman” had a beautiful night serving up helpers all night long. If Anthony Mantha wants to become a waiter after his hockey career comes to a close he proved last night he’s capable of providing fantastic service. Mantha, often the shooter finished the evening with 3 assists. Mantha looked very good all evening long and rewarded his teammates with a few wonderful plays.
He fired a hard pass to Bertuzzi in front while on the power-play, Bertuzzi redirected the slap pass in for the Wings first goal. Later Mantha found Filip Hronek late joining the rush for a one-timed goal giving the Wings a 2-0 lead at the time. Then he would receive the secondary assist, his third of the night on a Dylan Larkin goal.
Filip Hronek has the makings of being a top defenseman in his future; he’s shown he can play 25-plus minutes a night while not being fazed by the flow of the game. The back-end needs work, but the Wings ostensibly have found a valuable, critical piece to the future.
Hirose goes 5 for 5; no this isn’t a hot hitter for the Detroit Tigers having a day at the plate. It’s not a Pistons guard dropping 5 in a row from beyond the arch. Taro Hirose is blistering hot for the Detroit Red Wings to start his NHL career.
The Detroit Red Wings signed Hirose after his collegiate career ended with the Michigan State Spartans where he was able to edge out Quinn Hughes for Big Ten player of the year. Hirose recorded 15 goals and added 35 assists totaling 50 points. His playmaking abilities have carried over to the NHL level.
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Through his first five games played he’s starting to become unstoppable having recorded a point a game to begin his NHL career all being assists. Sometimes players struggle to make the transition from junior hockey or the minors to the show and the same goes for college yet Hirose is making it look effortless.
I wouldn’t say he’s a “core” player but his strong play and playmaking ability is starting to open eyes, and he’s played his way into the lineup for next season. His emergence along with an established Dylan Larkin, Andreas Athanasiou, and Anthony Mantha bodes well for the future of this franchise. Hirose will seemingly join Tyler Bertuzzi, Filip Zadina, and Michael Rasmussen (if all goes to plan) as top complimentary players. Detroit will also add a top draft choice to this group this summer along with potentially Evgeny Svechnikov and Joe Veleno.
I understand tanking would help the teams’ odds of landing either Hughes or Kakko, but the resilience and will to win knowing they are playing for pride is quite impressive. It goes to show it’s hard to have athletes just go through the motions and hope to lose. Professional athletes are not wired that way.
Potential 30 Goal achievers for the Detroit Red Wings. dark. Next
With Dylan Larkin having scored his 30th goal of the season, Athanasiou sitting at 29, Tyler Bertuzzi two away from 20 and Mantha sitting at 19 things are turning around in Detroit. It confirms the sun is starting to poke its way through the dense clouds, giving the Detroit Red Wings’ fans hope for a bright future.