The Detroit Red Wings pulled off something rare in Tuesday night's win over the St. Louis Blues. Not only did it take them 10 games to sweep an opponent, but they have now beaten two opponents multiple times this season, having gotten the best of the Toronto Maple Leafs in Games 2 and 3 earlier this season.
Want more fun? The Wings have also beaten both defending conference champions, the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers. Not a bad way to kick off Year 100 and trend toward making it special. While it's impossible to find actual statistics behind this, you can assume it's ultra-rare to beat both conference champions, pull off a season sweep, and upend a heated division rival multiple times within a team's first seven wins.
What's scarier is that this version of the Red Wings isn't even the best you'll see. They have a lot of room to grow, and they have shown a lot of turbulence within those first 10 games, roughly 12 percent of the season.
Detroit has had issues in the net, with 31 goals allowed, or 3.1 per game. But their high-octane approach already has them at 35 goals this year, good for 3.5 per, and they're showing no signs of slowing down.
Detroit Red Wings are enjoying major victories early on in the regular season
Right now, the Red Wings are on pace to score 287 goals, and a surefire Hart Trophy candidate is leading the way. Yes, it's time to start calling Dylan Larkin a Hart Trophy candidate. His 16 points and eight goals in 10 games have him on pace for between 131 and 132 this season. If he leads the Wings back to the playoffs and keeps up that high level of play, he's more than making his case.
Larkin is one of the reasons the Wings have made each of their first seven games significant wins, one that also came against a team that still has some of Steve Yzerman's fingerprints all over them in the Tampa Bay Lightning. The captain, rookie Emmitt Finnie, and the playmaking of Alex DeBrincat are why the Wings have jumped out to a hot start, even with injuries to key players like Patrick Kane.
While the Red Wings have broken fans' hearts over the past two seasons with monumental collapses late, scoring such big wins early, all seven of them against playoff teams from 2025, mind you, and the vibe is starting to feel different. Whether you believe in vibes or not isn't relevant; scoring seven wins in your first 10 games, all against playoff teams from the previous season, means you're trending north.
It's significant, and guess what? Thursday night's game against the Los Angeles Kings is also coming against a team that made the 2025 postseason. With the Montreal Canadiens being the only 2025 playoff team to have beaten Detroit, you can't help but like the Wings' chances.