For nearly half a season, the Red Wings struggled to get anything going when they had the puck, and it reflected in what had been one of the most disappointing seasons in the league. Fast-forward to January 11th, and the Wings have won six straight games and have, at long last, shown life when they had the puck.
So, have the Wings finally become that high-octane team their lineup reflected, or are they still lagging behind most of the league? Well, it was a question on my mind, so I thought I’d do some digging and find out what exactly was going on in Hockeytown.
Below, you’ll find my results and, well, I wouldn’t say the Wings are out of the woods yet. But they were also so bad with the puck throughout the last stages of the Derek Lalonde era that there was a lot of ground to make up.
Red Wings still aren’t that high-octane team offensively, but…
The list shows you that the Wings still have a lot of catching up to do. But, they rank a lot higher than they did, clocking in at 24th overall. Not a bad number, considering the fact they hung around the lower 20s throughout the season’s first half.
- Winnipeg Jets, 153
- Washington Capitals, 152
- Colorado Avalanche, 146
- Carolina Hurricanes, 145
- Tampa Bay Lightning, 144
- Columbus Blue Jackets, 144
- Vegas Golden Knights, 142
- New Jersey Devils, 139
- Florida Panthers, 137
- Toronto Maple Leafs, 135
- Edmonton Oilers, 135
- Pittsburgh Penguins, 132
- Dallas Stars, 131
- Buffalo Sabres, 128
- Minnesota Wild, 126
- St. Louis Blues, 123
- Montreal Canadiens, 123
- Philadelphia Flyers, 123
- Los Angeles Kings, 120
- Vancouver Canucks, 120
- New York Rangers, 120
- Seattle Kraken, 119
- Utah Hockey Club, 116
- Detroit Red Wings, 114
- Ottawa Senators, 114
- San Jose Sharks, 113
- Boston Bruins, 112
- New York Islanders, 110
- Chicago Blackhawks, 107
- Calgary Flames, 105
- Anaheim Ducks, 103
- Nashville Predators, 100
Since the Todd McLellan era began, the Red Wings are 6-1-0. Through that frame, they’ve scored 27 goals, good for nearly four per contest. So, while they still need to keep up that consistency and show fans these seven games weren’t just a fluke, your Red Wings are finally trending north.
Now, it’s the moment of truth for Todd McLellan and Company, as opponents will start catching on to his style, and they’ll learn a thing or two about how to stop it. It’s up to this new-look Wings team to keep throwing something different at those opponents, keep them off their respective games, and continue to exert this new high-octane presence.