No-excuse hockey should be on the agenda for the Red Wings against Chicago

Yesterday, I outlined why expectations for the Red Wings must skyrocket in November 2024, but I’d have written a novel if it meant breaking down every single remaining game for the month. One reason the Wings should be raring for a strong penultimate month to 2024 is because weak teams like the Chicago Blackhawks are scattered about the schedule. 

Tonight, Detroit will skate into the Windy City, where winger Patrick Kane will make another homecoming. While Kane hasn’t quite emulated the success in Hockeytown that made him such a formidable forward in Chicago, he’s played well enough to rank third on the team with eight points, and he must keep that effort up tonight against the still-rebuilding Blackhawks.

Chicago, currently seventh in the Central Division, is once again facing a plethora of issues, with players like Tyler Bertuzzi still searching for their respective games. The Hawks, however, aren’t looking too bad as far as goals scored vs. goals against are concerned, with 37 and 41, respectively, so far on the year. 

Still, in each of their five wins this season, the Hawks have scored four or more times, or 22 goals total. This means that when they play teams that have a pair of good goaltenders, they’re bound to struggle, setting up a golden opportunity for the Wings. 

Red Wings should stifle the Blackhawks in tonight’s matchup of former rivals

By “former rivals,” I mean former division/conference rivals back from the Wings played in the West. Anyway, now that I’ve clarified it, the Hawks have, for the most part, scored on teams with either inconsistent or overall bad goaltending, like the Edmonton Oilers, San Jose Sharks, Colorado Avalanche, LA Kings, and Anaheim Ducks. 

Given the success we’ve seen from Cameron Talbot and Alex Lyon for the most part this season, it sets the stage for what should be a win for the Red Wings, as long as they figure out how to score when they got the puck. That and their entire offensive play have been a problem all year for the Wings, something that looked particularly bad in October.

While the Blackhawks aren’t the slouches they were last season, Detroit is still, or at least should be, the better hockey team, especially when you factor in most of the Hawks losses, they’ve scored two or fewer goals. 

That said, there should be no excuses for the Wings tonight. Figure out how to create chances, take shots, and get the puck past the goaltenders of what remains a bad hockey team, even if it’s a group that’s won two straight. And in the defensive zone, do just enough to keep the goaltending afloat and let them go to work.