One part of the Red Wings game that was atrocious in October
There are a few reasons the Detroit Red Wings have stumbled their way through October, but one bleak part of their game stands out.
Even at 4-5-1, the Detroit Red Wings are lucky things haven’t gotten completely out of hand as October fades into November. It’s surprising that they don’t have a mountain to climb to get back into the Atlantic Division race, so now it’s all about diagnosing the problem immediately so they don’t fall behind.
I’ve recently talked about how Dylan Larkin has got to start getting in on helping others contribute to goal scoring, even if he’s scored five times already this season. Still, we need to see more from Detroit’s most notable player’s game, or else this one will get ugly fast. Or, to be more accurate, could get ugly fast, as there is one aspect of their game that every skater must start pitching into more.
That is their overall 5-on-5 play, which has been one of the worst in the NHL so far. How bad is it? Through 10 games, the Wings only have a 7.5 shooting percentage, a 43.1 Corsi For percentage, 15 goals scored, a 42.9 scoring chance percentage, and a 43.8 high-danger chance percentage.
Knowing these paltry numbers, it’s safe to say the Wings overall play at 5-on-5 has been among the worst in the league. So, if they want to start winning, they either need to start drawing more penalties or get their act together at 5-on-5.
Red Wings 5-on-5 play has been one of the league’s worst
When the season began, everyone in Hockeytown should have expected more out of what was supposed to be one of the NHL’s mightiest scoring teams. What they’ve gotten instead is a team that ranks 22nd in the league with 27 goals scored, with 15 coming at 5-on-5, eight on special teams (seven on the power play), and four in other situations.
Right now, the Wings aren’t getting shots off, they’re not creating consistently. In the event they make something happen, they’re not converting unless they happen to be on the power play. And what’s even more head-scratching is that this team has enough talent to be more than a decent scoring team.
Their goaltending has been, for the most part, impeccable at 5-on-5, logging a 0.931 save percentage, so we can blame this one on the fact that they’re not doing enough defensively to regain puck possession. And when they have the puck on their sticks, they’re doing nothing to make us think they’ll find twine. It’s about time they’ve fixed this part of their game while it’s still early.
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