The Detroit Red Wings finished their four-game road trip through Seattle and western Canada on Monday with a 4-3 shootout win against the Edmonton Oilers.
It was Detroit’s fourth game in seven nights. The team will get some much-needed rest before hosting the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday.
The road trip was the Red Wings’ first of the season, with seven of their first eight games played at Little Caesars Arena.
Let’s break down the good, the bad and the ugly of the road trip.
The good: Red Wings show resilience against Seattle and Edmonton
We knew coming into this season that the Red Wings might struggle to score, especially if Dylan Larkin found a new home.
So far, that has come to fruition: the Red Wings have averaged just 2.58 goals per game in their first 12 games.
During the recent road trip, they bumped that average up slightly, averaging three goals per game. More impressive, however, was their resilience against the Seattle Kraken and Edmonton Oilers.
Against the Kraken, the Red Wings faced a 3-0 deficit going into the third period and had just 10 shots on goal. In the third, Detroit outshot Seattle 13-4, scoring three goals and forcing overtime. The Red Wings eventually won in a shootout.
Similarly, in Edmonton, Detroit fell behind 1-0 in the first period and 2-1 and 3-2 in the third. But the Red Wings quickly answered both of Edmonton’s third-period goals, survived the onslaught in overtime and forced a shootout.
Thursday’s 5-2 win against the Vancouver Canucks was probably the most complete game they’ve had to begin the season. Detroit never fell behind, and when it looked like the Canucks might crawl back, the Red Wings shut the door and extended their lead.
Michal Postava even made his NHL debut in the third period, allowing one goal on eight shots.
The second period was a masterclass in defense, as Vancouver couldn’t even muster a single shot on goal.
The bad: Red Wings fall flat against Calgary
After securing a loser point against Seattle and shutting down Vancouver, the Red Wings were riding high on their six-game point streak.
However, everything came crashing down in a lackluster 4-1 loss to the Calgary Flames.
Surprisingly, the Red Wings won the expected goals battle against the Flames, 2.78-1.49 in all situations, according to MoneyPuck. However, they couldn’t establish extended time in the offensive zone, often getting one shot and then losing possession.
Additionally, the Red Wings gave up a goal on both shorthanded opportunities without scoring any power play goals themselves.
The Flames were expected to be a lottery team heading into this season, but they picked up quality wins recently against the Carolina Hurricanes and Minnesota Wild before beating Detroit.
Regardless, it was a winnable game, and the Red Wings fell flat.
The ugly: Red Wings PK continues to struggle
After finishing dead last in penalty kill percentage (70.1%) in the 2024-25 season, the Red Wings improved to 77.1% last season.
One of the big question marks coming into this season was if the PK could take another step forward. At the 12-game mark, the answer is a resounding no.
Detroit is 30th in the league at 65.9%. That mark includes allowing six goals in 12 shorthanded opportunities during the road trip.
However, the struggling PK has more to do with a lack of timely saves than the defense allowing high-danger opportunities. According to Money Puck, the Red Wings have a 0.740% save percentage at 4 on 5, the third-worst mark, ahead of only the Vegas Golden Knights and the Columbus Blue Jackets (each at 0.719%).
The Red Wings sport a 5-4-3 record, good for seventh in the Atlantic Division and on pace for 91 points. It’s slightly above many preseason predictions, but the team has basically met expectations.
Detroit struggles to score and suffers from a bad penalty kill, and its power play hasn’t been able to make up for those deficiencies.
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