The Detroit Red Wings need a big game to redeem themselves following three straight uninspiring performances offensively. This showdown vs. the Anaheim Ducks gives them the perfect chance to prove a couple of points.
For one, it's an opportunity to show they're a good hockey team. Even the best teams struggle through skids where they are nonexistent offensively, but only the good teams figure out how to get back on track. That's the big challenge awaiting the Wings.
It also gives them a chance to upend an opponent that beat them by three goals earlier in the season. If you remember it right, Anaheim got the best of the Wings in a 5-2 outing, spoiling goaltender John Gibson's homecoming.
While Gibson is getting another crack against his old team, the Wings have a chance to show us they are the high-octane unit they were earlier in the year, and that they can do all this while bringing forth a physical game.
Expect an edgier, more physical Detroit Red Wings team
A three-day break is a great way to push the reset button when you're in a slump. And while the Wings and their fans would have loved to build some momentum when there's a looming three days off, getting a chance to reflect and find ways to learn from mistakes is a great consolation.
For the Wings, this mini-vacation was all about finding ways to get mroe physical. Alex DeBrincat said it best on Tuesday. In a piece from Jonathan Mills at NHL.com, DeBrincat said, “We need to be a more physical and harder team to play against. We’re giving up too much too easily, so we got to win our 50-50s in the O-zone and D-zone. Really, all over the ice. Just getting back to that work ethic and playing simple is going to be what’s best for us.”
Lack of physical play has been a nuisance for the Red Wings, and it's been a hot topic this week. If the Red Wings were a smaller, more finesse team, then this wouldn't be as big an issue. But they boast a lot of size, and that's what's frustrating them. When you're a bigger team, you can't play a soft game, and the Red Wings have developed a bad habit of doing so.
On Red Wings trade rumors and milestones
Is a trade looming on the horizon? If you ask Todd McLellan, he will give you the most nonchalant, neutral answer you can ask for. In other words, his answer will frustrate you, and you will walk away thinking the Wings may or may not be actively exploring anything.
But a few players are actively exploring something. Patrick Kane is just a few goals away from his 500th, while Dylan Larkin is chasing 600 points, Lucas Raymond 300 points, and Moritz Seider, 200 points. Look for all four of those players to hit their respective milestones this season.
And finally, here's an interesting question to ask: What enticed the Red Wings to sign Travis Hamonic in the first place? Hamonic hasn't exactly impressed since arriving in the Motor City, and his overall play is worse than you think. Maybe, if the Wings are exploring any trade, it's to admit their mistake with Hamonic and dump him onto someone like the Calgary Flames, a team that doesn't figure to compete.