Coming into Week 4 with a record of 4-4-1 and on a three-game losing skid after a brutal Week 3, the Red Wings were looking to hopefully break out of this slump and keep the train on the track before it derails completely.
This week would see the Red Wings move on from Olli Määttä by Trading him to the Utah Hockey Club for a third-round pick. Tyler Motte would still be out of the lineup but would be a full-time participant in practice.
The Red Wings would once again end the week being at NHL .500, ending the week with a record of 5-5-1.
The Red Wings continue to pick and choose when they decide to play at 100%
Oct. 30, 2024
Game 10: Jets @ Red Wings
6-2 Jets Win
SOG: 29-21 Jets
Starting Goaltenders: Alex Lyon v Connor Hellebuyck
Tonight's lineup vs. Winnipeg. 👇 pic.twitter.com/rCuAU1t1nF
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 30, 2024
Do I really have to talk about this game? Cause I really don't want to. Fine...
The Red Wings come into this game trying to snap a two-game losing streak against the hottest team in the NHL, The Winnipeg Jets who are looking to bounce back from their first loss of the season. With Olli Määttä being traded, Albert Johansson gets to make a second consecutive start for the team while Erik Gustaffson would be scratched for a second consecutive game along with Vladimir Tarasenko who would be out this game with illness with Austin Watson getting the call-up on an emergency basis.
The first period was nothing but Jets from the opening faceoff to the end of the first period. After winning the opening faceoff, Gabriel Vilardi would score at 17:12 of the period. About one minute later, Neal Pionk would score to make it 2-0, four minutes into the first period. The Jets would continue to dominate the Red Wings for most of the period with the Wings getting some mediocre chances at best. But don't you worry, the Jets would score once again thanks to the molten-hot Kyle Connor to make it 3-0 to end the period.
The Red Wings seemed to wake up and made this into a legitimate hockey game in the second period. Put actual pressure on the Jets zone while effectively defending in their zone with Alex Lyon making some key saves as well. At 11:47 in the period, Dylan Larkin (5) would finally get one past Hellebuyck assisted by Lucas Raymond (8) and Moritz Seider (5). The Red Wings would manage to get enough pressure on the Jets to draw a penalty and go on the power play with just over three minutes left in the period. Just under a minute into the power play, Alex DeBrincat (5) would score assisted once again by Raymond (9) and Seider (6) to make it 3-2 going into the third period.
We enter the third period with a faint hope that if the Red Wings bring that energy from the second period, they may be able to pull out a shocker. What? Winnipeg scored already? Who was it? Ben Chiarot? Doesn't he play for us? Huh...well it's unfortunate but it's only a two-goal difference and we've seen this team come back from worse with less time. This is what my battle-hardened fan brain thought at the time of this goal, but this seemed just to kill whatever energy the Red Wings had left. After this goal, we didn't see an NHL team. We saw an AHL team fighting for the last playoff spot in the Calder Cup playoffs. The Jets would score two more goals later in the period to make it a 6-2 final.
This was probably the worst game the Red Wings have played this season. They had some decent fight for about three-quarters of the second period but even then it was only the top line and the third line doing anything. It's important to note that while the team in front of him didn't help at all, Alex Lyon didn't give the team the help he had been so far this season either. The Berggren/Kasper/Rasmussen line were all in the top five players of this game analytically. Unfortunately, they seem to have gotten bitten by the most roided-out snake I have ever seen.