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Three Intriguing Developments From Red Wings Offensive Explosion

The Red Wings got three goals from defensemen in back-to-back games for just the third time in franchise history

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2 years ago

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Dylan Larkin, Detroit Red Wings
Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin is tied for 10th in NHL scoring with 22 points.

An offensive explosion over the past two games not only brought the Detroit Red Wings two well-deserved victories, it also enabled the franchise to hit some milestones that haven’t been witnessed around Hockeytown in many an NHL season.

For starters, Detroit was scoring a combined 13 goals in a 7-4 win at the San Jose Sharks, followed by a 6-1 drubbing of the Columbus Blue Jackets. That’s the first time since the 2008-09 season that a Red Wings club has scored at least six goals in successive games.

The Sharks were also involved the last time this happeend. On December 18, 2008, the Red Wings blanked San Jose 6-0 behind the shutout goaltending of Ty Conklin. Two nights later, Detroit downed the Los Angeles Kings 6-4. Both of those games were played at Joe Louis Arena.

Defensemen Double Down

In the 7-4 win at San Jose, the Red Wings were getting goals from three different defensemen. Filip Hronek, Moritz Seider and Jake Walman all ended up scoring goals. During Saturday’s victory at Columbus, Hronek was tallying twice and Ben Chiarot also scored. That’s six goals from defensemen in two games, with three in each game.

This outcome has now occurred three times in Red Wings franchise history. On February 24, 1980. Reed Larson (two goals) and Willie Huber were the rearguards tallying during a 7-5 victory over the Minnesota North Stars. In Detroit’s next game on February 28, Larson, Huber and Thommie Bergman scored during a 4-1 victory over the Washington Capitals.

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Prior to the last two games, the most recent time the Red Wings got three goals from defenseman in back-to-back games was in 2005. On November 26, 2005, Mathieu Schneider scored a hat-trick in a 7-6 win over the Sharks. Two nights later, Schneider, Nicklas Lidstrom and Chris Chelios all scored during a 5-2 victory over the Kings.

Red Wings Captain Larkin Among Top 10

Turning in a three-point night (1-2-3) against the Blue Jackets, Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin was moving into the team scoring lead with 22 points. More significantly, he was also climbing the ranks of the NHL’s top scorers.

Larkin is now tied for 10th in the NHL in scoring. Sure, it’s only November, but this is a significant development nonethelss. Last season, Larkin was Detroit’s top scorer with 69 points. That was good for 52nd overall in the NHL. Larkin garnered 73 points in 2018-19 to finish 43rd in the NHL. He’s the most recent Red Wings player to be finish inside the top 50 in the scoring race.

Finishing 25th in NHL scoring with 68 points in 2016-17, Henrik Zetterberg was the most recent Red Wings player to crack the top 25 in NHL scoring. But it was the Magic Man, Pavel Datsyuk, who was the last Detroit player to finish among the top 10 in the league scoring race. During the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign, Datsyuk’s 49 points were good for 10th spot in the Art Ross Trophy chase.

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