Detroit Red Wings
Red Wings Current Play Recipe For Disaster
Success not sustainable with current level of play
Assessing the surprising success of the Detroit Red Wings of late despite their suspect level of play, former Detroit goalie Chris Osgood was brutally honest.
“It’s not sustainable,” Osgood noted while broadcasting Saturday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres.
The weekend outcomes would serve to prove that Osgood’s thesis was accurate.
There was a 5-3 road loss to the Sabres. The Wings would follow up by squandering a third-period lead on home and losing 3-2 in overtime to the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday.
Final in Overtime.
Next up: Jets at home on Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/N8DhpCwNRl
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 28, 2024
You don’t need to be a mathlete to know that what the Red Wings are putting out on the ice isn’t going to be adding up to long-term success.
Currently, Detroit is last in the league in shots on goal per game at 24.7. At the same time, the Red Wings are 31st in the 32-team in NHL in shots allowed per game (34.9).
They’ve given up at least 30 shots in six successive games and seven of the last eight. At the same time, it’s been six games since the Wings were able to generate as many as 30 shots on goal.
Makes you wonder if the ice is tilted when Detroit plays.
Opponents Hitting Red Wings With Their Best Shot
In two games facing the Red Wings, Nasvhille put 42 and then 39 shots on the Detroit net. Buffalo also directed 39 shots on the Wings next while New Jersey put forth 40.
“It’s not deceptive,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. “There’s a volume problem at times for us.”
Call it a birthday bounce 🎂
Leon Draisaitl ties it by banking it off a Red Wing in front pic.twitter.com/aMSUVrviP0
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 27, 2024
If you’re wondering who to thank for Detroit’s 4-4-1 record, start with goalies Alex Lyon and Cam Talbot. Their combined high danger save percentage of 90.7% is second in the NHL only to the unbeaten Winnipeg Jets.
“I think the thing that gives us a lot of life is just the fight for both of them,” Detroit forward Andrew Copp said of the club’s netminders. “The competitiveness. Every puck they’re fighting to see. They’re fighting for rebounds.
“They’re doing everything they can back there.”
This, also, would be classified as unsustainable. Whether or not the shots are high danger chances or not, eventually this extreme level of volume is going to wear on the netminders. The dam will ultimately break.
Sure, things could be worse. We could be talking about the Pittsburgh Penguins, who are allowing the most shots (35.0 per game) and high danger scoring chances (13.0) per game. By contrast, Detroit is only allowing 8.2 high danger scoring chances a night.
To Patrick Kane’s mind, the Wings are spending too much time defending.
“I mean I think guys are trying to be responsible, right?” Kane acknowledged. “They’re trying to play smart defensively, but there’s still ways to make it tough on them by playing the offensive zone, not giving them easy pucks back or easy possession. Holding on to it, keeping it below the goal line.
The analytics back him up. Detroit is spending 43.8% of the game in the defensive zone. That’s above the league average of 40.8%. At the other end, the Wings are skating just 38.6% of the time in the offensive zone. The NHL average is 40.4%.
You don’t require an abundance of hockey sense to recognize that keeping the puck 140 feet from your own next is an effective way to play defense. On the other hand, playing more than 40% of the game in your wne end in going to end up with you fishing a lot of pucks out of the back of your net.
