The Daily: Red Wings Have Sinking Feeling; Pens Need Change

The Montreal Canadiens and Columbus Blue Jackets are the only NHL teams with an uglier record (3-6-1) than the Detroit Red Wings (3-5-2) over the past 10 games.

Detroit has played 22% of its games this season and is still in contention for the league’s worst record. They are only three points ahead of the Chicago Blackhawks. If 95 points are needed to make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference, the Red Wings must go 38-23-3 in their last 64 games to qualify.

Coach Derek Lalonde is changing up his second and third lines with the hope of finding a spark for an offense ranked 25th in the NHL. But the team’s overall defensive play may be the bigger problem. Despite emphasizing defensive play, the Red Wings statistically (3.33 goals-against per game) are no better than they were last season.

The team’s penalty killing, ranked dead last (66.7%), is a primary reason for that. The Red Wings have given up four or more goals in nine of their 18 games. That’s not a performance level that gets a team in the playoff hunt.

The old NHL adage is that teams not in a playoff spot by U.S. Thanksgiving are unlikely to be there in April. Thanksgiving is a week away.

Good morning team how are we feeling

Gotta wonder how many more wins the Red Wings would have if they weren’t 31st in the league on the Penalty Kill. Why is the PK this bad suddenly? Is there a glimmer of hope for the season if they can figure out how to kill penalties?#LGRW pic.twitter.com/c89dLG4E2B

— jesse (@_jaq_0) November 16, 2024

Red Wings In Case You Missed It

Former Detroit player Luke Witkowski is going to be Axel Sandin Pellikka’s teammate in Sweden. Skelleftea management believes the Swedish team needs some toughness.

Coach Derek Lalonde is moving Marco Kasper to the second line. The Red Wings are desperately trying to create more offense.

Paywall story: Bob Duff looks at whether Cam Talbot has a shot to play for Canada in the Four Nations Tournament. To subscribe, click here:

Red Wings Extra

You’ve heard this before: tonight’s game at Little Caesars Arena feels like a must-win game for the Red Wings (7-9-2). After going 0-2-1 in California, the Detroit squad needs a win against the New York Islanders (7 p.m., FanDuel) to get pointed in the right direction again. The Islanders are playing the final game of a five-game road trip. They are 1-2-1 in the first four games.

Hockey Now Network

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