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Red Wings Are Home For The Holidays . . . Will it be Naughty or Nice?

Detroit just 5-7-1 at home this season

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Michael Rasmussen, Red Wings
Michael Rasmussen says the Red Wings need to use their holiday home stand to right the ship.

A holiday quiz – which of the following applies to the Detroit Red Wings?



(a) Nothing tastes better than home cooking

(b) Home is where the heart is

(c) Home is a shelter from storms

(d) None of the above

If you chose (d), congratulations. Give yourself a cookie. You’ve been paying attention.

The Red Wings make a lot of noise about how great it is to play in front of the home crowd at Little Caesars Arena. They insist it energizes them, brings out the best in the team.

“Starting at home, it’s easier,” forward Michael Rasmussen said.

Trouble is, all evidence this season is suggesting exactly the opposite. Detroit is 5-7-2 on home ice this season. They are turning home base into a fortress of ineptitude.

The Red Wings will literally be home for the holidays. Beginning with Saturday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, they are playing seven of the next eight games on home ice. In fact, over the next month, Detroit has 11 home dates.

Currently five points out of a playoff spot, it’s not a stretch to suggest that if the Wings don’t feast on this home cooking, their season, for all intents and purposes, will be over.

All they’ll be getting for Christmas will be lumps of coal.

“We got some goals that we need to achieve over this until Christmas,” Rasmussen said. “Basically, when we’re at home here, we just gotta point the ship in the right direction.

“We just gotta take advantage of it.”

Forget Playoffs If Red Wings Don’t Take Care Of Home Ice

Looking back at the past four NHL seasons, the data emphasizes how vital it is for teams to take charge at home. Of the 64 teams to make the Stanley Cup playoffs over that four-season span, 100% of them were posting winning slates on home ice.

If the Red Wings want to turn this thing around, now is offering them the best chance to do so.

“I mean obviously we have four out of five here at home before the break,” Detroit forward Patrick Kane said. “It’s a good stretch for us to hopefully get some momentum.

“Use the building to our advantage, use the energy and try to get something going here.”

On the surface, it doesn’t seem all that dramatic of a turnaround. The Wings are just a couple of wins away from being a .500 team on home, from getting things heading in the right direction.

Doesn’t it seem like that’s been the scenario for this team all season long? They always seem to be one or two games away from getting right back into the race, but have yet to prove capable of making that short climb.

Simple solutions. Score more goals. Possess the puck more often. Shore up the penalty kill. Yet none of it ever appears to be attainable over the long haul.

Clearly, these are desperate times and the Red Wings are sensing it.

“It’s felt that way the last 10 games, to be honest with you,” Kane admits. “I don’t want to say fighting for our lives, but you’re going into every game trying to make sure you’re getting some momentum and get a win that night.

“So, yeah, that’s kind of where we’re at.”

They know what they need to do. Can they get it done?

Homeward bound, if they don’t do it now, it feels like it’s all over.

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