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Could Senators End Red Wings Honeymoon Phase?

Red Wings looking for fifth straight victory

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2 weeks ago

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alex lyon, detroit red wings
Red Wings goalie Alex Lyon is cautioning the team about feeling too good about their sudden turnaround.

The Detroit Red Wings are concluding their honeymoon phase with new coach Todd McLellan. So far, there’s been nothing but wedded bliss.

The Red Wings are 4-1, taking a four-game win streak to the ice Tuesday as they begin a four-game homestand against Atlantic Division rivals the Ottawa Senators.

But like any relationship, it’s going to take work to keep it together.

“I think a marriage is when you get home from the honeymoon and the real work kicks in,” McLellan said. “It becomes work every day.

“We’re in the work phase where we have to trust the map or the path we’re laying out for the players is the right one. We have to trust that they’re willing to accept some of the guidance we’re giving them.”

If there’s any team that can scrub that new coach smell off the Red Wings and put them into marital turmoil, the Senators would be that club.

No squad has given more angst to Detroit over the past couple of years than Ottawa.

Speaking of four-game winning streaks, the Sens have beaten the Wings in four straight. And they’ve done so in three different countries. Ottawa got the better of Detroit at home and at Little Caesars Arena, as well as in Sweden during last season’s NHL Global Series. The Senators are 5-1 in their last six visits to Detroit.

Senators Are Red Wings Nemesis

When things go south for Detroit, Ottawa is frequently the culprit. Last season, then-Senators forward Mathieu Joseph would knock Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin unconscious with a sucker punch during a game at LCA. Minus their captain, the Wings lost that game 5-1. It was part of a stretch that saw Detroit go 2-9.

The season prior, Detroit was rolling into the Canadian capital for back-to-back games on a 9-2 roll. There was talk of playoffs in Hockeytown. Following 6-2 and 6-1 losses to Ottawa on successive nights, Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman was instead soon engaging in a NHL trade deadline fire sale.

It’s episodes like this that emphasize to Red Wings goalie Alex Lyon that it’s just as dangerous to go on an emotional high as it is to wallow in the turmoil of a humbling low.

“Good lesson and a good reminder,” Lyon said. “You’re so far down one week and then the next week it’s like it feels like you’re on top of the world. But we gotta be careful as well, of getting too high.

“We learned that lesson last year. It’s not about the standings, it’s not about the playoffs. It’s just about playing the right way and focusing on the process.”

Ottawa Could Be Vulnerable

If there’s a good time to end this Ottawa hoodoo, now might be it. Orphaned by the IIHF World Junior Championship, the Senators are concluding a nine-game road trip in Detroit on Tuesday. It started out to be a pleasure trip. Ottawa began the journey 3-0, part of a season-high six-game win streak.

However, during a 3-1 loss at Edmonton, Vezina Trophy-winning goalie Linus Ullmark, Ottawa’s key offseason addiiton, went out with an injury. He hasn’t played since. Ullmark is out week-to-week with a back injury. During his absence, the Sens are 1-4.

Ottawa sits one point out of the final Eastern Conference playoff spot. Detroit is three points away from holding down that position.

“Obviously, it seems like we have a lot riding on what happens tomorrow,” Red Wings forward Patrick Kane said. “That’s a huge game.”

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