Red Wings Are Not Being Outshot Anymore

A  Detroit Red Wings player can’t score on a shot he doesn’t take. It sounds like a concept that should be understood, but the players needed to be reminded of that principle after Todd McLellan took over as coach.

Or maybe, they needed the freedom to take those shots.

“I’ve always been a real big believer that volume of shooting is important,” McLellan said recently. “And I know the analytics departments and analysts all over and will say, well, it’s the quality of shot. I think it’s the quality of the shot off the rebound that’s really important. And we saw Joey Veleno score (recently) like that. You break defenses down by taking a shot and then grabbing it and re-attacking.”

A breakdown of the Red Wings’ current five-game winning streak shows that shots on goal appear to be a significant factor.

Under Derek Lalonde, the Red Wings were out-shot in 24 of 34 games. In three of those games, the Red Wings managed fewer than 20 shots, including the last game Lalonde coached for Detroit (against St. Louis).

By contrast, the Red Wings have not been out-shot once in the six games since McLellan was hired. Under McLellan, Detroit has out-shot opponents three times and matched the opponents shot total in three other games.

“Obviously you don’t want to waste shots, ” Detroit’s Patrick Kane said. “But if we’re in an area to have a good chance to shoot it on net or get some action at the net, I think we want to be a team that takes those chances instead of looking for a better player or another pass.”

Kane’s instincts and skill have allowed him to take advantage of the offensive freedom that McLellan is offering. He has four goals during the five-game winning streak.

“We got good players in here that can read the play, but sometimes I think we want to have that possession and maybe we overpass a little bit,” Kane said. “So I think just having that shooting mentality has been better for us. ”

Captain Dylan Larkin also is benefitting from a shoot-first mindset. He boasts 29 shots on goal (4.83 shots per game) in McLellan’s six games. Larkin also shows five goals and eight points during the winning streak.

The shooting emphasis has come from McLellan’s work on the team’s defensive coverage. You can argue that the shooting numbers are better because Detroit’s defensive work is improved. The Red Wings were giving up roughly 30 shots per game under Lalonde and arssurrendering 26 per game under McLellan. Detroit has surrendered 30 or more shots only once since his arrival.

But it’s Detroit’s shot total that is boosting its scoring.  The Red Wings rank 25th in the league still at 2.73 goals per game, but they are averaging four goals per game during the winning streak.

“You can cycle to death all you want, and often you don’t get anything off of it,” McLellan said. “I just beliein (shot volume),” McLellan said. “Been selling that to the players. And our D are doing a good job of creating opportunity with the shot, and the forwards capitalize on secondary chances or getting teams out of position, and that’s where the volume comes in.”