Detroit Red Wings
Goals Growing as Scarce as Red Wings Victories
Detroit is 27th in the NHL in 5-on-5 goals
One may be the loneliest number, but the Detroit Red Wings are also finding two to be very discouraging.
In the past seven games, the Red Wings are 2-4-1. Saturday’s 5-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes was the fourth game in a row, and the fifth time in six games, that Detroit was held to two or fewer goals.
Then factor in the additional dilemma that the club has surrendered four or more goals in four of the past six games. Add those two elements together, and it’s not going to come out to be a winning equation.
“Yes, we’d like to score a little bit more, but we’re not talking about 50 goals extra,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan told reporters. “Just a goal here or there.”
Astonishingly, begging for just a goal here or there may be too much to ask of the majority of Detroit forwards. Check out these numbers.
Red Wings Can’t Score
Patrick Kane scored on Saturday. It was his first goal in 15 games. He’s accounted for 1-6-7 totals over that span.
That makes him a very productive Red Wings player.
It’s been 19 games without a point for Mason Appleton. Michael Rasmussen has gone pointless for 16 games. Elmer Soderblom, a scratch on Saturday, is without a point through 17 games. Emmitt Finnie hasn’t scored a goal in 22 games.
Andrew Copp (13 games), James van Riemsdyk (eight games), and JT Compher (seven games) are also enduring significant goalless droughts.
A nice one-two combo of saves from Frederik Andersen, denying Dominik Shine and Andrew Copp. 💪🦖 pic.twitter.com/gy7MvCuulI
— Walt Ruff (@WaltRuff) March 1, 2026
Forward Dominik Shine, who’s netted 21 goals for the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins this season, was summoned for Saturday’s game, but that’s not a solution. Shine has played 10 NHL games. He’s got one assist in the show.
Yes, he created a couple of quality chances on Saturday. He didn’t finish them.
A continuing problem for the Red Wings is 5-on-5 scoring. They are 27th in the NHL with 100 5-on-5 goals through 60 games. That works out to 1.67 5-on-5 goals per game.
“We’re searching for answers to 5-on-5 offense and talking about it,” Detroit captain Dylan Larkin said.
McLellan Doesn’t Pull Punches
McLellan was blunt in his assessment of his roster.
“Right now, for us, I think we have some players that are playing well and playing hard, and then we have some guys that are just jerseys,” McLellan said. “And what I mean by that is they’re wearing jerseys, they’re skating around, they’re eating up some minutes. But we need more. We just flat out need more.
Todd McLellan on what his team can takeaway from last night's loss. 🔊#LGRW pic.twitter.com/JQ15ALuyj1
— FanDuel Sports Network Detroit (@FanDuelSN_DET) March 1, 2026
“We talk about scoring five on five. We talk about the forecheck. If you’re not forechecking and being physical, shooting back, checking, winning face-offs, blocking shots, then what are you doing? And we need more from some guys.
“You can’t just be on the team at this time of year. You’ve got to be effective at this time of the year.”
Yzerman is the one who acquired and keeps these guys. Ras was extended. He took Compher. Ras, Compher and Copp are not the greatest, even in terms of forechecking. I would try to move onward from them at some point.
Looking forward to MBN, Bear, and Genborg.
Gave you the + but any negative talk here will get you the down vote. Can’t say anything bad about the Wings and especially Yzerman.