The only thing plummeting further than the mercury during the month of January has been the plus-minus of Detroit Red Wings defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere.
Now, to be fair, plus-minus isn’t an exact science. A player can get a minus on a play in which they do nothing wrong, while a teammate is committing an egregious error.
Certainly, Gostisbehere had plenty of company in the minus column during Tuesday’s 5-4 loss to the Dallas Stars. He was among 11 Detroit players registering a minus number on the night.
At the same time, Gostisbehere’s trend of late can’t be ignored. In 15 games since Dec. 22, he’s gone minus-15. The Red Wings as a team are 9-5-1 over that 15-game span.
For the season, he’s a team-worst minus-20. Of the 32 points collected this season by Gostisbehere, 20 have come on the power play. He does lead the team in that category, as well as with 25 assists. However, he’s tied for 11th on the Red Wings with 12 even-strength points.
Reimer To Start Thursday?
Detroit coach Derek Lalonde wasn’t tipping his hand as to his starting goalie for Thursday’s home date with the Philadelphia Flyers. However, considering the way things were playing out on Tuesday, you’d have to think it will be James Reimer getting the nod.
Reimer took over for Alex Lyon to start the third period with Detroit trailing 5-2. Reimer would stop all six shots he faced, while the Red Wings scored twice.
“A little breather for Alex,” Lalonde said as to the reason for the switch. “We’ve asked a ton of him, a lot of him. Unfortunately, we left him out to dry in the second.
“And yes, I thought it would give a little spark to the group to give Reimer some looks. That checked off 2-3 boxes for us and obviously it worked. We had a chance at the end.”
Ice Chips
Tuesday was the anniversary of Detroit’s most lopsided victory. On Jan. 23, 1944, the Red Wings blanked the New York Rangers 15-0.
That’s also the largest shutout victory in NHL history . . . Detroit’s Alex DeBrincat was ending an 11-game goalless drought with a first-period power-play goal on Thursday . . . Captain Dylan Larkin recorded a power play goal and an assist for his team-leading 11th multi-point game of the season . . . Larkin extended his point streak to nine games (6-6-12) . . . The Red Wings recalled defenseman Brogan Rafferty from the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins.
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