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RED HOT WINGS: How Has Detroit Started So Hot?

Originally posted on Inside The Rink
By Alexander DeBerardinis | Last updated Oct 18, 2025 4:17 PM ET

I’m man enough to admit when I’m wrong. In my October preview, I had Detroit at 2-2-1 at this point. I was so far off that Detroit is atop the Atlantic division and 4-1-0 to start the season. So, what’s changed? What went right and who stood out? I’ll be breaking down each of the key components to the Red Wings hot start and hopefully not jinxing anything going forward.

Red Wings Defence:

Could you imagine telling fans that Detroit’s best position through 5 games would arguably be the defence? In all situations, Detroit is 8th in expected goals against, and that includes the poor Montreal game. McClellan looks comfortable putting out all three pairs in any situation. Each pair looks competent in both zones, and believe it or not, Moritz Seider is now facing league-average #1D deployments. Trent Yawney has a history of developing young defencemen well. With only one player over 25 on the backend, Yawney has been getting the most out of each of the players on the backend.

How are they doing it? Well, they have been sacrificing the body. Detroit is 5th in the league in the percentage of blocked shots at a hair under 25, and Detroit is 2nd in total blocked shots. They’ve also done a good job at keeping shots away from the crease. Big shoutout to Ben Chiarot for the effort he is putting in this season, his step has been huge to helping Seider carry a reduced load.

Goaltending:

Holy smokes, early-season Red Wings goaltending is yet again fantastic. Cam Talbot went 3-0-0 in his first three starts with .932% save percentage and a 1.78 GAA. Now, the deeper analytics are solid, but not impeccable. His 2.3 GSAx and a 0.01 save percentage above expected explain how good the defence is more than how good Talbot was, but he was certainly a game breaker. John Gibson had a fantastic bounce-back game against Tampa Bay. His numbers are still very poor because of the Montreal shelling, but Gibson has no doubt won back the fans after this game.

The defence and goaltending have worked in tandem to get Detroit through the first leg of the season. The scores have looked flattering because of the empty net goals, but the offence has been mediocre (albeit largely without Lucas Raymond), but everyone else has kept Detroit in it.

Penalty Kill:

How about it, a 91% penalty kill to start the season. It’s been a group effort. Finnie and Appleton have been welcome additions to the penalty kill and have generally been plus players. Even ASP has been out there killing penalties. Detroit has focused on keeping the puck in low danger areas during the kill, the diamond formation has been pretty solid as well. When the shot has got through, Talbot and Gibson have looked comfortable making the save. Detroit’s bad save percentage on the kill was a problem last season.

Detroit could use a few more face-offs, but the generally simple penalty kill has been effective. It’s a huge deal for Detroit, it’s still early but even coming down to an 80% kill would be huge for Detroit given just how awful it was last season.

Mason Appleton:

Can you believe that? The hard-skating, forechecking Mason Appleton has been a genuine difference maker through the first five games. Appleton is tied for the team lead in goals. Now, two falling goals and one empty net goal is certainly an odd way to do it, but hey, they don’t ask how. But as I mentioned, he has been a part of the penalty kill. Stepping up in Lucas Raymond’s absence is difficult, but I’ll be damned if I said Appleton wasn’t playing some fantastic hockey.