What’s Next For The Red Wings?

Who’s Up Next?

Buffalo Sabres, Wednesday, October 22:  For a lot of reasons, this seems like a trap game. Buffalo is starting to find their stride after a dismal start. Tage Thompson has been a Red Wing killer, and early-season Alex Lyon is in full effect. All signs point to this game being harder than it should be on paper. Buffalo is 2-1-0 in their last three games. Patrick Kane has been confirmed to be out, which hurts extra hard as his hometown Sabres are one of the teams he plays better against. There is no reason not to be excited, but don’t confuse optimism with certitude against a Sabres team full of spoilers. 

New York Islanders, Thursday, October 23:  Second night of a back-to-back against a New York team largely still in tank mode seems like the best-case scenario for Detroit early on. The team has had two nights of rest before the trip, and it is early in the season, so I wouldn’t worry about fatigue too much. New York is still a solid team. Sorokin is still a great goalie, and their offense looks much more dynamic with rookie Schaefer flirting with a point-per-game early this season. New York loves to play a boring, defensive style. Hopefully, Detroit’s newfound forechecking will break the deadlock well. Look for Copp, Brandsegg-Nygard, and Appleton to have some great metrics; this is their type of match-up. 

St. Louis Blues, Saturday, October 25: The Blues are a really solid team. They might be missing Bolduc more than they thought they would, but they’re far from a middling team. They haven’t dazzled to start this season, but they’re still a deep team with a lot of young pieces and a fantastic rookie in Snuggerud. This will probably end up being the best game of the week. Detroit is looking to get on the Blues’ tier this season after being similar to them for a while. Both teams want to make the wildcard as a young, exciting team. Keep your eyes on Kasper to get going during this one. 

What’s Worked?

Dylan Larkin: What else is there to say? Larkin won’t continue on this pace all season, but if he can continue at around a point per game this week, Detroit should have a chance in each game. Larkin has been a one-man show in every aspect of the game. Scoring, passing, facilitating, and winning draws, Dylan Larkin was so good that he won the NHL’s first star of the week. We even had incredibly high praise for him on this week’s podcast episode. If Finnie and Raymond can keep helping unlock this version of Larkin, Detroit should be in every game this week from him alone. 

Penalty Kill: How about it? The penalty kill was perfect last week. McClellan and Yawney have their systems in full effect, and the unit looks great. They’re facing shots to the outside and helping Talbot and Gibson have really nice low-danger save percentages. Not to mention Chiarot, Bernard-Docker, and Seider have been putting their body on the line to block some shots. It won’t stay perfect forever, but especially against Buffalo, who has some power play weapons, a good kill will go a long way. 

Goaltending: Gibson and Talbot have looked great in the wins. It gives confidence to the team to know that whoever is playing should give them a chance in each game. With the back-to-back, they’re both playing one game each this week. With both of them being fairly rested, continue to expect steady performances from both veteran goaltenders. Lyon, Binnington, and Sorokin are all great goalies in their own right, but Talbot and Gibson have outdueled some great goaltenders this season already. 

What Can Improve?

Depth Scoring: Obviously, the depth scoring. DeBrincat and Kasper having a combined one goal through six games isn’t ideal. Really, only the Larkin line has been producing consistently, even with Mason Appleton. While the Larkin is likely to cool off, the rest of the team needs to start heating up to get some goals back. Keep an eye on DeBrincat, MBN, and Compher to get on the score sheet this week. 

The Power-play: It’s been solid this season, but two of the goals have come during 5-on-3s. Without Kane, it’s going to be hard to produce as well as they did last season, but hopefully, it’ll be good for two or three goals this week and can help the team get on the board in the coming games. 

More to Read: 

NHL Game Preview: Detroit Red Wings vs. Buffalo Sabres with Line Combinations 12/9/2024

Hot or Him: Over-Performances or Improved Players?