Detroit’s start has been strong, and it continued through game six against Edmonton. John Gibson wasn’t spectacular, but his 16 saves were enough to give the Red Wings a win. The team was without Patrick Kane, but Lucas Raymond made his return to action.
The first six games were a daunting task, however Detroit was able to perform well. The team is now 5-1-0, and that wasn’t where most people thought they’d be right now. The team has had timely saves, as well as timely goal scoring from their top players.
Dylan Larkin and Emmitt Finnie are turning heads
Dylan Larkin was a part of all four goals scored, therein acquiring two tallies and two helpers. That puts the Captain at 11 points (5 goals, 6 assist) in six games, thereby leading the team in an impressive start. Larkin and his linemates accumulated nine points in the game, and they led the team in this win.
Rookie Emmitt Finnie scored his first NHL goal, and added a second tally just for good measure. Finnie’s performance has been impressive, but had yet to score his first NHL goal. That changed to day, as the rookie collected two goals and an assist, and it was a well earned total. Finnie has looked at home on the top line, and it looks like he’ll continue to have that opportunity.
The team is heading out on the road
Seven of the next eight games are on the road, including a western road trip ending in California. The team will play those eight games in just 14 days, and that is going to be a test mentally and physically for the players. Staying healthy is going to be difficult, however critical for the team to be successful this year.
There are several players still waiting to break out, and none more anxious than Michael Brandsegg-Nygard. MBN is the last of the three rookies yet to appear on the scoresheet, and he’s anxious to change that. A road trip may be a great opportunity for MBN to break out, and finally get his mantle souvenir puck.
The road trip should galvanize this team to be the juggernaut they were meant to be!
“Still, there’s an argument to be made that anybody with a pulse may be able to engineer points at a relatively easy pace next to Larkin and Raymond. That’s true to some degree, with Finnie only averaging a 43.4% CorsiFor% at even strength and his -0.7 Expected +/-. However, he’s tied for first on the team in hits (21), and has an excellent 96.7% on-ice save percentage at even strength, which is even more remarkable considering he begins nearly 2/3 of his shifts in the defensive zone.”
Evan Finnie’s fancy stats have him as a bonified top-6 guy! I did not witness Datsyuk’s first season. but I bet even he was not this good so soon!
The team is catching others by surprise by their quickness and tenaciousness. It is not a polished kind of play yet, but they seem to disrupt what playmaking the other team has. Watching McDavid weave thru some Wings only to have one that he gotten by to follow him and take the puck away was inspiring! Not giving up on the play is essential for winning!
It still is a long season and this team has much to prove yet.
Finnie’s been an incredible and welcome surprise. Everyone is trying to cram information on this kid, because nobody really saw him coming. To go from that to top line, pretty impressive. Definitely a long season, and there will be rough patches. Hoping they can rise up to the challenges!
Let’s not forget Copp playing better (motivated)… but the young ones have brought some “let’s have fun and play without being worried, and prove we can play” spirit that was lacking on the team.
As you said, not a lot thought Detroit was going to do so good !
Now, let’s see what the team will do against non playoff teams (difficult to stay motivated that much, so a lot of traps coming next).
By the way, I thought Edmonton was not agressive and quite respectful (probably following the example of Mc David), they could have gotten angry losing. Thumbs up !
Really fun watch so far. They definitely need to keep the energy high and bank as many wins as they can early. Teams are going to wake up and be in a bad mood the next time they meet!
The Calgary Flames have placed defenseman Daniil Miromanov on waivers.
28 yo, RD, 6’4″, 201lbs $1.25M x 1
That frame, and a history of strong minor-league scoring, could be enough to tempt a team with roster flexibility to take their chance on reworking his game. Miromanov has tallied 23 points, 38 hits, and 110 blocked shots through 94 games in the NHL.
Claim him and put Hamonic on waivers?
I’ll just give a shrug, i have no clue if they’re looking. If the return isn’t better than Hamonic, hard to imagine they’d go for it but never say never. Lots of teams already dealing with injury. I’m wondering if the trip to California will see Gustafsson moved. A chance to talk to GMs who are looking
OH, the big Russian was waived today.
It would be interesting to see how many teams could put in a claim there for sure.
So, have watched every game AND the post-games, also listened to a few pods & ‘prognosticators’ just for good measure. Lots of interesting observations….
Fist; Who the HECK is this Finnie kid?!?!? Welp, ‘prognosticator’, he’s a hungry kid. Very. Hungry. He plays every shift like being on the ice is Manna. He treasures the opportunity to play. Did I say he was hungry? This kid’s special. If we can get Lombardi, Mazur, and Danielson to play the way Finnie does we can completely waive the 4th line (not really, I like Sods & Ras, good combo especially adding JVR). There’s something special a-brewin’.
Second; Defensively, this twam’s playing responsibly. Watch how we play on the fore-check. MBN is real, REALLY real. Watch how hard he cleans the boards. Kane’s playing much more defensivley responsible game.
Third; This team’s just so much more cohesive. Their play’s just more smooth, intentional, decisive. The Todd Father’s got this group standing tall. Still srruggling a bit in net, but sooooo much better than last year.
All-in-all, this teams doing very well. Long season ahead of us, of course, but there’s a new mentality in HockeyTown……
Hey Mike!!! Honestly, they needed a jolt of positivity. Right now the room is really jumping and they’ll be bonding on the road. A lot more fun to watch right now. PK has been getting a lot of solid performances, huge improvement!