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On roll, Wings roll into Pittsburgh |
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They’ve garnered 18 of a possible 20 points in their last nine games. The Detroit Red Wings are on a roll as they roll in Pittsburgh to face the Penguins Wednesday at the Consol Energy Center.
“I think it’s looking good,” defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. “We’re a good team, but everything comes down to hard work. When we work hard and we do the right things out there we’re a pretty good team when we play against anybody.
“But I think that’s the stuff we have to do night in and night out. We can’t just not work out there. That’s usually when the losses come.”
Certainly the success the Wings have enjoyed while playing the vast majority of their games since the Christmas break away from Joe Louis Arena has buoyed their confidence level.
“We feel good,” center Riley Sheahan said. “It’s a lot of fun coming to the rink.
“We have some good chemistry going so we’ve just got to keep taking steps forward and coming to the rink and having some fun.”
It’s easy to point to a showdown with the Penguins as a benchmark game to see how far the Wings have grown, but captain Henrik Zetterberg thinks that simplifying things too much.
“We’ve played some pretty good teams lately,” Zetterberg said. “This is probably another measuring stick. That’s the thing now. The league is so even, basically every night is a tough opponent.
“Pittsburgh, with the history we have against them, it’s probably a little more special game than another one.”
A big key to Detroit’s success, both during the season and of late, is the team’s solid performance on both sides of the special-teams equation, the power play and the penalty kill.
Detroit has netted a power-play goal in five straight games and killed off 11 of the last 12 shorthanded situations over the course of the past three games, all of them victories.
“It’s been huge obviously,” left-winger Tomas Tatar said. “I thought the specialty teams were deciding the games. The power play and the penalty kill are outstanding.”
The penalty killers have stepped up their game again after recent struggles.
“I think the PK dipped a little bit lately, but it’s been one of the things why we are the way we are this year,” Zetterberg said. “The guys on the PK have done a really good job and it’s been winning games for us.”
Another factor in their success is that the Wings are unearthing methods to succeed on nights when they don’t arrive at the rink equipped with their A game.
“There are nights when you’re not going to play great but you’re going to find a way to win and I think that’s something we’ve been able to do as of late,” Kronwall said. “We haven’t played great the whole game, but we have been able to find ways to win.
“Our specialty teams have been better. The PK has been better and the power play has been doing good things. And our course (Petr) Mrazek has played great for us in net. Every night it feels like we have a great chance to win.
With seven of their next nine games on the road, things don’t get any easier for Detroit.
“So far so good,” Kronwall said. “We’ve still got some heavy games coming up over this last little bit. We can’t complain.
“I think we’ve had a really good stretch so far.”
Petr Power
Mrazek will go in goal for Detroit in what could be his final start for awhile, as Jimmy Howard, returning from a groin injury, will back him up and get the start Saturday at home against Winnipeg.
With veteran Jonas Gustavsson available to back up Howard, it’s likely Mrazek will find himself back with AHL Grand Rapids in the near future, a fact that Wings defenseman Kyle Quincey finds a little baffling.
“I don’t know how you send the guy down,” Quincey said of Mrazek. “He just doesn’t lose.”
Mrazek is 8-1 since Howard was injured.
“He’s played unbelievable for us,” Quincey said. “He plays the puck exceptionally well and makes our job easier.
“I can’t say enough good things about him.”
Not His Style
Detroit posted a 4-3 overtime win over the Penguins in their only meeting thus far this season on Oct. 23 at Joe Louis Arena and it was the type of high-end skill showdown you’d expect from these two talent-laden teams.
Quincey wouldn’t mind if history didn’t repeat itself tonight.
“The first game we played was unbelievable game for the fans to watch,” Quincey said. “Just being a part of it was fun.
“For me I don’t like being in those games as a defenseman. I like to get up early and tighten it down and win 2-1. As a Dman, they have two of the best forwards in the world (Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin) so it’s a huge test for us.
“It’s fun to see where we are. We’re doing really good. This is a huge test for us to see how good we really are.”
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