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It is both a tribute to Henrik Zetterberg and a condemnation of the Detroit Red Wings that at 37, their captain remains the straw who stirs this team onward.
When Zetterberg scored in Monday’s 5-3 loss to the San Jose Sharks, it moved him past Ted Lindsay (335) into fifth all-time in franchise goal scoring.
“It’s incredible, especially the way he’s done it,” Wings coach Jeff Blashill told Detroitredwings.com. “There’s guys in the league who will get points. There’s very few guys who will be as good a winner as he’s been over his time.
“He’s an excellent, excellent hockey player, but he’s done it from the right side of the puck. He’s created offense without giving much up. Him teamed with Pavel (Datsyuk) for all those years as a 1-2 punch at center, that’s how you win tons of games. You win tons of games with great centers that play two-way hockey like he has.”
It’s the sort of style that the Wings hope will rub off on their younger forwards and eventually allow them to take over the mantle of leadership from Zetterberg and set the tone for this team going forward, as Detroit seeks to escape from the NHL hinterland and back into relevancy.
“It’s over and over and over,” Blashill said of Zetterberg’s commitment to a 200-foot game. “That’s just the reality of it. That is what elite players do every night. And it’s a hard league.
“The difference between this league and other leagues is in other leagues you’re more talented than your opponents, so you can get away with not playing at 100 percent. The best players in this league have to be 100 percent every night in terms of their competitiveness, their focus, their competition level. It’s a lesson our young guys have to learn. It’s not an easy lesson.
“The other lesson our young guys have to learn is that when it starts to go the wrong way, the answer isn’t to cheat, the answer is to actually be better defensively. You can’t cheat your way to offense. You have to play from the right side of the puck, create turnovers and then attack.
They need to do this consistently, so that the Wings no longer need to rely on Zetterberg to be the one to carry the load.
Until that happens, this team will continue to flounder.
Nielsen Returns
Out three games after suffering a concussion when hit by Boston Bruins forward David Backes, center Frans Nielsen will return to action Thursday against the Los Angeles Kings. Nielsen cleared the concussion protocol tests on Wednesday.
“They told me yesterday I was good to go,” Nielsen said. “I had a good practice today.”
It was his first concussion, and Nielsen admitted the whole episode was a bit unnerving.
“You never know how bad it is,” Nielsen said. “It can be small symptoms that can turn into something way worse. I guess I was lucky it wasn’t that bad.”
Daley’s Odd Numbers
Wings defenseman Trevor Daley scored his fourth goal in the last nine games in Monday’s loss.
“I think our D have been real involved since the all-star break,” Blashill said. “Dales has been real hot that way. He’s got lots of ability.”
He’s also got himself a very puzzling stat line for a rearguard - nine goals and five assists in 64 games. If Daley continues to maintain more goals than helpers, he’ll be the first Wings defenseman to do so and spend the entire season in the NHL since Leo Reise in 1947-48.
Reise posted 5-4-9 numbers while playing 58 of 60 games that season. He’s one of 10 Detroit defensemen to turn this unique feat, but the remainder all did it before 1940, prior to the introduction of the red line and some during an era when forward passing was restricted in the offensive zone.
Season-Defenseman GP-G-A-P
2017-18 Trevor Daley 64-9-5-14
x-2014-15 Xavier Ouellet 21-2-1-3
x-2013-14 Adam Almquist 2-1-0-1
x-2007-08 Jonathan Ericsson 8-1-0-1
x-2006-07 Kyle Quincey 6-1-0-1
y-1998-99 Uwe Krupp 22-3-2-5
x-1993-94 Aaron Ward 5-1-0-1
x-1991-92 Bobby Dollas 27-3-1-4
x-1989-90 Dean Morton 1-1-0-1
x-1976-77 Dwight Schofield 3-1-0-1
xz-1974-75 Mike Korney 30-8-2-10
x-1964-65 Pete Goegan 4-1-0-1
x-1963-64 Irv Spencer 25-3-0-3
x-1951-52 Larry Zeidel 19-1-0-1
x-1950-51 Clare (Rags) Raglan 33-3-1-4
1947-48 Leo Reise 58-5-4-9
x-1946-47 Al Dewsbury 23-2-1-3
x-1945-46 Rollie McLenahan 8-2-1-3
x-1942-43 Dick Behling 2-1-0-1
x-1941-42 Alvin (Buck) Jones 21-2-1-3
1939-40 Jack Stewart 48-1-0-1
x-1936-37 John Gallagher 20-1-0-1
1935-36 Ralph (Scotty) Bowman 48-3-2-5
x-1934-35 Harry (Yip) Foster 12-2-0-2
1933-34 Doug Young 48-4-0-4
x-1933-34 Fred Robertson 26-1-0-1
1931-32 Doug Young 47-10-2-12
1929-30 Harvey Rockburn 36-4-1-5
1929-30 Hal Hicks 44-3-2-5
1927-28 Stan Brown 26-2-0-2
1926-27 Clem Loughlin 34-7-3-10
1926-27 Jack Arbour 37-4-1-5
X-spent part of season in minor leagues
Y-missed most of season through injury
Z-also played right wing
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