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Early road success vital to long-range hopes

October 14, 2017, 5:41 PM ET [16 Comments]
Bob Duff
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
A lot of things went south for the Detroit Red Wings during the 2016-17 season, including their road record. Detroit’s 16 wins away from home were the fewest recorded by the team in a non-lockout NHL season since the team was a dismal 6-20-5 during the 1998-99 season.

With 12 of their first 17 games of the 2017-18 NHL campaign on the road, success on the road is going to play a significant role in whether the Wings can rebound and contend for a playoff position, so a 3-1 mark on their first road trip of the season was an encouraging sign.

“It’s huge,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. “You can’t play from behind in this league in the standings, you can’t be climbing all year.

“We knew when we looked at our schedule, the stretch in the beginning of the year was a lot of road games and the stretch at the end of the year is a lot of road games.”

Much of what is needed to succeed on the road was in evidence during Detroit’s three wins. The special teams were stellar, the goaltending was solid. Goals came from a variety of sources and the Wings found different ways to the result, winning via shootout in Ottawa, by a late game winner in Arizona, and by virtue of a third-period rally in Las Vegas.

“The most important thing is we know we can play well if we do it right,” Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg said. “I think we have a good mix on the team.

“We’ve still got to get better in a few areas but obviously we will take this start.”

That being said, the Wings were a decent 6-5-1 on the road through 12 games a year ago, and then 10-14-5 the rest of the way, so consistency is another element they must continue to display.

“Quick starts are big factors in success,” Blashill said. “I think we’ve done a good job in this organization for a long time with that. Now with that said, we had a good start last year and we didn’t finish good enough, so every game becomes critically important.”

Rocky Tatar-iano?
Tomas Tatar may have stunned you when he dropped the gloves and tangled with Las Vegas forward Erik Haula during Friday’s game but no one in the Detroit dressing room was the least bit surprised to see their skilled forward stand up and be counted when challenged by Haula.



“I’ve seen that side before, to be honest with you,” Blashill said. “I saw it a couple times in the American League. He’s got real toughness to him and he got challenged and he answered the bell.

“That doesn’t surprise me at all about Tomas.”

According to Hockeyfights.com, Tatar fought seven times during his AHL days.

“I don't mind to do that but I obviously want to help the team in a different ways,” Tatar said. “But once in awhile you just have to.”

Haula went after Tatar after absorbing a bodycheck from Tatar that he felt was too low, close to his knees.

“It was a big hit and I just heard a lot of talk around it, so I just didn't wait,” Tatar said. “We dropped. Maybe for both of us one of the first fights (in the NHL). I don't think he is fighting too often either.

“These kind of moments give you a lift for sure. ”

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