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Is it too little, too late? |
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Is it too little, too late?
Just as they were about to be given up for dead, the Detroit Red Wings are showing signs of life.
Saturday, they claimed a 3-2 shootout win over the Washington Capitals, currently the NHL’s No. 1 team.
Sunday, they went into Pittsburgh and handed the Penguins just their fourth loss in regulation of the 2016-17 NHL season, whipping the defending Stanley Cup champions 5-2.
“We played well,” Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg told reporters. “We came out, kept it pretty simple for the beginning. We knew that we probably wouldn’t have our best legs from the start but we worked ourselves into the game and overall it was good.”
The Red Wings still sit six points out of a playoff position but after a winning weekend against two of the NHL’s best teams, they feel much better about themselves.
“We knocked off Washington, Pitt and you start chopping teams away,” forward Steve Ott said. “We talk about trying to get on a little bit of a run here.”
The road ahead remains a difficult one - the Wings have six other teams between them and the Boston Bruins, who currently hold down the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot.
“You put the naysayers aside,” Ott said. “You can’t listen to white noise that’s out there. We’ve got to control what we can control and that’s continue to come in here every single day.
“We know what’s at stake for this organization and the heritage of this hockey club and obviously we’re trying to play hard for that every single night. We’re not happy with the position we’re in right now but if we continue to chip away there’s a big carrot at the end of the season.
The Wings play host to the New York Islanders Tuesday at Joe Louis Arena prior to taking their bye week and then embarking upon a five-game road trip starting Feb. 28 at Vancouver.
“When we’re playing good, we’re playing good,” Zetterberg said. “We’ve just got to have the consistency to stay at this level. We’ve got one more game here before the bye. If we get two points there, we’re going to enjoy our break.”
Mrazek Solid
One key to getting on a roll is between the pipes and currently, goaltender Petr Mrazek is playing the best he has in about a year’s time. He’s allowed just five goals in his past three starts.
“I think Petr’s game has been coming for a long time,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. “I think going back for a while, there was a stretch maybe where he wasn’t getting the bounces but I thought he was playing good.
“Now he’s really starting to heat up and when Petr heats up, he’s as good as anybody in the league and I thought he was excellent tonight.”
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