A Long (And Productive) November

A long, productive month of November, in which the Detroit Red Wings rescued their NHL season from early extinction is nearing a close, and a potentially troubling December could await if the Wings were to suddenly hit a cold spell. “We’re a lot better,… Detroit forward Tyler Bertuzzi said. “We’re playing better. We’re thinking the game better and it’s showing.… In actuality, the team’s turnaround began toward the end of October. After a dismal 1-7-2 start, the Wings won their last two games of that month. With two games remaining in November they are 7-3-1 for this month. “We haven’t really been playing too much different,… defenseman Dennis Cholowski said. “We’re scoring a little bit more now. Our overall team confidence is up a little bit. I think that always helps. “Everybody likes to win. That’s only going to raise your confidence. The last 10 games or so we’ve been really good and hopefully, we can keep going.… It’s also helped that the team is 6-1-1 in their last eight games at Little Caesars Arena after opening the season 0-3-1 at home. “That’s huge,… Cholowski said. “Our crowd has come up big for us for sure. It’s packed every night and that only gives us energy. We like seeing that and we love playing at home. “Hopefully, we can carry the momentum into the road games.… The Wings will play nine of 16 December games on the road, including two trips to Toronto and one each to Boston, Washington and Pittsburgh. A Good Problem Here’s another predicament that the Wings aren’t accustomed to facing. Currently, they have too many defensemen. As they face the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday, Jonathan Ericsson was to sit out his second straight game as a healthy scratch. In the past, a defender with 616 NHL games on his resume such as Ericsson would have been slotted right back into the lineup, but that’s no longer the case. “E’s available to play and we’re just making the decision to go with the six we have that have been playing,… Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. “I think that’s a good problem to have. “As I’ve explained to our D, we’ve got seven good defensemen and we’ll make the decision on a nightly basis who’s going to be in the top six. And I’d actually include Witter (Luke Witkowski) in that. Witter’s been good when he’s played. “So really, you see, you’ve got eight guys that have played real well at different times. So it’s who can separate themselves and those put you as a coach in a position where you’ve gotta make hard decisions, but that’s a great position to be in. It’s a way better position than not having those decisions to make.… Follow me on Twitter @asktheduffer