After two periods the Wings found themselves down 3-0. Outshot 30 to 14. Another disturbing stat, faceoffs were 28 to 16 in favor of Florida. When the debate begins about Detroit’s surplus of “depth… players, Luke Glendening is one for whom I make an exception. In short, he is the best faceoff specialist Detroit has had for a few years. His current fo% is 56.19%. He takes many defensive zone draws, particularly on the pk. Last year he was 14th in the league at 55.67%. The year before his percentage was an impressive 58.03. He hasn’t had a less than 50% FO percentage since 2014.
The Red Wings troubles stretch further than the faceoff dot, but those losses cause a lot of trouble for a team that is struggling. With the losses of Glendening and Dekeyser, the team’s issues have seemed to become exacerbated. The reality of a team in transition is that one or two key injuries can make a difficult season much more so. The center position is one lacking depth currently, as is the defensive structure. Neither goaltender is having much success right now, but many of those issues are tied directly to the first two. Lose an offensive zone draw and bang, the puck is on net.
The good news is that help is on the way. Rasmussen is having a good campaign in Grand Rapids, with 2 goals and 5 assists in 6 games played. I believe that he will be the third line center behind Joe Veleno and Dylan Larkin in the near(ish) future. In the meantime, Rasmussen could easily be the next call up. Steve Yzerman’s plan this year was to get Athanasiou away from playing center and that philosophy was part of the reason that Filppula was brought in. Unfortunately, Nielsen and Filppula are both having a tough go at the center position.
Part of the difficulty of the Wing’s season is that management expectations line up with what we’re seeing on the ice. A season leading up to a high draft pick, with flashes of strong play to build hope for the future. If the expectations were higher, it would be reasonable to think that changes would come quickly. Too many are quick to point out the turn around of St. Louis last year without comparing the rosters. St Louis was underperforming, painfully so. As hard as it seems to believe, Detroit is not underperforming expectations. The players still want to win and genuinely put themselves into the game with that attitude. However, a couple power play goals in the first period tonight were enough to lock the Red Wings out.
It would be refreshing to see LARMANZZI back together. Coach Blashill believes strongly in moving guys around to help other players “get going…. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be working. It would not be out of the realm of acceptable to see Hirose given some time in Grand Rapids to find his game. Givanni Smith, Evgeny Svechnikov and Michael Rasmussen all seem to be more ready to face the rigors of the NHL on a nightly basis. Oliwer Kaski or Moritz Seider would be a welcome sight as well. Earlier today, Seider added another assist (3) and Zadina scored on the power play. Even though the team lost 5-3, we’re still seeing the young players contribute.
I don’t envy Larkin, Bertuzzi, Mantha, and anyone else who will face reporters after the game. There are only so many ways to deliver the same message you gave the night before. But, they will do it. The willingness to grind through this is impressive in these young core members.
The Wings next game is Monday against Nashville. Though the press have had a rough couple games, they are still at the top of the league in scoring and they let in very few goals. Trevor Daley left the contest early and Green was out. The defensive injury carousel is in full swing again. This could lead to an opportunity for a prospect at some point. We’ll see what Monday brings.
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