You could say that it’s been an all-or-nothing season for the Detroit Red Wings to date.
The Wings opened with back-to-back losses, surrendering 10 goals in the process. They then set out on a six-game winning streak, leaving people wondering about just how good this team might actually.
Reality quickly returned to Hockeytown, though and as they head into Sunday’s home date with the Edmonton Oilers, the Wings find themselves in the midst of an 0-3-1 skid during which they were shutout once and in last three setbacks, fished a combined total of 14 pucks out of their net.
“We’ve had too much time in our D-zone,… explained Detroit coach Jeff Blashill for their current woes. “I would say we haven’t had enough time in our O-zone. We haven’t had enough O-zone grind time. That’s an area we can improve on for sure.…
Twice during this skid, Detroit has lost one-goal decisions and twice the Wings have squandered third-period leads.
“It might be lack of focus, it might be a few different reasons,… Detroit defenseman Danny DeKeyser suggested of their current struggles. “I’m not really sure. It’s just something we’ve got to clean up.
“Blash told us yesterday I think we gave up nine chances throughout the game, six or seven being Grade A, which is kind of a lot. It’s just the free ones that we give up here and there that we’ve got to eliminate.…
Jimmy Howard will get the start in goal Sunday – not surprisingly, since he’s 13-1-2 in his career versus the Oilers, with a 1.96 goals-against average, two shutouts and a .926 save percentage. Howard believes the Wings only need to blame themselves for their woes, certain that the errors they are making are of the unforced variety.
“I think it’s self-inflicted,… Howard said. “We’re playing good hockey and then we just have some mental breaks and it’s costing us right now.…
The Wings may be shooting themselves in the foot but don’t go off on how it’s all about shot attempts because they figure that’s just a shot in the dark.
Blashill knows all about the purveyors of fancy stats and their obsession with that stat but he doesn’t buy it as a legitimate measurable of team success.
“I’ll continue to measure our game by scoring chances,… Blashill said. “Puck possession, the way we measure it, is by O-zone time - how much O-zone time vs. how much D-zone time.
“We have to get better in that area. We’ve spent more time in our D-zone than in our O-zone. Last year lots of times it was the opposite. We’d get O-zone time. So we’ve got to get better at having more O-zone time.
“Nobody yet has a good measurable of possession. I’ve said this a number of times, until the puck trackers in guys’ whatever and they know when they have the puck, I don’t know when shots became possession. Shots are shots.
“I go by chances.…
Nosek Reassigned The Red Wings activated forward Tomas Nosek from the injured list and assigned him to AHL Grand Rapids.
Nosek suffered a lower-body injury during NHL preseason play.
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