As the play host to the Calgary Flames Sunday, the struggling Detroit Red Wings will welcome back the guy who was their hottest sniper before he was injured but Thomas Vanek doesn’t want to be portrayed as the heroic figure who is riding to their rescue on a white stallion.
“I’m not here to save anything,… said Vanek, who missed 11 games with a hip injury but it still tied for second on the team in goals with the four he scored in the seven games prior to his injury.
“Before when I first got here I felt like I could still play in this league and make my teammates better. That’s what good players can do and I feel like I’m still a good player.
“I’m not here to go out there and score three goals and try to be some kind of hero. Whoever I play with tonight, I’ll try to make those two better. And if they make me better, hopefully we have success as a line.…
The Wings, 2-7-1 in their last 10 games, haven’t enjoyed much success without Vanek. They scored 24 goals in the seven games with him in the lineup, an average of 3.43 goals per game. They’ve scored 18 goals in 11 games without him, an average of 1.64 goals per game.
Detroit coach Jeff Blashill didn’t want to put that sort of pressure or that level of expectation on the shoulders of Vanek.
“I don’t think it’s just one guy,… Blashill said. “He’s a talented player but we’ve got other talented players on our team that I think can step up and make plays at critical moments.
“If you think, the last two games they both came down to late goals at the end of the games where the other team made a play. We need to make those plays and we’ve got guys throughout our lineup that can do it. We need to do it.…
Watching from the sidelines while his teammates struggled hasn’t been easy on Vanek but he doesn’t believe that the Wings are far off the mark when it comes to turning things around.
“It’s never fun to be injured, never fun to watch,… Vanek said. “Obviously it’s especially harder to watch when the team is losing. “When you’re not playing games and the team is going good, it’s a lot easier. I’m looking forward to being back and hopefully start contributing again.
“Most of the games I don’t think we were outplayed by much. But what it is right now is too many guys are lacking a little confidence. This is a game about confidence. If you feel good about yourself you’re going to create more and score more goals.
“Right now I think that’s what we have to do, is create a little bit more, get some dirty goals. Then some guys will feel better about themselves and off we go.…
Vanek skated on a line with Frans Nielsen and Dylan Larkin at Sunday’s morning skate. Henrik Zetterberg was between Gus Nyquist and Anthony Mantha, while Riley Sheahan worked between Tomas Tatar and Justin Abdelkader. Luke Glendening dropped back from his spot alongside Nielsen and Larkin to fourth-line duty with Steve Ott and Drew Miller.
“I thought Glendening was excellent on the wing, playing with Nielsen, so we’ll have to monitor that and if we’re not getting enough forecheck pressure, enough won battles, then we’ll put him back up there,… Blashill said. “We’ll see. But I also think that can be a real good line.…
Vanek and Nielsen do have a history together from their time with the New York Islanders.
“I played with Fransie a little bit back on the Island,… Vanek said. “I know his game pretty well. Larks brings a lot of speed to the line.
“Hopefully we can find some chemistry early. Between Fransie and I we have a little bit of it and maybe somehow the two of us have to find it with Larks and use his speed for our advantage.…
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