Pulling the goalie is statistically the right play.

According to my rough back-of-the-envelope math, pulling the goalie with 2-3 minutes to play roughly doubles your chances of tying the game and getting to OT versus playing it out at 5-on-5.

It also quadruples your chances of giving up a goal, but who cares if you lose in regulation by 1 or by 2? A loss is a loss.
- Sven22

It's not like i am against pulling the goalie when down by one normally, it just doesn't work for the Wings this season at all and just gives the opponent an easy goal. Down by two i don't care for it much at all. Maybe if they are dominating play for a while going into the last few minutes of the game it makes sense but that is rarely the case with the Wings this season when Blashill is pulling the goalie.

It's not like i am against pulling the goalie when down by one normally, it just doesn't work for the Wings this season at all and just gives the opponent an easy goal. Down by two i don't care for it much at all. Maybe if they are dominating play for a while going into the last few minutes of the game it makes sense but that is rarely the case with the Wings this season when Blashill is pulling the goalie.
- dcz28

So if you are down by 2 and as a team you struggle to score, your preference is just to play it out 5 on 5 and basically give up. Because you don't want to give the opponent an easy goal and lose by 3. That's basically your stance.

I bet every player in that room would rather go down with a fight. We all know the odds are low. But you still take that chance. And maybe that process helps those players develop. The objective isn't simply to make a heroic comeback, but maybe there is more to learn in those game moments. You challenge your players. I recall being down 7-0 going into the 3rd (junior AA) and our coach passionately challenged us to win a period. Show me what you are made of. We lost 8-2. And then celebrated. Maybe you never played competitively so think it's better to just lose by 2...

It's not like i am against pulling the goalie when down by one normally, it just doesn't work for the Wings this season at all and just gives the opponent an easy goal. Down by two i don't care for it much at all. Maybe if they are dominating play for a while going into the last few minutes of the game it makes sense but that is rarely the case with the Wings this season when Blashill is pulling the goalie.
- dcz28

Yeah, I mean this year the numbers definitely are ugly. But that's probability for you. Overreacting to small samples is why bad coaches lose more games over the long run (and why bad gamblers go bankrupt faster).

If you look at the last three years combined, Detroit has scored 15 goals with six skaters on the ice, which is tied for sixth most in the NHL over that timeframe. They've also coughed up the most (43), but to be honest neither of those figures are surprising considering that Detroit, for most of that timespan, has been a bad but relatively low-event team that's very frequently trailing by 1 or 2 late in games.

I get that giving up an ENG is emotionally deflating and the Red Wings sure have given up a boatload this year (17 already in 47 games) but I think not even being given the chance when trailing by 1 or 2 and losing anyway would be even more deflating for players.

Yeah, I mean this year the numbers definitely are ugly. But that's probability for you. Overreacting to small samples is why bad coaches lose more games over the long run (and why bad gamblers go bankrupt faster).

If you look at the last three years combined, Detroit has scored 15 goals with six skaters on the ice, which is tied for sixth most in the NHL over that timeframe. They've also coughed up the most (43), but to be honest neither of those figures are surprising considering that Detroit, for most of that timespan, has been a bad but relatively low-event team that's very frequently trailing by 1 or 2 late in games.

I get that giving up an ENG is emotionally deflating and the Red Wings sure have given up a boatload this year (17 already in 47 games) but I think not even being given the chance when trailing by 1 or 2 and losing anyway would be even more deflating for players.
- Sven22

Treat it like a "practice", to gain experience in those situations. If you tie the game and win in OT, (like against Buffalo) it gives confidence to your team and inspires better play further down the road. Besides, pulling the goalie is just part of the game now.

Read an update on the Wings pipeline. It seems that there will soon be a log jam at LD within the system and still not certain when any will graduate to the NHL. Wings prospects at C are several years out. It seems obvious that Stevie will have to strengthen LD at the NHL level (at the top and depth) and Center (2nd and depth) and find a BU goalie before next season. Thinking that some of depth at LD can be traded for better Centers from a team like LA that has excessive center depth and not much at LD. Would really like to see that translate into Turcott coming this way!

After Verbeek, Shawn Horcoff will fill those spots, introduced today as the team’s newest assistant general manager and general manager of the Grand Rapids Griffins.