Red Wings Regroup after West Coast Flop
The Red Wings went 1-3 on their recent West Coast road trip. The team won their first game against Los Angeles but were dominated by San Jose and Anaheim, and a 3rd period collapse resulted in a loss to Edmonton on Saturday night. If there is one good thing that can come from these road games it could be that Scotty Bowman traveled with the team in order to help diagnose what needs to be done to improve the level of play.
As far as what ails the team, those things seem to be fairly obvious. The most glaring shortcomings are the power play and the penalty kill. In previous years Detroit has been amongst the league leaders in both special teams categories. This year Detroit ranks 27th in terms of PP success rate and 24th in the PK. So it will be up to head coach Mike Babcock and Bowman to determine what it will take to get the special teams back on track. If Detroit can improve their PP success rate to 20% and their PK to 90%, that would put the team back amongst the league leaders and more importantly it will give them a much better chance at winning games. Here are the games they have lost but would have had a chance to win if they performed at a higher level:
Anaheim: 2-2 (at least one point)
San Jose: 2-2 (at least one point)
Buffalo: 3-1 (two points)
Vancouver: 3-1 (two points)
In two of those games you still might lose (Anaheim and San Jose) but even if you lost in OT you gain a point. So the ramifications of improving special teams play are the bottom line of winning and losing games. The Wings have lost out on the opportunity to gain 6 points due this. So this is one of the key things to watch over the upcoming games.
Another big difference with the team is the style of play. Everyone associated with the organization has expressed the need for the team to alter its style of play from being a puck possession team to being a team that is more geared towards playing a defensive style of play and an ability to play dump and chase to gain the offensive zone. Mike Babcock was hired by Red Wings General Manager Ken Holland due to the fact the management realized the puck possession style of play hadn’t been successful during previous playoff years and possibly also due to the fact the new salary cap wouldn’t allow the Wings to replenish their skill level with players who could effectively fit into that style of play. Puck possession requires players with high skating and passing skills and excellent vision, and those players tend to be highly valued and demand big contracts.
This team is having mixed results moving on from being exclusively a puck possession team. When playing a puck possession game, you limit the shots your opponent can take by holding onto the puck. It is similar to the type offense University of Michigan football head coach Lloyd Carr likes to play. In football your success level is determined by your time of possession, the number of drives your opponent has, and how many points you give up. In hockey it is determined by the amount of time your opponent spends in your defensive zone, the number of shots you allow and the number of goals you allow.
The defensive style of play has been successful in limiting the shots on goal. Last season Detroit allowed just over 23 shots per game on goal while exclusively playing a puck possession game. This season they are currently allowing 21 shots per game on goal. This is particularly impressive when you consider just how many more penalties the Red Wings are committing this year. So this is one area where there has been an improvement in the style of play. With that being said, they are giving up slightly more goals per game than they gave up last season. Last year they allowed 2.5 goals per game during the regular season. Right now they are allowing 2.6. If the penalty kill was performing at a higher level there is no question the goals against average would be below last year’s average.
The Red Wings have gotten off to a slow start, which has been punctuated by bad losses to San Jose and Anaheim. In watching a number of games I think there are some shortcomings that are understandable and others that really are not.
Detroit should be expected to take more penalties as they change their style of play. By giving the opposition more time with the puck (a necessary consequence of going away from a philosophy that puts a premium on possessing the puck) and by emphasizing play that requires a more aggressive defensive posture, you can only expect the team to commit more penalties. It’s a price you simply have to pay. With that being said, the coaching staff needs to reward players who can excel at playing this style, which includes not taking bad penalties.
However it’s difficult to explain why the power play and the penalty kill are as bad as they have been up to this point. With a man advantage the Wings should be able to gain the offensive zone, regardless if they do so by bringing the puck across the blue line or dumping it into a spot and having the forwards get to that spot to gain possession of the puck. If the Wings can solve their problems with special teams play the improved defensive play will become even more apparent.
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[…] The Red Wings are guaranteed at least a split on their west coast swing, which is an improvement over last year’s disastrous road trip that saw the team go 1-3. The only real concern at this point is the poor performance in Anaheim, but given what a penalty-fest that contest was I think it’s best not to read too much into that game. […]