Wings kick off West Coast swing Tonight
The Central Division has gotten off to a good start this hockey season. We’re barely 10% through the season so it’s too early to read too much into the standings. If the playoffs were to start today [heh] the Central would have three participants, with Detroit holding the #1 seed, Columbus at #4 and St. Louis at #6. I picked St. Louis to finish in second place in the division but I also picked the BJs to finish dead last. I also expected Nashville to have a bit of a dropoff but not to the level they’re playing at right now.
Here is a listing of each of the blogs that participated in the Central Division preview that was put together just prior to the start of the season.
Last year the Red Wings struggled with poor specialty teams play early in the season. Those units showed strong improvement as the season progressed, but it’s a good sign they are performing at a reasonably high level in this early part of the season. The team currently ranks 11th in power play success rate [20% conversion rate], and ranks 10th on the PK [84.5% success rate]. Columbus is ranked #1 and St. Louis is ranked #2 in penalty kill success rate which is likely playing a key role in their solid starts. Both teams have allowed 7 fewer goals than Detroit has allowed.
Here are the even-strength numbers for each of Detroit’s skaters.
| Player | Minutes | Goals For | Goals Allowed | EV +/- |
|
Henrik Zetterberg |
167:09 | 12 | 5 | +7 |
|
Pavel Datsyuk |
158:55 | 11 | 3 | +8 |
|
Tomas Holmstrom |
137:05 | 10 | 3 | +7 |
|
Mikael Samuelsson |
85:33 | 6 | 2 | +4 |
|
Jiri Hudler |
105:28 | 6 | 2 | +4 |
|
Valtteri Filppula |
140:34 | 3 | 1 | +2 |
|
Kris Draper |
140:58 | 5 | 7 | -2 |
|
Dan Cleary |
131:08 | 8 | 8 | 0 |
|
Dallas Drake |
51:08 | 1 | 6 | -5 |
|
Kirk Maltby |
107:28 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
|
Tomas Kopecky |
88:32 | 5 | 0 | +5 |
|
Matt Ellis |
52:34 | 5 | 0 | +5 |
|
Aaron Downey |
26:41 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
And here are the even-strength numbers for the blueliners:
| Player | Minutes | Goals For | Goals Allowed | EV +/- |
|
Nick Lidstrom |
193:45 | 13 | 3 | +10 |
|
Brian Rafalski |
188:09 | 9 | 5 | +4 |
|
Niklas Kronvall |
161:40 | 7 | 7 | 0 |
|
Andreas Lilja |
157:33 | 6 | 8 | -2 |
|
Brett Lebda |
145:58 | 9 | 3 | +6 |
|
Chris Chelios |
128:10 | 7 | 2 | +5 |
It’s going to be interesting to see how Mike Babcock handles Dallas Drake’s ice time. It sounds like the forward has been cleared to play tonight. But the fourth line of Aaron Downey-Matt Ellis-Tomas Kopecky has looked pretty good. Downey is +1 but both Ellis and Kopy are +5 and haven’t allowed an even-strength goal all season. However Drake hasn’t been on the ice for an even strength goal since he was moved down to the 4th line following the last game against Chicago.
If Drake plays I’d expect Downey to sit. Mike Babcock might also continue to give Tomas Kopecky some time on the second line. If that happens he could put both Downey and Drake on the fourth line but I’m not sure that’s such a hot idea. In that scenario I’d expect Hudler to get some time on the fourth line, where he was an offensive force last season. So I’m guessing it’s likely a decision between Drake or Downey to determine who plays and who gets scratched.
The third line has improved since Dan Cleary-Kris Draper-Kirk Maltby have been reunited. They’ve gone a combined +3 at even-strength since the game against Los Angeles. So the good sign right now is that the first, third and fourth lines are looking pretty solid. The second line is still a work in progress but is showing some signs of life.
Brett Lebda, after starting off slowly, has started to play well. In the first six games he was -2. Over the last five games he’s +8 at even-strength. Lebda hasn’t been on the ice for a goal against since the Calgary game. He’s been paired mostly with Cheli but has also gotten ice time with Brian Rafalski and Niklas Kronvall. I’ve been critical early on of Lebda’s play but he’s been very good of late, which bodes well for the Red Wings.
Gameday Posts
Matt over at On the Wings has his Gameday Post up. I obviously agree with him that if Drake is to replace anyone it will probably be Downey.
Hockey’s Future has their Gameday Thread up for tonight’s game. Red Wings Central’s Gameday Thread can be found here. And the Let’s Go Wings thread is up as well.
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[…] The data requires a little knowledge of each player’s role. Lids and Rafi play on the top unit and play in excess of 25 minutes per night, so their stats are legit. Lebda has performed very well of late on the third pairing alongside Chris Chelios. I took a brief look at his improved play in this post. Brett Lebda, after starting off slowly, has started to play well. In the first six games he was -2. Over the last five games he’s +8 at even-strength. Lebda hasn’t been on the ice for a goal against since the Calgary game. He’s been paired mostly with Cheli but has also gotten ice time with Brian Rafalski and Niklas Kronvall. I’ve been critical early on of Lebda’s play but he’s been very good of late, which bodes well for the Red Wings. […]