Power in Numbers
With the return of Niklas Kronwall and Brian Rafalski as well as the addition of Brad Stuart at the trade deadline the Red Wings have allowed 5 [ahem] make that 6 goals for a 2.00 GAA average. As impressive as that has been, it’s their anemic offense that has really started to come around. They’ve averaged 4 goals per game over the past two games. Both stats are indications of just how important the Red Wings blueliners are to the team’s success.
In the ten games prior to the San Jose game the Red Wings averaged less than 2 goals per game and gave up an averge of 3 goals per game. So while the defense is clearly better, the offense appears to be coming around, which makes sense as the Red Wings led the entire NHL in goals scored when their blueline was healthy. The addition of Nick Lidstrom will hopefully provide another boost to Detroit’s offensive and defensive play.
Secondary scoring - which took a hit during the team’s prolonged losing streak - has started to develop as well. Johan Franzen has scored two goals in two games, and Valtteri Filppula has scored two goals over the past four games. Heck how’s this for secondary scoring: Aaron Downey registered an assist on Brian Rafalski’s goal.
Back to back victories, coupled with a Dallas loss last night has pushed Detroit’s lead atop the NHL to 7 points. Nick Lidstrom is expected to be back in the lineup on Sunday and last night Ken Daniels and Mickey Redmond talked about how Dominik Hasek will get 2/3 of the starts for the remaining games in order to round into shape for the playoffs. Dan Cleary will be back at some point this month and Chris Chelios doesn’t seem to have a firm timetable for his return although it wouldn’t surprise me to see the Wings keep him out of the lineup for a little while to ensure he’s fresh for another playoff run.
Darren McCarty is due to join the team following the game against Nashville. I think it’s a safe bet he gets into a game at some point over the next three games so it will be interesting to see how that goes. Each of those games is at home so it is really going to be interesting to see what type of reception D-Mac gets. Based on what I’ve noticed the Joe seems to slowly but surely have larger crowds as the season has neared its end. McCarty has always been a crowd favorite so that is going to be quite the introduction I’m sure.
It will also help to have another gritty player on the ice. Last night David Backes tried to take out Mikael Samuelsson’s knee; Jeff Woytwika hit Tomas Kopecky in the face with a dirty hit far away from the play. There were 41 seconds left in the game. Brian Rafalski went after him but it sure would have been nice to have someone more suited to do the job on the ice.
After that fracas Mike Babcock put Downey on the ice given how much St. Louis had come unraveled. You’d think they’d be quite accustomed to losing by now. As soon as the puck was dropped three Blues players went after Downey. Downey didn’t seem to mind, as he was just out there to keep his teammates from getting run. I’m guessing he prefered having the attention drawn to him.
It sounds like Kopy is fine but it would be nice to be able to put Downey and/or McCarty out there when necessary.
Aaron Downey Brian Rafalski Darren McCarty Johan Franzen Red Wings st. louis blues Tomas Kopecky Valtteri Filppula3 Comments
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Aside from the game against LA, all the home February games were sold out. I know there weren’t many home games last month, but that was at least some improvement. Last night’s crowd wasn’t awful for a Wednesday night, but it was definitely a couple thousand short at least.
I just hope that when the playoffs come around, the Joe is rocking with a full crowd.
Christy,
That’s good to hear the games have had solid attendance. I noticed early in the year that there were a lot of empty seats, even in the lower bowl. I think the decision to lower ticket prices will help to improve attendance.
[…] Christy over at Behind the Jersey works for the Red Wings and has mentioned that the team sold out many of their games towards the end of the season. What’s the big difference between then and now? Well, besides the fact Detroit is one of only four teams left competing to win the Stanley Cup, ticket prices are much more expensive right now. […]