The Detroit Red Wings have lost six consecutive games (0-5-1). For any team, this would be bad–but from a franchise that’s made the playoffs for the last 20 years, and have recorded 100+ point seasons for the past 11–it’s unheard of.
At the moment, they’re 13th in the West and on pace for just 82 points. What’s changed so much from the team that started 5-0-0 and were the second last team in the NHL to lose in regulation? Well, nothing.
In fact, they’ve gotten better. Through five games, the eye-opener was that they had allowed just seven goals against, a stellar improvement after last season’s 23rd best goals allowed rank.
After a brutal 7-1 loss at the hands of the Capitals–at the time, a battle of the last two remaining undefeated teams–and now, everything has changed. F Henrik Zertterberg, for one, remains without an answer:
“It’s amazing, actually. We were 5-0 and feeling pretty good about ourselves and doing good things and then…”
“Um. It’s a different team.”
Now, the team can’t seem to keep the puck out of the net–or put it in. They ranked second in scoring last season at 3.13 goals per game; but have scored only six goals the past six games.
All of Detroit’s stars seem to be struggling the most. Zetterberg has two goals and four points in nine games and has a minus-6 rating. During the losing skid, he has one goal, two points and is a minus-8. F Pavel Datsyuk has no goals, four points and a minus-6 rating during this losing streak. Despite being one of the most talented two-way players in the game and a three-time winner of the Selke Trophy as the NHL’s best defensive forward, his lack of production is shocking, as are his uncharacteristic turnovers and sloppy puck control.
F Dan Cleary, coming off a career-high 26 goals last season, didn’t get his first until Thursday night. F Todd Bertuzzi has only one goal this season. As you continue to go down the list, the struggles continue.
Detroit has had bad losing skids before–last March, they went 1-2-2 on a five-game homestand, including a pathetic 10-3 loss to the Blues. And still, they came back from a 3-0 series deficit to finish within a game of the Western Conference Finals. Often times, you can point the finger at injuries, or even sheer boredom from placing so well in the regular season for so many years.
Given that head coach Mike Babcock preaches early-season success in order to pad the lead and make life easier down the road–they started 17-4-2 last season–there’s no excuse for the slump. Everyone’s healthy and ready to play, and the season is very young.
“I don’t have an answer for you…It’s a hard game when you can’t score. Right now we can’t score,” said GM Ken Holland.
Detroit did lose a lot this offseason, though. F Kris Draper, F Mike Modano, G Chris Osgood and D Brian Rafalski were all lost to retirement. Draper, Modano and Osgood were depth players at the end of their careers, but all three were veteran leaders on and off the ice. Draper and Osgood remain with the team in office positions, but the value they bring to the dressing room can never be matched. Rafalski, while aging and succumbing to injury, was D Nicklas Lidstrom’s defence partner, creating a massive void to fill. D Ian White was signed as his replacement, and while he started off great with two goals, three points and a plus-5 rating during the five-game winning streak, he has just one assist and a minus-4 rating since.
While the Wings got weaker, teams in the West got stronger. The Jackets acquired F Jeff Carter, the Kings got F Mike Richards, the Sharks acquired D Brent Burns. The list goes on.
“It is still a lot of games left, but you have to break out of a slump like this. You have to come out and face the adversity and come out on top, and that’s something we haven’t done yet,” said Lidstrom.
Another possible thing that could be weighing on their mind are the coaching changes. Gone are Paul MacLean, who became the head coach of the Senators, and Brad McCrimmon, who left to lead Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the KHL, but was tragically killed in the team’s plane crash this September. Two seasoned veterans, with NHL and coaching experience, are out the door. In come Bill Peters (AHL) and Jeff Blashill (NCAA), neither of which have any NHL experience. As such, the special teams has not taken notice. The Wings rank 19th on the powerplay (15.6) and 23rd in penalty killing (77.8)–four of the Wings’ seven power-play goals have come 5-on-3. They’re 5-for-40 (12.5%) otherwise.
In all fairness, the last time the Wings dropped six in a row was February of 2008–that same season, they won the Stanley Cup. Babcock said,
“We hadn’t given up anything, so that part’s puzzling.
They outshot their opponent in each of their past five losses. “I don’t think you can go through any of these games and say, ‘Geez, we’re getting outplayed.’ That’s not the case. But we’re not winning.”
Detroit is re-shuffling lines and pairings, trying to create a spark. Separating Zetterberg and Datsyuk is nothing new and actually happens fairly often. But by constantly trying to score, the team will keep overcompensating, generating errors and turnovers in their own zone and causing more harm than good. Sticking to their bread-and-butter, which is basic hockey for them, will pull the team out of their current funk.
It’s not time to panic yet. This franchise is the model of consistency–they’ve made the playoffs for 20 consecutive seasons, and have recorded 100+ points in 11 straight. They’ve won four Cups since 1997. Eventually, the magnificent run that this team has put together will die out. After all, all good things must come to an end. That end, however, is not now. Not while Lidstrom is still a Norris Trophy winner. Not while Datsyuk and Zetterberg are among the best two-way forwards in the NHL.
This season, they’ve lost three games essentially by one goal: 4-2 to the Sharks after an empty-netter, then 1-0 and 2-1 to the Wild. They outshot the Flames through two periods Thursday night, 19-10, but still trailed, 2-1. Plus, they outshot their opponent in each of their past five losses. Eventually, those bad bounces/bad luck will run out, and the team will by clicking on all cylinders like they usually are.
“We’re good enough in here to figure it out, and we have to stick together and believe in ourselves and keep going. It’s still early. We still have time,” said Zetterberg.
The first few weeks of the season can play some weird tricks–just as the Maple Leafs–but eventually, the universe finds mysterious ways to right the wrong and correct itself.