When You Are The HOTTEST Team In Hockey

When You Are The HOTTEST Team In Hockey

This is exactly how you bounce back after your coach lays into you from your season opening performance. The Detroit Red Wings are one of the hottest teams in hockey right now. Starting out their season with a 5-1 record and a five-game win streak. Since dropping that home opener to the Montreal Canadians, the Wings are playing with a completely different mindset, getting contributions from their stars, the depth, and perhaps the most surprising thing, much more respectable goalending and a much stronger defensive structure. But how sustainable is this unexpected start for Detroit? And who can step up to help keep this momentum going in the right direction in a very tight division this year? Well, let’s find out together. [Applause] Whenever I talk about Detroit, I like to start with a little anecdote. Hockey is better when the Red Wings are playing well. And I think we all can agree that right now, this is some of the best hockey that we’ve seen out of Detroit in quite some time. But that’s not why you clicked on this video. You want to know the facts. Why are the Red Wings having so much success to begin the year? And is this going to be sustainable through a long season? Well, over the next 10 to 15 minutes, sit back, get comfortable, as we are going to break down everything about the Detroit Red Wings through their first six games of the season. So, if you’ve been enjoying the content lately, toss this video a thumbs up, subscribe now, and let’s get right into today’s breakdown. After dropping game one of the season, Todd Mlen showed some early signs of frustration with his group. quote, “Fundamental hockey, hockey that you play in banttom, junior, American League, pro. You don’t give up twoon- ones. If the D is down, a forward covers. You managed a puck, you don’t turn it over.” He then followed that with another quote, saying, “The players will say they probably have already said to you, we can fix this when it’s time. Some of them have been doing it for years. It’s time.” And Mlullen was on point because in the first game defensively the Wings were picked apart. Oddman rushes, ineffective forch check, goalending not making the necessary stops, it was the typical Red Wings hockey that we’ve become accustomed to seeing. The type that is not sustainable through a long season and the type that will keep you out of the postseason. So big props to Mlen for calling his team out, but even bigger props to the players for responding and actually stepping up. Over the next five games, the Wings looked like a completely different team. From more puck aggression, better defensive structure, all the way to an offense that finally found its traction. So, let’s start by going through some of the numbers for this team. Right now, the Red Wings offense is in a good spot. They are averaging 3.33 goals for per game, and they have a success rate of 22.2% on the power play, ranking them 13th in the league. On the defensive side, they’re allowing fewer shots and blocking a lot more, which has led to even better goalending numbers with Detroit averaging a .907 save percentage between their two guys and a 2.33 goals against average, which actually ranks them sixth in the league right now. And keep in mind, this is all against some pretty serious competition, not some bottom dwellers. They’ve played against Toronto twice, Montreal, Edmonton, Florida, Tampa Bay. These are some of the top teams in the league right now. So, for the Red Wings to have this great of production against some pretty talented squads, I think that that says a lot about this team. However, something that’s also worth mentioning here is that the Red Wings have played five out of their six first games at home. And typically, when we look back at their records in the past, they aren’t exactly the best team when they aren’t playing in their own barn. And we’ll talk more about their road record in a minute, but I want to dig in on some individual players who I feel have really stood out through the first handful of games of the season. I would be crazy to not start with Dylan Larkin since he has been playing lights out right now. 11 points in six games played, two goals and two assists for four points against their last game with the Oilers. He drives their offensive play and is easily their best player by a wide margin. I think oftentimes Dylan Larkin because they’re not in the postseason gets overlooked. But just look back at last year, he’s still putting up good numbers, had an incredible Four Nations tournament, and it seems like he is on a mission this year to prove that the Red Wings are a postseason team. And so far so good because his hot start has been a big reason for their success. Another guy we need to talk about for the Red Wings who’s been a bit of a surprise this year has been their rookie EMTT Finny. He had a great game against the Oilers, a goal and two assists, and has provided this team with an additional spark that I think they really needed within their lineup. I think the key to this team is always going to be if they can get depth in their offense because I love their top six, but in the past they’ve been pretty streaky. I think that Dylan Lin, he’s solid. And of course, Lucas Raymond has always been consistent, but Patrick Kane with him being up there in age, you now have James Van Remsteike, you’re not sure exactly how much production you’re going to get from him at points in the season. And even Alex de Brinket at times, while he can be one of the better goal scorers in this league, he tends to dry up at certain points, especially on the road for some reason. So getting contributions from guys like Finny, Appleton, and even having some of your defenseman step up to contribute offensively is going to be key for this team. And so far, I’ve really liked how they’ve structured their lineup. And I love the system that Mlen is putting out there where he’s prioritizing defense, but not allowing it to stump their offense. I think it’s worked out really well so far and that’s kind of where I want to lead into this next thing because I think their defense has been underrated and often times chirped for some of the names that they have in their lineup. Now to start the season, I wasn’t impressed with the Red Wings blue line. With guys like Justin Hullstone in the lineup, I actually thought it was going to be a weak point for this team. But with Todd McClullen’s past of being a very defensive-minded head coach and now the team allowing some of the younger guys to play significant minutes like Simone Edmonson and Sandine Pelica, I think that their blue line has looked a lot more competent this year and it’s allowed more reder to play with a little bit more freedom knowing that there’s a respectable group behind him and that he doesn’t have to carry this team’s defense all season long. And I think having more respectable goalending play has also helped with this because you have now Talbot and Gibson in net, two guys who are experienced, they know how to play the game, but they can be inconsistent at times. So making sure that your defense is in a good place and that that is the biggest priority for this team is what’s going to allow them to keep the success up and not fall into old habits like they have in the past. Now, this is how we’re going to be able to determine if this team is going to be able to sustain the success. They have to play well on these next two road trips. Like I mentioned at the top of the video, their first six games, they’ve played five at home. And now they have a soft road trip to play Buffalo and the New York Islanders, one game at home, and then a really difficult and long West Coast road trip. And I think if they can somehow go a little bit above 500 in these games, maybe win the first two games against Buffalo and the Islanders and drop a few on that second West Coast trip, maybe I’ll feel a little bit more confident with this team. We all know that role players and the power play is exceptionally better at home for a lot of different teams and on the road it’s usually a little bit more difficult and the Red Wings have been one of those victims to that. Their role players just don’t step up and heck even at times their stars go dry whenever they are not in their own barn. So for me to be able to determine if this team is going to be successful I need a larger sample size and I need to see them in different situations. Am I confident in their goalending right now? They don’t really have a clear starter and their goalending tandem’s a little bit older. So, can they sustain this through the season and keep up sixth in goals against average and what was it? Ninth or 10th in save percentage? I’m not confident in that right now. Are they going to be able to find their offense on the road? And can Mlullen’s call out really keep that momentum all year long? We’re going to have to see. But so far so good from the Red Wings. I think their top six is overproducing. I think their depth is finally stepping in and we’re seeing a much more competent and complete Red Wings team than we’ve seen, I guess, over the past nine seasons if you want to compare it to all of those years. But all right, so I forgot to do this in my initial recording, but I have a few comments that I want to read off from the last video where we talked about the sort of demise of the Buffalo Sabres. And obviously things have turned around, but a few of these comments still I feel are relevant to the conversation. So, the first one comes from at nope nope. Maybe I’m just reading that wrong. Just nope, nope, nope, I guess. Uh 131, who says, “I knew things were horrible when last year Cage Thompson got absolutely throttled by an opposing player. No idea who or in which game. None of his teammates came to his defense. Couldn’t believe it. I don’t think he ever complained about it, but it was kind of shocking. Yeah, definitely an interesting situation then, but I do think that uh this turnaround is going to be important for them how they conduct themselves as a team. Whether or not they stick up for each other over these next stretch of games, I think that’s going to be key when we’re watching this team. But so far, they’ve looked a lot better since their three-game slump. And I’m expecting them to turn things around at least a little bit after all of that. This next one comes from at the Henry Duong who says, “Remember this team once had Eel, O’Reilly, and Reinhardt as their one to three centers and couldn’t make the playoffs. These guys all won cups together after leaving. Yeah, I think that’s the biggest stain on this Buffalo team. They draft so well. They do such a great job acquiring players, but they just can’t retain them for whatever reason. Whether that’s an surgery thing or teams just having their players lose interest like what happened with O’Reilly. It it happens all the time, but with Buffalo, it’s way too common of an occurrence. And I think that that’s ultimately what has hurt this organization through this long playoff drought. And the last comment comes from ToddMcf202 who said, “I don’t expect them to make the playoffs, but they didn’t look terrible against Ottawa.” That said, “As a Hurricanes fan, I can’t help but notice that they do sort of coast around. The lack of intensity is evident. Yes, I agree for the first couple of games, but in their uh recent few wins like that one against Florida, I think they played with a lot of heart, and I think if Lindy Ruff can sort of get this team to play a little bit tougher in each of their matchups, then they’re actually going to be okay. and maybe, who knows, they could get into the playoffs. Obviously, the Atlantic is very tight this year, but there have been some teams that haven’t exactly started off great, like the Bruins, who fell off after their uh 3 0 start and are now 3 and four. So, we’ll have to see how everything plays out. But, good on Buffalo for responding to all of the criticism, even coming from me. I think that they they definitely have done a good job with that. But, this is my breakdown of the Red Wings. Got to say, this is the most impressed I’ve been with them in quite some time. I think Mlullen has done a great job with this group and is finally getting them to play complimentary competent hockey. So, let me know what you guys think in the comments below. Do you think that this success is sustainable? And how big do you think this road trip is going to be for the rest of this team season? I also have a few other pieces of content for you guys to check out on the screen right here. So, be sure to do that after this one. And again, thank you guys so much for watching and supporting the channel. I will see you in the next upload.

The Detroit Red Wings are the hottest team in hockey right now winning their fifth straight game of the season. Following a brutal opening game loss and a public call out from head coach Todd Mclellan, Detroit has since not lost a game, and currently sit a top The Atlantic Division. But how sustainable is this win streak? And do the Red Wings have enough to finally get back into the playoffs after 9 seasons of missing the postseason? Well let’s find out together! Subscribe to Jimmy Hockey for more NHL News and Breakdowns.

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