Welcome to the latest edition of Detroit Red Wings two truths and a lie.

Lie: Red Wings Have Turned a New Leaf:

The Detroit Red Wings won five out of six games after getting booed off the ice in the home opener this year. Fans and media responded to coach Todd McLellan calling the team out after the home opener, and seemingly, so did the team. However, Detroit’s now lost two games in a row and looks much more similar to the team that had the boo birds singing, where the Red Wings won a few games in a row and then seemed to lose energy and squander just as many games over the next two weeks.

The Red Wings centennial uniforms are ART 🔥🎨

(via @NHL) pic.twitter.com/V1zjEur1Jx

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 9, 2025

The March slump is dreaded and almost expected with this team now. Last season, the team went 41-32-9. If you’re treating all losses equally, that means they were exactly .500 on the season. Last October, the team went 4-5-1 under Derek Lalonde. It’s yet to be seen if coach McLellan will keep this group above .500 to start the first month of the season.

Truth: Larkin a Man on a Mission:

Dylan Larkin has six goals and seven assists through the first eight games of the season. The Red Wings captain is the most veteran player in the Red Wings organization in terms of service with the team. Nationally, he’s quietly proven himself to be one of the better centers in the league. The early output could help smooth some of the bumps this team faces along the road. Larkin is tied for second in the NHL in points at 13, behind only Jack Eichel of Vegas. Last season, he had 70 points, good for third on the team. Ahead of him were Lucas Raymond and Alex DeBrincat.

You can always count on Dylan Larkin for a big celly 🙌 https://t.co/xvB53NoblI pic.twitter.com/taTopuREg3

— NHL (@NHL) October 18, 2025

With injury putting Patrick Kane on the sidelines, the pressure is on for DeBrincat to get on the scoresheet. So far this year, DeBrincat has seven assists but no goals. If the Red Wings want to improve from last year, truly, they will need more production from their lower lines when Larkin isn’t on ice. Be that from self-improvement or another change to the lineup.

Truth: Rookies Setting the Tone.

While Michael Brandsegg-Nygard is yet to find the back of the net, he and the Red Wings rookies have been making their presence felt throughout the lineup. Brandsegg-Nygard did find his first point in the Wings’ stomping by the Islanders, but his biggest impact has been off the usual box score. The 20-year-old forward has 26 hits on the year. Following closely with 21 hits is Emmitt Finnie. Finnie leads the team’s rookies in points, with three goals and four assists. The surprise of the offseason for many, Finnie has been playing on the top line. So far, he hasn’t made himself look out of place, even when he’s playing alongside some of the lineup’s more veteran players.

Meanwhile, Axel Sandin-Pellikka is having the roughest go of it, at least on paper. The blueliner scored his first goal on October 17, but for the season, he stands at minus-7 in plus/minus. However, the scoresheets don’t always tell the whole story. Sandin-Pellikka is averaging nearly 19 minutes a night so far this season. He has been seeing plenty of time on both the power play and the penalty kill. That’s a lot of responsibility for a player who still can’t legally drink a beer in a country he’s yet to live in for a year. Fans will certainly have patience for the young defenseman to find his footing. Still, both he and the team will need to get back on a more positive track.