On February 27th, Christian Djoos skated into the slot and lasered a shot over the shoulder of Chicago goaltender Malcolm Subban. Although the goal may have seemed nothing more than an insurance tally late in the second period, it was Detroit’s first power play goal in 41 opportunities, breaking a streak that had the 2021-21 Red Wings nearly in the history books. Since then, Detroit has gone 5/12 on the power play and has had a goal on the man advantage in every game.
Despite this turn of events, however, the Red Wings haven’t managed to translate this into wins. In those five games, they’ve gone 1-4 and have lost four in a row. Following the Djoos power play tally and 5-3 win against Chicago, Detroit has managed to score more than two goals per game just once in their most recent overtime loss to Tampa Bay. They still sit last in the league in goals for at 2.11 per game, and only a struggling Buffalo Sabres team has prevented them from dropping to the bottom of the standings.
5v5 goal scoring has continued to be a struggle for the Red Wings. At 1.92 per game, they’re just 29th overall. They also have the second least amount of High Danger Chances per 60, at 7.83, and the least amount of shot attempts per 60 at 48.15. In addition to their struggles to put the puck on net, Detroit has also been incredibly unlucky, with an ice on shooting percentage of 7.5 (2.2% below league value) and on ice save percentage of .890 (.013% below league value). Clearly, the team’s previous power play woes weren’t the driving force behind the poor record; although it didn’t help, the Red Wings’ overall struggles to score seem to reflect their 7-16-4 record.
At nearly the midpoint of the season, while a playoff spot is likely out of reach (Detroit sits 13 points behind fourth place in the Central), there are plenty of improvements to be made as the second half begins. Gaining captain Dylan Larkin back from injury will certainly help, as could the return of Tyler Bertuzzi, who’s been out since February 3rd with an upper-body injury. Former top prospect Filip Zadina has been heating up with four points in his last five games, and goaltender Jonathan Bernier has also played well as of late.
If the Red Wings can continue their hot streak on the power play, get their top players to produce, and find quality goaltending, coach Jeff Blashill, and general manager Steve Yzerman can build on positives from this 2020-21 season going forward. Adding in better quality shots, coupled with some luck, and the second half of the season should see fewer losing streaks and more building blocks for the rebuild.
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