Detroit Red Wings defeat Carolina Hurricanes: What We Observed
Game 2 of 56
Result: CAR 2 @ DET 4
DET Record: 1-1-0
Season Series Against CAR: 1-1-0
Red Wings Beat Hurricanes, 4-2
After a disappointing season opener against the Hurricanes, Detroit bounced back just like they needed to and beat the Hurricanes 4-2. The offense, which was all but non-existent in the first game, managed to put 3 goals past Mrazek who pitched a shutout on Thursday with an empty-net goal to boot.
Captain Dylan Larkin did exactly what he needed to do, leading by example (and in ice-time) and earning two goals in the contest. Newcomer Bobby Ryan, making his season debut, also had a fairly strong game, scoring Detroit's first goal of the game (and season).
The Good:
Bobby Ryan's goal is a promising start. I've been optimistic to place him in the 0.5 points per game range and would be pleasantly surprised if he could exceed that. He showed immediate chemistry with Zadina and Fabbri. If Fabbri can get his act together as a center, they could form a formidable second forward group behind Larkin, Mantha, and Bertuzzi.
Zadina was Detroit's third star of the game but clearly should have been first. Bobby Ryan's goal to open the game and Fabbri's eventual game-winning goal were both set up by Zadina. Neither were coincidental assists.
Both involved puck battles, puck possession, and beautifully placed passes to an open player in front of the net for a quick shot behind former Wings goaltender Petr Mrazek. Zadina was easily the best player of the game last night to me, shift after shift.
Aside from Staal (expected), the defense was actually fairly strong last night. There were more than a few moments where the team was hemmed into their own zone but shots weren't getting through as easily as in the past. Defensemen we're winning puck battles.
Especially impressive was Stecher, who continued his showing of skating and accountability in the defensive end. He's an early candidate for best free-agent pickup of the off-season.
Bernier, like Greiss in game one, had a solid showing. There weren't any game-stealing saves but his solid work played no small part in Detroit winning the game against a much better Carolina squad.
The Bad:
As much as I hate giving Blashill given the tools he has to work with, especially this early in the season, I still have grievances with lineup choices being made. Brome, who was a stand out star in game one, spent most of the evening paired with Luke Glendening and Adam Erne. I understand the concept of "trying to spread the offense", but at the end of the day Erne doesn't seem to be very reliable for production and we all know and love Glendening for what he is, and that's not an offensive producer. Taking Nielsen out of the lineup for Ryan was a step in the right direction but Brome was the wrong player to move down to take his spot.
The first power-play unit consistently featuring Larkin, Mantha, Bertuzzi, and Ryan was a mess once again. They soaked up the majority of ice time on the power play but were vastly outperformed by the second unit.
I'm going to put this in bad or ugly every recap until it gets done: Please send Adam Erne to the taxi squad for Rasmussen or Smith. Erne gets promoted from "Ugly" to "Bad" this time around due to his physical play and a few attempts at producing offense.
At the end of the day, however, Erne's physicality had no impact on the play in question, and his attempt at offense registered ZERO shots. You can't relegate Brome to his line to spark an offense that apparently doesn't exist.
The Ugly:
The Rangers being willing to shell out a second-round pick to move one single year of Marc Staal's salary off the books is starting to make a whole lot more sense. Through both games, he's made a plethora of mistakes and has frequently been out of position.
He's lost an abundance of puck battles as well. If that's worthy of a roster spot on the defense despite other options being available in the taxi squad (Cholowski?) then I would have rather kept Jonathan Ericsson. Come on now.
The team play is still not where it needs to be. Missed passes, passes through skates, and a whole lot of individual efforts resulting in nothing stand out. Larkin's first goal was an exception given two lucky bounces beating Mrazek, but there were plenty more individual efforts when teammates were available for better plays.
Anthony Mantha needs to find some consistency when it comes to effort and skating. Oftentimes Mantha could be found watching the play or simply coasting into position and hoping for the best while Tyler Bertuzzi and Dylan Larkin put in the work.
If Mantha can't pick it up despite the brand new contract, it could be time to swap him and Zadina to see if Baby Z could possibly make better use of ice time with Larkin.
Red Wings Game Two Summary
A win is a win, but there's still work to be done. I don't think anyone (reasonable) expected Detroit to come out this season as a playoff team, but it's a fair expectation for the team we love to play to their fullest potential. Is Detroit going to make the playoffs? More than likely: No. Is Detroit going to even make the 0.500 marks by the end of the season? Again, more than likely: No.
But there are simple fixes to make the team better. There are minor details that, when adjusted, will make Detroit a blast to watch even when they can't manage to pick up the "W". Learning your linemates and correcting the placement of passes is a big first step that will lead to more excitement and more offense.
The only category of the team that was truly satisfied through two games thus far was the goaltending. The power play needs work. The penalty kill needs work. The offense needs work. The defense needs work. There aren't going to be any changes made this season that will make Detroit a contender but there are moves to make and things to try to make them a much harder team to play against and more of a delight for the fans.
Onto the Blue Jackets and always;
#LGRW
