Hi everybody and welcome to Episode 22 of Season 2 of Red Wings Rant hosted by the Brothers of Discussion and brought to you by the Hockey Podcast Network.  Where tirades and impassioned pleas about your Detroit Red Wings, finally, have a home.

The Red Wings get another regulation win over the Discover Central Division Leading Florida Panthers. This, of course, coming after a 7-2 loss to the Panthers the night before.

We also have Ken Kal, the Detroit Red Wings radio announcer on tap to discuss his career, how prep for games has changed during the rebuild, and what Ken sees as a timetable for a winning team!

We also play everyone’s favorite game: Who’s That Pokémon! And we open up the floor to questions from YOU!

Red Wings turn 180-degree performances on Back-to-Back with Panthers

One night was filled with sadness and misfortune. The next night (while not completely void of somber voices)  was a joyous celebration.

First off, our thoughts are with the family of Sergei Tchekmarev. It’s clear after all of the heartfelt well wishes that Sergei meant more to this team than we would have ever sufficiently given credit.

But surely, the win the Wings earned Saturday Night could be attributed to the same level of heart and care it was said Cheeka brought and provided to the Red Wings for twenty seasons. 

That heart and care could be seen in the celebration of Mathias Brome’s first goal. As Dylan Larkin and Brome’s teammates shared in the jubilation and glee coming from the release of nearly two months of frustration for Brome.

You could see the same level of passion that Cheeka was said to bring to the arena when Glendening and Anthony Mantha went after Panthers on separate occasions.

And now, with a victory in hand, Cheeka’s favorite pastime of a hot tub and a cold beer can be shared by Wings’ players and fans alike!

But before the Wings could celebrate, they had to stomach sixty minutes of torture on Friday Night. While the Wings could barely get a shot a net, the Panthers could do no wrong. SO what went wrong?

Game One vs Panthers

Red Wings Stats

• 10-1 Giveaway

• 44.83 CF%

  • Won the second period

  • Panthers played a game of ‘keep away’ in the first (36.67% for DET)

• 41.83% xGF%

  • 2nd most xGA since game two of the season

  • 4th highest xGF game of the season

  • Basically, the Red Wings didn’t play their game. Limit events on either side of the puck

• Geiss 5-on-5

  • 1.20 xGA

  • 4 GA - 2 High Danger 2 Medium Danger

This one is easy to dissect because the Red Wings simply did not play well. They didn’t fight to win the puck battles, as pointed out by Nielsen: "This just isn't acceptable," Red Wings center Frans Nielsen said. "I thought we were starting to figure out what it takes to win, but we were losing 1-on-1 battles all over the ice."

More than that, the Wings were letting go of the strategy that had helped keep games close all season: low event hockey. The Red Wings xGA on the 5-on-5 play was the second most xGA they had allowed all season.

And while the Wings were down by a ton, quickly, they also tried to play more opens to attempt to catch up. This is what led to the Wings amassing their 4th most xGF for an entire game, but it’s also what helped lead to their 10-1 deficit in giveaways.

But worst of all, the one constant on the Wings’ roster (despite not being anywhere near league-wide leaderboards) is the goaltending. Thomas Greiss, who had taken a bulk of the responsibility after Jonathan Bernier had been out, was playing well enough for the Wings to win, for quite a stretch.

That being said, Greiss does only have one win this year. But it hasn’t been due to a lack of effort. And don’t get us wrong, we aren’t saying Greiss was lacking any effort in the 7-2 loss to the Panthers. It just looked like the workload and law of averages were attempting to catch up, all in one period.

Greiss’s only period of play saw an Expected Goals Against of 1.20, but Greiss was in the negative in regards to ‘actuals’ with 4 goals getting past the pipes. Greiss ended the nights with a save percentage of .692. Pushing his season totals down to .891 SV% and his GAA up to 3.16.

All in all, nothing went right and we aren’t holding this game against Greiss or blaming him either. Just was a game that was the perfect storm of negativity.

Game Two vs Panthers

• Bernier turns in Bern-Yay

  • xGA 2.42

  • 5-on-5 shutout 

  • 1 PP goal

  • 38 saves

• Brome scores

  • Rebound off of Larkin’s play

  • Brome credits coaching and getting to the front of the net

  • .25 ixG

• Darren Helm wasn’t terrible on the first line

  • Led in iCF (6) ixG (.29) iHDCF (2)

  • 1 hit, 5 shots

  • Larkin, Helm, Mantha lead all lines with xGF (.37)

• Overall, the Panthers played a better game

  • Possession win, 53.06%

  • Expected Goals, 54.18%

This game was about Jonathan Bernier, but he will be overshadowed by Mathias Brome’s first goal for the rest of eternity. Partially because we all hope this is the result Brome needed to turn everything around, but also because he’s done everything the right way so far. The bounces just haven’t played along. 

But what can’t be ignored is that the Florida Panthers had their way with the Red Wings for a second straight game. Winning both the possession battle and expected goals battle against the Red Wings (recently) is difficult to do, considering their chosen strategy of limiting events.

As poorly as that strategy was executed in game one of this back-to-back series, the Red Wings didn’t fare much better in game two. And this was especially true in the 3rd period when the Panthers won the expected goals battle with an xGF% of 75% and took 100% of the High Danger Chances. Despite all of that, it was Bernier who prevailed and deservedly won the ‘1st Star of the Game’.

And if you thought Brome was going to overshadow Bernier’s performance, just wait until you try to remember who got the Red Wing’s first goal of the game. That’s right, Patrick Nemeth put one in and it was right after he missed a juicy opportunity, minutes before.

It was Nemeth’s goal that helped wake the Red Wings up and help them push the puck for the rest of the 2nd period. And lest we forget another point, this was also Nemeth’s first goal of the season.

So the Red Wings didn’t turn the best effort (which we’ve been applauding them for doing over the last few weeks), but getting results does feel a heck of a lot better than those good efforts.

Red Wings Rant Interview Ken Kal

As we stumble through the rest of the season with the Red Wings, we are happy to bring on your favorite names and voices in Hockey to rant and discuss all things Detroit.

Today, we present Red Wings Rant's favorite interview with one of our favorite people. He is, Former Outfielder for the Catholic League Division Championship winning St Alphonsus, Detroit Lions fan, and most importantly, in his 26th year as the Play-By-Play Announcer for the Detroit Red Wings:

Mr. Ken Kal!

Ken discusses the current Red WIngs situation, the final 15-second radio call of the 2008 Stanley Cup Championship, and the beer of choice he’ll be celebrating with when looking out on Lake St Clair come May.

Follow along with all of our interviews and content by subscribing to our YouTube Channel, please Subscribe, Rate and Review us on Apple Podcasts, and follow us on Twitter (@BODHockey) and Instagram (@brothersofdiscussion)!