Red Hot Wings

What else can you say? The Wings are on an absolute roll.  They’re 8-2-0 in their last ten games, and after last night, trail the division leading Blackhawks by only one point with one game in hand.  

Franzen and Filpulla have stayed hot since the Wings came off their early season slide, but over the last 14 games, Datsyuk has been on fire.  After his goal last night, the Russian magician now has 21 points in his last 14 games.  Jimmy Howard also had a great night with 25 saves and only allowing one goal, on a superb shot by Evgeni Malkin.  

Over the last month, the Wings have taken down some of the top teams in the league, including Pittsburgh, Dallas, and Boston.  Nay-sayers will note that the Penguins didn’t have Letang or Crosby in the lineup due to concussions.  They’ll also point out that Boston played Tuukka Rask, not Tim Thomas.  If you look at the stats, they’re just about even, although Rask has played fewer games, when he’s been called on, he’s only lost 4 times in regulation with a 1.83 GAA.

Letang was definitely missed, especially with how hot the Wings’ offense has been of late.  However, you can’t say simply because this person or that person was out of the lineup that the outcome of the game would have been significantly different.  After 15+ years of playing hockey, I understand that one player can make a huge difference just by being in the lineup, but at elite levels, it’s always going to come down to the team rather than one individual.

The most telling stat in my opinion for the Wings is their goal differential, which currently stands at +30.  The Wings are only second in this statistic to the Northeast leading Boston Bruins.  This stat clearly shows how much the Wings have turned around their defensive woes from last year.  It also shows how much the offense has picked up over the last month.  Over the past 30 days, the Wings have only failed to score four or more goals four times.  

The rest of the month holds some pretty big challenges for Detroit.  A four game, western Canada road trip over christmas starts the 19th in Edmonton and ends on the 26th in Nashville, with Vancouver and Calgary in between.  Finally, on the 30th the Wings head to Chicago to take on the hated Blackhawks for the first time this season.

Please comment and share whatever feelings you have a about he Red Wings or anything else going on in the sports world!