You can’t win them all.
Detroit Red Wings fans have learned to accept this fact this season. After a putrid start, the Red Wings seemed destined to fold and wave the white flag.
Since the coaching change, that has proven not to be the case. There is still fight left in this group. But that doesn’t prevent them from laying a stinker every now and then.
Last night, the Red Wings lost 5-1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning. I discovered some interesting stats after reviewing the game sheet.
One Player Over 20 Minutes
Todd McLellan seemed laser-focused on rolling four lines and three pairings against the Lightning. He was committed to that for the whole game. The result was that only one player had skated for more than 20 minutes.
Moritz Seider led the way in ice time with 24:21. The next highest time on ice was Erik Gustafsson, who played 19:49. A few forwards reached the 18-minute threshold, Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat. Lucas Raymond and Dylan Larkin both played just under 18 minutes.
5 Shots
Seider, Larkin, and DeBrincat did their best to throw the kitchen sink at Andrei Vasilevskiy. All three registered a team-high five shots on goal.
Obviously, the volume wasn’t enough to beat Vasilevskiy last night. In his post-game comments, McLellan noted that they didn’t get enough bodies in front of the Lightning netminder, which made his job easier than they’d like. If an elite goaltender is seeing the puck all night long, it doesn’t matter how many shots on goal you get, he’s stopping more than you want him to.
The Red Wings must adjust if they want to beat the Dallas Stars tonight.
8 Hits
Seider was arguably the Red Wings’ best player last night. In addition to leading the team in ice time and tied for most shots, he threw a whopping eight hits.
Marco Kasper and Michael Rasmussen were the next highest with three each. The entire team threw 23 hits, with these three players recording 14 of those hits.
First To 50
Raymond can’t stop collecting points. His goal last night was his 19th of the season and his 50th point of 2024-25. He is the first Red Wings’ player to record 50 points this season.
Last year, it took Raymond 59 games to record the same number of points. He’s only played 45 games this year and is on pace to record 92 points and 34 goals. If that holds true, he will finish the year with a career-high in both categories.
The Red Wings can let the loss roll off their backs tonight in Dallas. Even if they can’t win them all, they can stop the losses from piling up.
#Surprising #Red #Wings #Stats #Embarrassing #Loss
