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THW's Red Wings News for 03/20/2021

March 20, 2021

The latest Red Wings stories from The Hockey Writers.

 

03/20/2021 edition:

By Patrick Brown on Mar 19, 2021 02:18 pm

It wasn’t that long ago — not even one month, in fact — that the Detroit Red Wings’ power play was listless. From Jan 30 through February 27, the team failed to score a single power play goal, a span of 40 attempts with the man advantage. It was frustrating, embarrassing, and frankly, the talk of the town.

Then Adam Erne stepped in.

Erne, an unheralded acquisition from the Tampa Bay Lightning in August of 2019, has been on fire lately, specifically on the power play. His presence has given Detroit a major boost in recent games, helping the team win three of its last four games, despite relatively low playing time.

Erne Breaks Through Despite Little Ice Time

Erne has made the most of his appearances this season, recording seven (four goals, three assists) in his last ten games. He ranks eighth on the team in points (nine) and sixth in goals (five), despite averaging 12:26 of ice time over 23 appearances this season. To put that into perspective, that’s 26th on the team and is dead last for anyone who has appeared in nine or more games this season.

Still, Erne has helped the Red Wings along when they needed it most. The former second-round pick has breathed life into the power play, and his last five points have all been with the man advantage; Two goals and an assist against the Carolina Hurricanes, a goal against the Lightning, and an assist against the Chicago Blackhawks. In all, he has either scored or assisted on Detroit’s last four power-play goals.

The team’s recent success on special teams has been more in tune with what fans typically hope to see. Detroit has scored seven power-play goals in its last nine games, converting on roughly 28 percent of its man advantages. That’s a far cry from its season average of 12 percent, and Erne, despite his relatively low playing time, has contributed greatly. His offensive point share of 0.7 has him tied for fifth on the team with Dylan Larkin, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Bobby Ryan. It should also be noted that he has won almost 54 percent of his face-off attempts, which is an important stat considering the Red Wings start in the defensive zone 61 percent of the time when Erne is on the ice.

Make no mistake, he has also benefitted from the skilled players that he shares power play time with. His last three goals were assisted by Filip Hronek (three), Filip Zadina (two), and Larkin (one). Hronek himself is no stranger to dishing out apples, as he leads the team in points (18) and assists (17).

Erne acknowledged his linemates in his post-game comments after Tuesday’s win over the Hurricanes, which snapped an eight-game win streak for Carolina.

“The power play is really clicking right now,” Erne said in his postgame remarks. “I think the communication is good and we know what we want to do. We’ve got a lot of skilled players out there and we’ve gotten it rolling.”

Erne Having One of His Best Statistical Seasons

Erne’s NHL journey has been an interesting one. Selected by then-Tampa Bay general manager Steve Yzerman in the second round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft (33rd overall), he appeared in 114 games with the Lightning before being traded to Detroit in Aug 2019 in exchange for a 2020 fourth-round pick. That reunited him with Yzerman, whose faith in the young forward has been rewarded as of late. Erne’s current deal expires after this season, though he remains a restricted free agent.

Erne is primed to have his best season to date, despite the NHL’s shortened season. Statistically speaking, his best season was a 65-game, 20-point campaign in 2018-19, but the 25-year-old is just two goals short of his career-best in goals scored, and despite his low playing time, appears to at least be solidifying an everyday spot in the lineup.

Yzerman and the Red Wings continue to plow through a complete rebuild, and throughout the process, players like Erne are important to have on the roster. He’s embraced his status as a role player, which is the type of attitude any team in rebuild mode needs to keep progressing forward. It’s become clear that he is establishing real chemistry with his teammates and will likely be in a good position to remain with the organization at a reasonable cost if he continues to supply this level of productivity.

What has been your recent impression of Erne or other role players on the Red Wings? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Want more Red Wings content? Tune into The Hockey Writers’ Grind Line — a weekly show on YouTube and Facebook. Check out our most recent show below, and make sure you subscribe to the channel so you don’t miss any upcoming shows.

By Greg Boysen on Mar 18, 2021 08:37 am

If you are a fan of the Original Six-era National Hockey League history, then March 18 is the date for you. Plenty of memories were made in Montreal, Boston, Detroit and Chicago over the years. Plus, some Hall of Famers put up some great performances over the years. Let’s take our daily trip back through the decades to see the best this date has brought us.

Montreal Canadiens: The Leaders in Making History

Howie Morenz scored five goals for his 10th career hat trick, on March 18, 1930, in the Canadiens’ 8-3 win against the New York Americans. He sandwiched a single-goal second period in between two goals in both the first and third periods.

George Hainsworth became the first goalie in NHL history to record 75 career shutouts on March 18, 1933, as the Canadiens tied 0-0 with the visiting Boston Bruins. Tiny Thompson of the Bruins earned his 11th shutout of the season and the 38th of his career.

On March 18, 1944, the Canadiens became the first team in NHL history to finish the regular season without losing on home ice. Phil Watson had four assists in an 11-2 win over the visiting New York Rangers to improve the Habs’ record to 22-0-3 at the Forum. As Murphy’s law would have it, they lost their first postseason game on home ice before winning eight straight against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Blackhawks to capture the Stanley Cup.

Maurice Richard became the NHL player to have a 50-goal season on March 18, 1945, when he scored to help beat the Boston Bruins 4-2. The goal came with just 2:15 left in the 50th and final game of the regular season. This was the only 50-goal season in league history until Montreal’s Bernie Geoffrion did it during the 70-game 1960-61 season. Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders became the second player to score 50 goals in 50 games in 1980-81.

The Canadiens became the first team to win 45 games in a season, on March 18, 1956, with a 3-1 win at the Rangers. They broke the previous record of 44 wins set by the 1950-51 Detroit Red Wings. Bert Olmstead picked up his 56th assist, setting the NHL single-season record for left wings.

Legendary Boston Bruins Have a Day

Cooney Weiland scored a hat trick to give him an NHL-record 73 points in 44 games, on March 18, 1930, during a 9-2 Bruins’ win over the Rangers. It was their 22nd straight victory at Boston Garden and they set new league records with the 38th win and 179th goal of the season.

Bill Cowley scored twice to clinch the NHL scoring title with 62 points on March 18, 1941, as the Bruins won 4-1 over the visiting Red Wings.

On March 18, 1952, Milt Schmidt became the third player in team history to score 200 goals with the Bruins. He also had three assists in a 4-0 shutout of the Blackhawks.

Bobby Orr scored once and added two assists on March 18, 1973, to lead the Bruins to a 7-1 win against the Atlanta Flames. The goal was his 600th career point in just his 461st game.

Three years later, Johnny Bucyk became the second player in NHL history to score 1,300 points when he has two assists in a 5-2 win at the Kansas City Scouts. He joined a certain Detroit hockey legend in the 1,300-point club, who has a prominent role in the next section.

Busy Date for Detroit Red Wings & Gordie Howe

Jack Adams became the first head coach in NHL history to record 350 career victories on March 18, 1944, when the Red Wings beat the visiting Blackhawks 6-3.

A decade later, Terry Sawchuk became the first goaltender to be credited with an assist on a Howe goal during a 3-3 tie with the Bruins.

Norm Ullman scored a goal and added four assists on March 18, 1965, while Howe had a goal and three helpers in another win over the Bruins, 10-3. The victory extended their team-record home winning streak to 12 straight games.

A shoulder injury prevented Howe from playing against the Bruins on March 18, 1967, so he went behind the bench and made his NHL coaching debut. Head coach Sid Abel watched from the stands as the Red Wings lost 5-3. Mr. Hockey’s stint as bench boss didn’t last long as he returned to the lineup the next game.

Chicago Blackhawks Join the History Party

On March 18, 1940, the Blackhawks became the first NHL team to take a chartered flight as they traveled to Toronto to take on the Maple Leafs in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Hall of Fame head coach Dick Irvin won his 690th and final career game, on March 18, 1956, with the Blackhawks’ 3-2 in Boston on the final night of the season. He retired as the NHL’s all-time wins leader until Scott Bowman passed him up in 1984.

Bobby Hull became the first NHL player to have back-to-back 50-goal seasons on March 18, 1967, when he scored in a 9-5 loss at the Maple Leafs. This was his third overall season with at least 50 goals.

Patrick Kane picked up two assists to reach 100 points, on March 18, 2019, in the Blackhawks’ 3-2 overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks. He became just the third player in team history with multiple 100-point seasons. He also joined Hull as the only two Blackhawks to have a 100-point season after their 30th birthday.

Odds & Ends

Sir Frederick Arthur Stanley, the Governor General of Canada, prosed the creation of the trophy that became the Stanley Cup on this date way back in 1892. Originally named the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup, the world’s most famous trophy was awarded for the first time in 1893 to the Montreal Hockey Club.

Gilbert Perreault set the NHL single-season record for goals by a rookie when he scored his 35th, on March 18, 1971, in the Buffalo Sabres’ 5-3 win over the St. Louis Blues. Nels Stewart of the Montreal Maroons set the previous record of 34 goals during the 1925-26 season. Both Danny Grant of the Minnesota North Stars and Norm Ferguson of the Oakland Seals tied Stewart’s mark in 1968-69.

Bill Barber became the third player in Philadelphia Flyers history to have a 100-point season, on March 19, 1976, with an assist in a 3-2 win over the Canucks. With the victory, the Flyers extended their team-record home winning streak to 16 straight games.

Darryl Sittler became the sixth player in Maple Leafs’ team history to score 250 career goals, on March 18, 1978, in a 3-2 loss to the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins.

One year later, Rick MacLeish became the second player to score 250 career goals as a member of the Flyers. He also had an assist in a 5-3 win against the visiting Blues.

Phil Housley became the youngest defenseman in NHL history to have a 30-goal season on this date in 1984. The 20-year-old blueliner picked up his 30th goal during the Sabres 4-3 home loss to the Edmonton Oilers. Nine years later, he had a goal and two assists in the Winnipeg Jets 5-2 win at Vancouver to give him 800 career points.

Wayne Gretzky scored his 50th goal for the seventh straight season, on March 18, 1986, in the Oilers’ 6-2 win over the Jets. He scored his 1,000th professional goal exactly 10 years later, on March 18, 1996, with a goal in the Blues’ win over the Los Angeles Kings. His milestone goal was a combination of his regular-season and playoff goals in both the NHL and World Hockey Association. He joined Howe and Hull in this very exclusive club.

Mario Lemieux hit the 100-point mark with a goal and two assists, on March 18, 1987, in the Penguins’ 5-4 win over the Blues. This made him just the fourth player in league history to score at least 100 points in each of his first three seasons.

Dino Ciccarelli scored four goals and added three assists to set a Washington Capitals record with seven points, on March 18, 1989, in an 8-2 win at the Hartford Whalers. This was the 15th hat trick of his NHL career and first with Washington.

Ray Bourque became the first NHL defenseman to score 400 career goals on March 18, 2000, when he found the back of the net in the Colorado Avalanche’s 4-3 loss to the Red Wings. This was his fifth goal in six gave with the Avalanche since being traded by the Bruins.

One year later, Brett Hull scored his first hat trick as a member of the Dallas Stars to lead the way in a 5-1 win over the Ottawa Senators. This was his 29th career hat trick, one more than his legendary dad, Bobby.

The Carolina Hurricanes extended their league record, on March 18, 2002, by having their seventh straight home game end in a tie. Sami Kapanen evened up the score with just 10.4 seconds to play in regulation as they skated to a 1-1 draw with the Canadiens.

Henrik Lundqvist picked up his 302nd win on March 18, 2014, to pass Mike Richter to the most victories in Rangers team history. He made 35 saves in an 8-4 road win at the Senators.

Happy Birthday to You

Two members of the Hockey Hall of Fame and former Canadiens, Guy Lapointe (73) and Guy Carbonneau (61), headline 25 current and former NHL players born on this date. Other March 18 birthday boys include Phil Sykes (62), Giles Hamel (61), Craig Johnson (49), Kimmo Timonen (46), Zdeno Chara (44), Jan Bulis (43), Vitaly Vishnevski (41), Matthew Lombardi (39), Cory Schneider (35), Robert Bortuzzo (32) and the late Bob Nevin.

By Ian McNaughton on Mar 17, 2021 10:26 am

Welcome to Red Wings Wednesday Weekly! In this weekly column, we will take a look at the Red Wings’ most-recent week of play, identify any players and/or trends that stood out, and then look ahead and find out what the next week may have in store for the team from Hockeytown. As always, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section down below.

Last Thursday was a good day for the Detroit Red Wings, who defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-4. It was their only win of March and arguably been the highlight of the season. Then, on Tuesday night, the Wings were a bunch of jerks to the Carolina Hurricanes, as they pulled off the 4-2 upset at Little Caesars Arena. With March Madness just around the corner, all felt right in the world when Hockeytown got to have their cinderella moments in the last six days so let’s breakdown the week where Detroit brought the noise with their performance.

Low Voltage in Detroit

3/11 vs. Tampa Bay; Win, 6-4

In their title track “Ride the Lightning” by Metallica, lyrics include “This can’t be happening to me”. I’m pretty sure that’s how most Red Wings’ fans felt after the final horn blew on Thursday as they defeated the league’s best team by points percentage. Sure, Curtis McElhinney got the start instead of Andrei Vasilevskiy, so you could argue that it wasn’t “truly” beating the Lightning, but a win is a win.

Eleven different players got points for the Red Wings in the game, including an impressive three-point performance from Anthony Mantha. He put home a goal and two assists, including passing up on the empty-netter so Vladislav Namestnikov could score his first goal since February 15th.

It wasn’t a perfect performance by any means, but taking three out of a possible four points against the defending Stanley Cup champions is not something anyone should be upset with.

Overall Grade vs. Tampa Bay: B+

Splitting the Difference with the Canes

3/14 vs. Carolina: Loss, 2-1

3/16 vs. Carolina: Win, 4-2

Sunday’s performance against the Canes was an underwhelming one for the Red Wings. Without Vincent Trochek (who’s missing time due to an upper-body injury) and Petr Mrazek, who didn’t make the trip because of a thumb injury, there was some hope that Detroit could pull off a massive upset. However, credit to Alex Nedeljkovic for making 25 saves and nearly shutting out the Wings until Anthony Mantha scored with 10 seconds remaining. This was the embodiment of a Hurricanes-type win, as they put the pressure on defensively and limited Detroit’s scoring chances all-game.

Tuesday night was what Red Wings’ fans had in mind when they saw Trochek and Mrazek out of the lineup. Adam Erne showed us what his peak performance looks like by scoring two goals in the first period, both coming on the powerplay. He took home the first star of the night, with Jonathan Bernier stopping 35 of 37 shots, including the beautiful diving save above, to earn second-star honors. To top off this outstanding team performance, Filip Hronek scored his first goal of the season, which was a shot from behind his own net into the empty Hurricanes net. It was a great all-around effort from them and you got to love seeing Detroit winning two of their last three games.

Overall Grade vs. Carolina: B+

3 Takeaways From Last Week’s Games

1. This Is a Better Team than Last Season

Last week’s games weren’t the first time I’ve thought this but it’s worth mentioning after the last seven days. You might look at Detroit’s record and their position in the Central Divison and just assume that this team is still awful. It’s a weak take, but I get how someone makes that conclusion.

If you watch the Red Wings regularly, you’ll notice a difference between this season compared to last season in terms of competitiveness. We mentioned this on the last episode of The Hockey Writers ‘Grind Line’ about how Detroit seemed to play only 20 solid minutes of hockey in a game last year and then struggle for the rest of the game. So far, in 2020-21, they’re playing 40 minutes of good hockey and having a really bad period of hockey.

It’s not like the Red Wings are a playoff team or that great of a team yet. But it’s a small improvement that you like to see as this team goes through a major rebuild. They are currently 1-5 in one-goal games and 0-13-2 when trailing after two periods, so there is room to grow and get better in critical situations. But since there is no rush or pressure to win now, it’s not the end of the world if they don’t those figures around this season. Just the slightest progress is great and that’s what we’re seeing right now from the Red Wings.

2. Jonathan Bernier Deserves More Respect

This is following my article about why the Red Wings goaltending has been their biggest bright spot this season and I still believe this take. Bernier has stopped 105 of his last 113 shots, which have all came against the Lighting and Hurricanes. I don’t know if any goalie has had a better three-game stretch against those two teams this season and if there’s someone to keep your eye on in terms deserving more respect league-wide, it’s Bernier.

His performance is certainly helping his trade value should the Red Wings decide to move him before the Trade Deadline on April 12th. If you look at teams that have been struggling with 5-on-5 SV%, I wouldn’t surprise to see contenders like the Philadelphia Flyers, St. Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche, and Edmonton Oilers inquire about Bernier. The Oilers are in a bit of a tricky situation because of Canada’s quarantine rules for entering the country, but for a fairly affordable $3 million cap hit, Bernier makes a ton of sense.

3. Donovan Sebrango Signed to Entry-Level Deal

Donovan Sebrango, a 3rd-Round pick for Detroit in 2020, was signed to a three-year entry-level contract on Sunday. This isn’t related to the main roster but it is noteworthy for the Red Wings prospect pool and the team’s rebuild. He currently has one assist in 10 games for the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL but hasn’t had consistent playing time in the last year. He made five appearances with HK Levice in Slovakia’s second-tier league early this season and also participated in Team Canada’s Selection Camp before this year’s World Juniors.

In 56 games with the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL in 2019-20, Sebrango scored six goals and 24 assists for 30 points. His best asset appears to be his skating ability as that’s something the Red Wings could use a lot more of on the back end. Sebrango probably won’t get called up to Detroit for at least another year and, if things go well, could be regular in 2023 when this team is more competitive than they are now. It’s a smart signing for both sides that will hopefully lead to big things down the road.

Upcoming Matchups

Dallas Stars (3/18, 7:30 PM ET; 3/20, 7:00 PM ET)

Statistical Leaders (25 games):Goals – Joe Pavelski (14)Points – Pavelski (27)Wins – Anton Khudobin (5)Save-Percentage (SV%) – Jake Oettinger (.917)

No team has gone through quite the roller-coaster of a season like the Dallas Stars have. Between a pre-season COVID-19 outbreak within the locker room, a winter storm wiping out four home games, and missing three major players (Ben Bishop, Tyler Seguin, and Stephen Johns), it’s been a wild ride for the Stars. This a great opportunity for the Red Wings to score some goals and get some points against a team that has been struggling recently.

These teams haven’t met since late January when Dallas outscored Detroit 9-4 in two consecutive games. Over those two games, Denis Gurianov had one goal and four assists for five points, making him a threat to score anytime. However, everything seems to be going through Joe Pavelski, who has more goals than Jamie Benn, Alexander Radulov, Esa Lindell, Miro Heiskanen, and Blake Comeau combined so far in 2020-21. While leaning on younger talent hasn’t totally worked out for the Stars this season, they’re certainly no slouches ahead of their battle with the Red Wings.

@ Nashville Predators (3/23, 8:00 PM ET)

Statistical Leaders (29 games):Goals – Filip Forsberg (10)Points – Forsberg (27)Wins – Pekka Rinne (7)SV% – Rinne (.899)

Of all the teams the Red Wings have had the most success against, it would be the Nashville Predators. Detroit has a points percentage of .500 against Nashville with a record of 2-2. With the two teams meeting on both Tuesday and Thursday, this is a great opportunity for the Wings to steal at least two, if not, four points, against one of the league’s most underwhelming teams.

The Preds are coming off a nice 4-1 win over the Lightning on Monday. It was their first victory against a team with a winning record since February 4th and their only win against Tampa Bay in six games this season. Nashville is in the midst of an eight-game road trip, which includes three games in four days and a back-to-back on March 20th and 21st. By the time they face the Red Wings, they might be thankful for the time off and to be back on home ice. Definitely, something to keep an eye out for next week.

Players to Watch

I’m going to go with one of the most exciting young players in Miro Heiskanen for the Stars. He’s had a weird season, when you look at his analytics, as he has two goals and 13 points, but just a -0.6 relative Corsi for percentage at even strength. CF% relative is what your on-ice Corsi for percentage is minus your off-ice Corsi for percentage and to put it in perspective, Heiskanen’s figure is lower than both Nikita Zadorov and Pierre Engvall. It’ll be interesting to see how he performs against the Red Wings.

With Nashville, I have to go with Dante Fabbro as someone to watch. On February 11th, Fabbro scored the game-winning goal with one minute left to beat the Red Wings 3-2. It was a bitter pill to swallow since Detroit was in that game until the very end and felt like one the Wings could’ve won. With trade talks heating up in the Music City, including several notable names like Matias Eklholm and Mikael Granlund, I’m going to watch the former Penticton Vee star and see how he’s performing heading into the trade deadline.

On the Red Wings side, I have to go with Adam Erne has someone to watch. As I mentioned earlier, Erne scored two powerplay goals (in the first period!) Tuesday against the Hurricanes and has seven points in his last 10 games. If the hot streak continues and the former Lightning forward is still contributing offensively, there’s a world in which Detroit could get something for him at the Trade Deadline. I wouldn’t count on it, but stranger things have happened.

Final Thoughts

This might be the best stretch of hockey we’ve seen from the Red Wings this season. Coming off wins in two of their last three games, against two of the league’s best teams, there is a lot to be excited about if you’re a fan of that team. Don’t be surprised if this success continues against some of the weaker teams in the Central Division and if Detroit can maybe (just maybe) get out of the basement. It’s going to be awesome to watch.

Want more Red Wings content? Tune into The Hockey Writers’ Grind Line — a weekly show on YouTube and Facebook. Check out our most recent show below, and make sure you subscribe to the channel so you don’t miss any upcoming shows.

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