Detroit Red Wings Weekly Recap: Wrapping Up Week 11

Welcome to my eleventh regular-season Red Wings weekly review. The Detroit Red Wings had only two games this week, both on the road. Detroit defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4 in overtime after being down 4-0, then lost to the Buffalo Sabres 6-3.

The week had been shortened due to the game against the Ottawa Senators being postponed due to weather and the Christmas three-day break.

Positives

The hot scorers over the past two games were forward Elmer Soderblom with three assists, forward Joe Veleno with a goal and an assist, and forward Andrew Copp with two assists.

The offense was spread quite evenly over the two games as several Red Wings picked up at least one point.

The Detroit Red Wings broke even this week with a 1-1 record.

Goaltender Magnus Hellberg played both games this past week. Even though he went 1-1 and allowed six goals, he was the reason the Red Wings finished .500 for the week. Spectacular and timely saves kept the Detroit Red Wings in the games.

Hellberg was calm and played positionally well, so there were few rebounds. In a pressure situation of playing back-to-back games, he showed he is capable of handling multiple games in a row. Hellberg played extremely well under the circumstances. He is a good option for the backup role if Detroit chooses to trade goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic.

The Detroit Red Wings played hockey with heart this week. After being behind 4-0 to Pittsburgh, they came back and won the game in overtime 5-4. They were down 4-0 in Buffalo before making it a game, coming up just short 6-3.

The Red Wings might not have a loaded, talent-filled roster, but they have heart and will play whistle to whistle. The dedication and motivation they play with should be noted and recognized.

Negatives

The defensive zone coverage was not pretty to watch. Missed assignments led to open opposing forwards, leading to goals is something that needs to be corrected.

The Red Wings have gotten confused in their coverage and either had two players on one opposing player or a player missed entirely and this kind of play cannot continue if the Red Wings are going to move forward with this rebuild.

Head coach Derek Lalonde can fix this with a week of practice and focus on the defensive side of the puck.

Physical play, or lack thereof, also played a role in the 1-1 record this week. Against Pittsburgh, the Penguins had too much room and time to cycle the puck and have good puck possession time.

The Red Wings played soft and did not take the body against Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, amongst others. The Red Wings are not a big team, but against teams like Pittsburgh, they needed to play big and physical.

The back-to-back seemed to take a toll on the Detroit Red Wings a bit in their game against Buffalo. They came out flat and uninspired. They got their game together in the second period but came up just short.

The Detroit Red Wings may have gone 2-0 this week if they played a better first period against the Sabres.