Detroit Red Wings Weekly Recap; Wrapping Up Week 13
Welcome to my thirteenth regular season Detroit Red Wings weekly review. The Detroit Red Wings played four games this week, going 2-2. The Red Wings lost 3-2 against the Florida Panthers and again 4-1 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. They picked up two wins to even their record for the week, a wild 7-5 win against the Winnipeg Jets and a 4-1 win in the rematch against the Maple Leafs.
Detroit Red Wings keeping pace with a .500 week
Positives
Forward Robby Fabbri has looked good after returning from Achilles surgery and being inserted back into the lineup. He does not look out of place and his pace and speed were good considering how much time he has been away from the ice. He picked up where he left off, producing offensively with three goals this past week in four games.
Defenseman Moritz Seider was the biggest offensive producer this week, scoring one goal and dishing out four assists for a five-point week. He seems to be working his way back to his Calder Trophy-winning rookie campaign last season and has played solid hockey over the last few weeks since being paired with a different defenseman. Seider playing like he did last season is a huge boost for the Detroit Red Wings as it gives the team more confidence in the offensive zone if Seider is producing offensively.
The roster is slowly getting healthy again. Fabbri and Tyler Bertuzzi are back and healthy and it is only a matter of time before forward Filip Zadina is back as well. these three add a different dimension to the offense and now they have more scoring depth. The Red Wings will be back at full strength, which could be scary for the Atlantic Division.
Negatives
The goaltending is still sketchy. Ville Husso, Magnus Hellberg, and Alex Nedeljkovic, who is now in the AHL with the Grand Rapids Griffins, have continued to struggle between the pipes. Once a valuable goaltending duo, Husso and Nedeljkovic have yet to regain their form from earlier this year. Hellberg has had stints where he has been good but he was never going to be a full-time NHL starter in Detroit.
The offense has picked it up a bit lately but still has players who have yet to reach their potential with the Detroit Red Wings. Forwards Andrew Copp and Dominik Kubalik have been streaky as of late, and David Perron was a non-factor in the games this week. The Detroit Red Wings still have an outside shot at a wild card but a lot of factors need to come into play, including a full 60 minutes and constant offensive play and production. The offense currently sits at 23rd in the league.
The Red Wings are below league average in both power play and penalty kill. These will both need to improve greatly if the Red Wings want any chance of grabbing a wild card spot at the season’s end.