Detroit Red Wings Weekly Recap; Wrapping Up Week 19

Welcome to my 19th regular-season Detroit Red Wings weekly review. The Red Wings were busy this week, playing their fourth game in a week’s time. They played extremely well, going 4-0 on the week.

They defeated the Vancouver Canucks 5-2, Vancouver in Vancouver 6-1, and won 5-4 at the Edmonton Oilers, then ended the week with a 5-2 win against the Calgary Flames in Calgary.

Detroit Red Wings All-Star Larkin is on a hot streak.

Positives

Detroit Red Wings center and all-star Dylan Larkin has been on fire since returning from Sunrise, Florida. Larkin has played in six games since the all-star game, posting six goals and six assists for 12 points to go along with a 27.3% shooting percentage.

Larkin was the best player before the break but has turned it on in the last week. He is playing the best hockey of his career and putting the Red Wings in a position to grab the Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.

The offense has been shot in the arm recently. Filip Zadina is back from the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins and Robby Fabbri has returned to the lineup, and both have given the offense a tremendous boost.

Fabbri has seven goals and six assists for 13 points in 18 games, while Zadina has played well since being called up.

Forward Tyler Bertuzzi has been playing well as of late as well. He has been a proficient part of the Detroit Red Wings offense since his NHL debut. He was injured for the better part of the first half of the season but has turned it on recently.

This is a coincidence as the trade deadline is right around the corner, so he could be playing well to up his trade value.

Negatives

Forward Lucas Raymond has been placed on injured reserve, retroactively to Friday, February 10th. The Detroit Red Wings are saying it is a lower-body injury, and that is the only detail that has been shared. Due to this transaction, forward Jakub Vrana has been recalled from Grand Rapids.

Although they won the game 5-4, the Red Wings gave up 45 shots to the Oilers on Wednesday night. The Detroit Red Wings are close to a wild card spot and cannot afford to give up quality opportunities, especially to teams like Edmonton who are fighting for position as well.

The Detroit Red Wings are 2-3 in the shootout. Even though there are worse records in the extra session, those three losses are three big points the Red Wings have lost. When the Red Wings are so close to a wild card berth, these points become extremely important.

Those points, even if they are single points, may be what keeps the Red Wings from the playoffs, or puts them in the playoffs.