Detroit Red Wings Weekly Recap; Wrapping Up Week 22

Welcome to my 22nd regular season Red Wings weekly review. The Detroit Red Wings played three games this past week, finishing with a record of 1-2.

Losses this week were 4-1 against the New York Islanders and 3-1 to the Philadelphia Flyers. Their one win came against the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3.

The Detroit Red Wings had another tough week.

Positives

The Detroit Red Wings scored just six goals in three games, which is not too impressive. However, the points were spread throughout the lineup. Captain Dylan Larkin, Andrew Copp, Moritz Seider, David Perron, and newcomer Alex Chiasson each had two points this week to lead the offense.

Although the Red Wings lost some key offensive pieces through trades, there seems to still be chemistry throughout the lineup.

The aggressiveness on the puck seems to be one of the stronger points of Red Wings hockey recently. They are aggressive on the puck in all three zones, making it hard for the opposition to get any clear breakouts or clears in their defensive zone.

The Detroit Red Wings may not win a lot of games, but they do make it difficult when protecting the puck.

Defenseman Gustav Lindstrom has played well when he is in the lineup. He is making a strong case to be part of the 2023-24 edition of the Detroit Red Wings roster. Lindstrom, like Seider last season, is playing a strong game from the blueline on back for someone his age.

Calm in the defensive zone, he shuts down opposing forwards, can produce a little offense, and can lead the offense with a smooth breakout pass.

Negatives

The offense continues to struggle, scoring just six goals in three games this week. Part of this issue could be due to the trades that were made, trading players like Tyler Bertuzzi and Jakub Vrana, causing line shuffling.

Winger Adam Erne is back in the fold from their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, and winger Alex Chiasson made his Red Wings debut this past week. They can help in all three zones, as both of them have a well-rounded game.

The rest of the team has been together for most of the season and should be better in the offensive zone.

The Detroit Red Wings’ goaltending was not horrible, yet not great, in allowing ten goals in three games. The goaltending should be much better at this time of the year, at the most crucial time of the season.

Ville Husso, Magnus Hellberg, and, at times, Alex Nedeljkovic have shared the net for Detroit and have been adequate.

The Detroit Red Wings have some options this off-season to help clean up the goaltending situation, most namely the backup role. Husso can be much better, but his job should be safe.

Turnovers continued to haunt the Detroit Red Wings last week. Aside from the game against Chicago, Detroit could not sustain anything offensively because they could not maintain puck possession.

While most turnovers did not result in an opposing goal, the Detroit Red Wings have to eliminate this as they look to turn the corner into playoff contenders.

Weekly record: 1-2

Season record: 29-26-9