Detroit Red Wings: Wrapping up week 8 of the 2023-24 season

Welcome to my eighth 2023-24 regular season Detroit Red Wings weekly review. The Red Wings played four games this past week, posting a record of 3-1 to get back into playoff contention.

They began the week with a big 5-2 win in Boston against the Bruins. They proceeded to take a 4-1 decision against the Minnesota Wild, lost 3-2 against the New York Rangers, and finished up the week with a convincing 5-1 win against Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks.

Positives

Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere was the leading scorer for Detroit this week, producing one goal and five assists for six points. Gostisbehere continues to shine, not only as a defenseman but as one of the leaders of this Red Wings team.

He has been outstanding this season and shows no signs of slowing down. This season, he has five goals and 13 assists for 18 points in 21 games in an average of 20:00 of ice time.

The power play was on point this week, going 7-for-20 and a success rate of 35%. Detroit worked at a faster pace, catching the penalty kill at a disadvantage, and got more shots to the net at every opportunity.

The puck movement was smooth and players got open because of that fast movement and puck possession. Shots were clean and on point, ready for rebounds and deflections.

The Detroit Red Wings also had a presence around the net consistently, crashing the net at every given chance. The power play is now eighth in the league, operating at a 23.4% rate.

Goaltender Alex Lyon continues to push for the starter spot, inching closer and closer with every start. He was solid this week and every game continues to polish his overall game.

He has been nothing short of excellent since taking the net and looks to make a smooth transition from not playing to playing almost every game. He has appeared in four games, posting a record of 3-1 with a goals-against-average of 1.26 and a save percentage of .958.

Lyon pickup in the off-season by General Manager Steve Yzerman. In his last three games, he is 3-0 with two goals against, a .978 save percentage, and one shutout.

The Detroit Red Wings are a very good team that has had some ups and downs

Negatives

The Detroit Red Wings had plenty of opportunities to score this past week due to the cycling and passing that was better than the previous week.

The problem was the shots were not taken. Several opportunities were passed up because of over-passing and lack of creativity, therefore scoring opportunities were lost. While they did win three of their four games this week, this could be costly in the future and down the stretch.

While the Red Wings wait for the arrival of newly signed Patrick Kane to make his Detroit debut, they are still trying to find the right post for veteran forward David Perron.

He has been good offensively but has bounced around the lineup. Head coach Derek Lalonde can manage the roster lineup as he wishes but it has to be troublesome for Perron to find chemistry with any line-mates.

Weekly record: 3-1

Season record: 12-7-3, 27 points, 3rd in Atlantic Division