Detroit Red Wings Should Take Note From Los Angeles Kings

They say old dogs can’t learn new tricks. If the Wings want to make the most of this season, they’re going to have to.

For all intents and purposes, the Kings dominated Thursday night’s game. They fired 52 shots at Jimmy Howard, but were only capable of putting one past him. In the second period alone, they peppered Howard with 27 shots. If it weren’t for last minute goals in the first and third period, the Wings would have suffered a crushing loss.

After a stunning 2-1 last second win over the Kings, the Red Wings should pick a page from L.A.’s book.

On paper, the two teams as currently constructed look eerily similar. Both have elite forwards (Wings’ Zetterberg and Datsyuk; Kings’ Kopitar and Brown), shutdown defensemen (Wings’ Lidstrom, Kings’ Scuderi), up-and-coming goaltenders (Wings’ Howard, Kings’ Quick), strong goal-crease presence (Wings’ Holmstrom, Kings’ Smyth), and star defensemen in the making (Wings’ Ericsson, Kings’ Doughty).

With all those similarities, I don’t think anyone would have guessed the Kings would currently be in the playoffs and the Wings out. The difference in standing can be attributed to style of play.

As demonstrated in Thursday’s game, the Kings are willing to put pressure on a team from end to end. At any given point in the night, the Kings had at least two if not all three forwards in the Wings’ end. It led to constant Red Wing turnovers and sustained offensive pressure from L.A.

Once they gained the zone, the Kings used their point men to perfection. If the forwards got into trouble down low, the defensemen moved to open space and made themselves available for bail-out passes.

If Detroit were willing to adapt this style to at least two lines in a game, they could enjoy the same domination the Kings did Thursday night.

With that added offensive pressure, the Kings also showed that they are not afraid to shoot from anywhere. Of those 52 shots, many came from terrible angles and unsettled pucks. Their only goal of the game resulted from Dustin Brown shooting a bouncing puck that missed the goal, but went straight to Ryan Smyth for the tap-in.

The shooting was contagious. The defensemen weren’t afraid to bomb away when they got the puck. L.A.’s defensemen accounted for 14 shots Thursday night. The Wings as a team only managed 24. Brian Rafalski and Nicklas Lidstrom, two of the best offensive defensemen in the league, only managed three shots combined.

If the Wings want to get out of this scoring funk, they’re going to need contributions from the defense, and the team’s two best defensemen are going to have to step up.

Getting pushed to the limit by an up-and-coming team is nothing new, but it’d be nice if for once the Wings learned from the experience. The Kings are making it work with a roster that, on paper, should have them out of the playoffs by now. Their pressure-oriented style of play and “shoot from anywhere” mentality has them in the thick of things.

If the Wings don’t want to take anything from this game in particular, they could learn from an old opponent. Just as Wayne Gretzky, a former King,  said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”