5 Observations for the Detroit Red Wings After the Quarter Mark of the Season

With the Detroit Red Wings in a playoff spot for the time being and just a few points out of first place in the entire NHL after playing 25 games, there are a handful of observations that have become apparent thus far in the 2014-15 season.

While the Wings haven't necessarily looked dominant at any one time, the players seem to have the right mindset to collectively buy into Mike Babcock's system more than ever.

But a big part of buying into Babcock's system is having the players to put on the ice.

And in terms of the team's overall health, Pavel Datsyuk has missed 11 games and Stephen Weiss has missed 19, but other than that, the team seems to have finally lucked out in that regard.

Here are five observations after the quarter mark of the season for the Detroit Red Wings.

All statistics via NHL.com.

It Would Still Be Nice to Have a Right-Handed Player on the Power Play

Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Through eight games this season, the Red Wings had a bottom-five power play. Detroit put up just two goals over those eight games and could not seem to bring the woes on the power play to a halt. 

But suddenly, a switch flipped. Gustav Nyquist now shares the NHL lead in power-play goals with Evgeni Malkin, and Detroit seems to be able to score at will, rising to sixth in the NHL in power play percentage. 

But one pressing issue is still haunting Detroit on the man advantage, and that is the lack of a right-handed shooter. When it is working properly, the Wings have one of the best puck-moving power plays in the entire league. But the ability to set up backdoor one-timers that would be available to teams with right-handed shooting teams just doesn't exist for Detroit.

While the Red Wings have made do with who they have (Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen, Gustav Nyquist and Niklas Kronwall are no slouches to start with), the lack of a right-handed shooter will probably be explored more by general manager Ken Holland down the road.

For now, it remains a luxury given the return necessary to get a player of that caliber, but it's definitely something to keep an eye on going forward if Detroit's power-play struggles reemerge. 

Jimmy Howard: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Depending on Defense in Front of Him

Tony Ding/Associated Press

As a coach, it can be frustrating watching a team play below what it is capable of playing. This hasn't really been the case for the Red Wings on most nights this season, offensively anyway, but the defense has been another story.

Sometimes it isn't what is done by a hockey team, but what isn't done that makes the difference in games, and Detroit will likely see that if the players look at team takeaways through 25 games.

The Wings sit second to last in the league with just 114 takeaways, one more than last-place Los Angeles. While it hasn't really been an issue because the Wings have had the puck a substantial amount of time, it has shown up in the goal totals recently, where the Wings have given up three goals or more in six of the past seven games.

While the Red Wings' team goals against average is still top 10 in the NHL at 2.48 against, they need to be more active on defense and take pucks away and not allow second-chance opportunities on Jimmy Howard.

Jimmy Howard is a solid goalie, but it seems like the vast majority of goals recently have come on rebound chances or pucks that didn't get out of the zone the first time. It is up to Detroit to clamp down defensively, and the offense will take care of itself.

Third Periods Have Been an Achilles' Heel so Far for Detroit

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

Twenty-five games played and 25 third-period goals given up. 

It isn't really a recipe for success in the long run for the Detroit Red Wings. While Mike Babcock often preaches about starting on time, the same could go the other way in that Detroit needs to learn to finish games as well. 

The proof is in the fact that eight of the nine teams who have given up more third-period goals than Detroit are currently not in the playoff picture. If it doesn't have an impact in the regular season, rest assured that the Wings will be exiting in the first round of the playoffs again if third periods don't get better soon.

Detroit is 9-0-1 when leading after two periods and 4-3-2 when trailing after two periods, so it isn't a matter of playing with the lead, but more playing in a tie game that has been Detroit's issue.

When tied after two periods, the Wings are 0-3-3, and that needs to change, as they can't be giving away points when tied after 40 minutes.

The Need for Another Top-Pairing Defenseman Remains

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

When a team takes a player with the last pick in a draft, there's a very good chance that said player might never reach the NHL, let alone AHL. Whether that player plays (and how much they play) in the NHL if they ever reach it is even more in doubt.

Jonathan Ericsson defied all the odds, as the last player taken in the 2002 NHL entry draft (291st overall) to become a defensive mainstay on the Wings blue line. 

But Ericsson has never been, and will never be the point-producing defenseman that many teams crave out of at least the top two defensemen on the team. 

The big Swede can be a good defensive net-front presence at times, but when he doesn't move his feet or gets careless with his stick, he is beaten for either a goal or a penalty against him. 

The Red Wings need an upgrade at that position if they are going to actually be a serious threat this season in the playoffs. Type in "Red Wings right-handed shooting defenseman" into any search engine, and there will be a plethora of theories of who the Wings "need" or should trade for. 

But the reality is that the Wings don't need any specific defenseman, they simply need an upgrade to help Niklas Kronwall really push the defense over the top as the season goes along.

This Red Wings Team Is the Most Complete Team Since the 2009 Squad

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

This Detroit Red Wings team, barring any serious injuries, has the chance to be something great...something that hasn't been seen in Hockeytown since the 2009 Stanley Cup playoff run. 

They may not be the best Red Wings team since that 2009 Game 7 Stanley Cup Final loss, but they are the most complete. They compete hard more nights than not and always seem to find a way to come back and get at least a point in the standings. 

The Wings' six regulation losses are tied for second in the NHL for fewest regulation losses so far this season. When Detroit plays a defense-first game, it has the offensive capabilities to come back and make a push in any game.

The special teams have also finally both become special, with the Detroit power play ranked sixth and the penalty kill ranked fourth in the NHL.

Not even the 2008 and 2009 squads could boast as impressive numbers as those. 

If Detroit can keep its progress from the first quarter of the season going, there's no reason to believe this team can't be different than Wings squads of the past five years.