Detroit Red Wings' Remainder of February Schedule to Determine How Good Team Is

The Detroit Red Wings sit in first place in the Eastern Conference, tied in points with the Tampa Bay Lightning with two games in hand. 

But it goes without saying that the Detroit Red Wings need to be in first place in the division given the Wings' upcoming schedule.

For the remainder of February, the Wings have nine total games with seven being on the road. The two home games are against the pesky Winnipeg Jets and division-rival Montreal Canadiens. Detroit's road games are in Pittsburgh, Chicago, Dallas, Anaheim, Los Angeles, San Jose and Nashville. 

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

While Detroit has won nine of 10 games and is 13-4-1 overall since December 23, three of those wins have come against a hapless Buffalo Sabres squad, another two wins were against the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames who both have not been playing well as of late and the most recent two were against the Arizona Coyotes and Colorado Avalanche who rank 26th and 25th, respectively, in goals per game. 

Jose Juarez/Associated Press

The Wings will not have the luxury of facing teams who are as downtrodden as the above-listed teams for the remainder of February.

Over the next nine games, Red Wings fans will find out how good their team truly is, as Detroit plays the top team (in points) from each of the other three divisions in Pittsburgh, Nashville and Anaheim and top three teams in those divisions in Chicago and San Jose. The Wings will also play the L.A. Kings, who are desperate for points to get back in the playoff picture so they can defend their 2014 Stanley Cup title.

In addition to being a difficult schedule, the Wings play five games in a span from February 21 to February 28, making this easily the most grueling road trip of the season for Detroit.

If Detroit can get through the remainder of February with a winning record, one would have to call it a success. Road trips can tire a team out and kill any success it has going. Having said that, if the Wings can win five of the remaining nine games in February, it has to be viewed as a moderate success. 

After this road trip, 12 of Detroit's remaining 21 games in are at home.

The Wings also have Jonas Gustavsson back from injury (he backed up Petr Mrazek, Saturday night in Phoenix) and Jimmy Howard is targeting next game in Pittsburgh as a return date from his groin injury, according to Ansar Khan of MLive.com.

So how good are the Detroit Red Wings, truly?

The remaining games in this month of February will shine some light on that question.