Detroit Red Wings: 3 Things To Fix in Order To Play for Stanley in June

"Playoffs?!? Don't talk about playoffs. I just hope we can win a game. Another game."

Okay, maybe the Jim Mora quote is a bit of an exaggeration—the Detroit Red Wings can win, but not as often as their fans, myself included, would like to see.

When looking at the Detroit Red Wings, one might be reminded of the Katy Perry song "Hot and Cold."

They just can't seem to get it together. They've shown flashes, all season, of the team they can be when they put their foot on the gas, yet they only sit at second in the Western Conference.

The Wings have a league leading 3.26 goals per game. Only Chicago and Vancouver have more goals, but they've each played one and two more games than Detroit respectively. So what's the problem?

They can score, and they lead the league in goals per game.

Oh, wait—there's that other thing that teams play occasionally. Defense. Yes, defense.

Detroit is abysmal on the back end this season. In fact, they are 19th in the league in goals-against per game, sitting at an uncomfortable average of 2.88.

So defense does win games in the NHL.

Unfortunately, as the Red Wings have found out, the highest scoring team in goals per game is not always the best team. The new NHL allows for much more scoring, but this puts an even larger premium on defense.

Defense, in this league, does win games and championships and the Red Wings need to get their heads around that fact.

The whole idea of taking shifts, or whole periods off (see the three-goal lead they blew against Phoenix in the third period) has to stop for this team to be remotely successful in the postseason.

The second thing they must change is their home record.

Detroit is known for "home cooking" both in the regular season and in the playoffs, but this season has been nothing short of a disaster by Red Wings standards. In fact, this season's 17-10-4 home record is a mere three games over .500.

This would be a decent record for teams just trying to make the playoffs, but Detroit is trying for at least a division crown this year. Over the past five seasons, their home records look like this: 25-10-6, 27-9-5, 29-9-3, 29-4-8, 27-9-5.

Looking at those five years, with at least 25 wins in every one of them (and possibly more if their season hadn't been decimated by injuries last year), the Red Wings' home record this season should be of some concern to themselves and their fanbase.

For a successful playoff run, the Red Wings need to find a more consistent way to win at home.

The effort that they've put in at home this season has simply not got the job done (despite Detroit sitting second in the Western Conference). The ability to win at home will ultimately dictate whether or not an early visit to the golf course awaits the Red Wings.

The third and final thing that the Red Wings need to address is their ability to close out games.

The Phoenix game (which, for most, was a sign that Detroit was in trouble) was absolutely embarrassing to watch.

After noticing the Red Wings were up 4-1 when I got home, I turned on the game—but I shouldn't have. The Red Wings got comfortable and complacent with their three-goal lead and ultimately blew the game in a shoot out.

A similar event happened in Los Angeles. The Red Wings were up 7-1, a fairly sizable lead in the third period. They ended up giving up three goals in the last five minutes, to make the game far closer than it actually was.

While this did not result in them losing the game, I think it is safe to assume that it was similar to the Phoenix game in that the Red Wings did not exert effort when they needed to.

If a team is down multiple goals, they are only going to press harder to tie the game up. If you take your foot off the gas, you will regret it. Detroit needs to finish games, not give up points and, in-turn, not give up a better place in the standings.

If the Red Wings can better their home record, tighten up defensively and hang on to late game leads, I think they can be successful in the playoffs because they seem to be doing everything else fairly well.

If not, it will be another lengthy offseason for these players. But Detroit always seems to show up in the postseason, so I am hopeful that this will be another example of them working some postseason magic to make a good run and hopefully bring back Stanley to Hockey-town.