Detroit Red Wings: Top 10 Things We'd Like To See in the Last 10 Games of Season
Head coach Mike Babcock has said he doesn't evaluate his team from game to game, but looks for patterns that emerge after 10-game segments of the season.
As we are now at the beginning of the last of those segments, there are plenty of patterns we'd like to see before the Red Wings head into their 20th-straight playoff appearance.
In general, the Wings have had a very good season.
However, that doesn't mean that any success they've had to this point is going to transfer into the playoffs.
In fact, if you were a little worried about the Wings' potential for an extended playoff run, such concerns would be well-justified.
The Wings' commitment to defense has been off-and-on all season, Jimmy Howard has been relatively solid in net, but has underperformed compared to last season and, key players like Johan Franzen, have not dominated as expected.
The Red Wings are still a championship-caliber team, to be sure; but whether or not they can live up to that potential is far from certain.
While how a team goes into the playoffs (hot or cold) isn't always an indicator of how well they'll fair in the second-season, the habits and trends one observes at the close of the 82 game schedule are worth noting as they'll likely continue on into round-one of the playoffs.
The following list ranks the ten trends we'd like to see start (or stop, as they case may be) as the Red Wings wrap up their season.
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10. Motor City Mike, Get That Motor Running
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Now, he wasn't supposed to be a major offensive force, nor was he brought in to fill a crucial top-six role.
Modano's Michigan homecoming was as much about giving him an auspicious place to end his outstanding career as it was about Ken Holland's inability to resist bringing in veteran talent when available.
Still, Modano is more than capable of contributing more than his well-respected name to the Red Wings.
The freak wrist injury that cost him 40 games this season has all but marginalized what could have been a valuable roster addition, but, with 10 games remaining, Modano still has time to warm up and get in playoff game-shape.
If he could pitch in two goals and three assists over the next 10 games, his confidence and his playoff readiness will likely be sky-high.
9. Chris Osgood Back in Net...No, Really
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Like Modano, Chris Osgood may very well be in his last NHL season.
However, unlike Modano, Ozzie isn't likely to be considered an unquestioned Hockey Hall of Famer once he does retire.
Chris Osgood will likely be remembered for his uncanny inability to stop very stoppable shots at inopportune times as he will be for his uncanny ability to play far beyond the relatively low expectations placed on him at the most critical times.
The past two seasons, Ozzie's been pretty damn awful, let's face it.
However, this season, he's looked something more like his old self; well, the one that wins games, that is.
Sidelined the past eight weeks recovering from a sports hernia surgery, Osgood has had his return to the team delayed due to soreness, but looks like he'll be ready to return to action any day now.
The sooner the better.
Not only should Ozzie be raring to get back to action, but getting a few starts under his belt will be beneficial should he be needed in the postseason.
8. Jakub Kindl Paired with Nicklas Lidstrom on the Blueline
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It doesn't have to be for an extended period of time, just one out of the next ten games would be good.
Since coming out to a so-so start to his NHL career, Jakub Kindl has been outstanding in his last dozen games, playing along side Ruslan Salei.
While he's still a seventh defender, his strong defensive play and youth could become quite valuable should an injury pop up during the playoffs.
Were he to play just a single game with Lidstrom as a partner, he'd be learning more than he would playing with any other defenseman in the league.
That kind of education will be invaluable for a kid who's never played a second of NHL playoff hockey, but may well be asked to play several thousand in a few weeks.
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7. Jiri Hudler...He Was Just Here Wasn't He?
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An (unexpected) no-show for the first half of this season, the struggles of Jiri Hudler have been well documented.
However, around game number 40, Hudler started to look something like his old self again and started contributing on the offensive side of the game just as he had in his previous tenure in Detroit.
He even broke out on a five-game point streak and looked well on his way to erasing the doubts that sprang up around him following his lack-luster start.
As it stands now, Hudler hasn't contributed a point in over two weeks and has started to become as invisible as he was at the beginning of the year.
He needs to get his game worked out once more and fast.
Getting solid offensive contributions from guys like Hudler is going to be key for postseason success in Hockeytown.
He's got a lot to prove this year, so he better make these last 10 games count.
6. Can We Have a Couple of Big 'ol Kronwall Hits Please?
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It would be hard to ask any more from Niklas Kronwall this season.
He's reached a career-high in goals scored (11), has remained as steady as a rock defensively and (knock on wood) has played in every single game this year.
For a guy who's yet to play a full NHL season in six years, that's quite a welcome change.
As great as it is to see Kronwall score goals and as valuable as his defensive steadiness has been, every Red Wings fan attends a game to see one thing and one thing only from No. 55—a big, bone-crunching hit.
The reason we don't see more guys get "Kronwalled" is simple. As devastating as it is on his opponents, playing such a physical game takes a lot out of Kronwall himself.
Kronwall is at his most physical in the postseason, yet, with just 10 games left in the regular season, seeing him lay on a beautiful open ice hit a couple of times would put the rest of league on notice and get Red Wings fans everywhere good and ready for the playoffs.
5. Top 10 Penalty Kill, to Match Their Top 10 Power Play
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For my money, regular penalty-killers like Drew Miller, Patrick Eaves and most especially, Darren Helm, have been among the most consistent Red Wings all season long.
Their role is simple and limited, but they're a big reason Detroit is still a top-three team in the West.
Still, Detroit's penalty-kill, like their defensive play overall, has been inconsistent for much of the year.
Currently, Detroit has the 12th-best PK average in the league while their power-play is good enough for fourth overall.
Having success on special teams is absolutely necessary in the playoffs and the sooner the Wings can get their PK in a higher position and into the top 10 in the league, the better chance they'll have of sustaining that type of play throughout April and beyond.
4. Nicklas Lidstrom on the Plus-Side
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There's really no way to criticize Nicklas Lidstrom in a serious way, so I'm not going to attempt to now.
All I'm saying is, his career-worst numbers for plus-minus to end a season was plus-seven.
Currently, he's even in that category and has been as low as minus-four over the past two months.
I'm just sayin'.
3. Jimmy Howard, the Millionaire Version
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It may have been the stress of negotiating first ever contract extension that caused Jimmy Howard's numbers to dip south of their positions of a year ago.
I say that because, as soon as he inked a two-year, $4.5 million extension on trade-deadline day, Jimmy Howard has been nothing short of unflappable.
The calm, solid, often dazzling goalie that won our hearts in Detroit's net last year is still here and his play of late proves it.
Sure, his numbers still aren't the greatest, but there is a marked difference in the goalie's demeanor and competing level that has given his team a chance to win each and every night.
Now able to breathe knowing where his paycheck will come from the next two years, Jimmy Howard looks ready to dominate down the stretch and into the playoffs.
2. Paging Johan Franzen, You're Needed in the Goal Scoring Department
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It was thought that a full season of health and ample ice-time would see Johan Franzen pot his first 40 goal season this year.
Currently, he might just notch 30.
30 goals is nothing to sneeze at, but, the Mule was supposed to be more productive and more consistently so this season; to date, we haven't seen what we know he's capable of.
Some say once the playoffs get here, he'll "flip the switch" and start lighting the lamp with regularity.
Don't be so sure; while Franzen scoring goals has always meant good things for the Red Wings in the playoffs, one finds that, historically, he was quite hot heading into the second season and merely built on that momentum.
That being the case, adding another five or six goals over these last 10 games would be very good timing on Franzen's part.
1. 10 Games Left, 20 Goals Against, No More, We'd Love Less
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This just might be the best indicator of how well the Wings will fair in the playoffs.
The Wings have been uncharacteristically generous when it comes to goals-allowed this season and, though that trend has started to change a bit of late, they need to become a whole lot stingier as the season winds down.
This isn't just on Jimmy Howard's shoulders but the entire team's.
It means defenders making a good first pass out of their own zone, forwards carrying the puck out of their zone before passing and no one forcing plays that just aren't there.
The failure of the Wings to do these things has more often than not resulted in the opposition celebrating in and around Detroit's net.
Giving up three and four goals a game, consistently means that you're headed for an early summer.
While a team like Detroit has the firepower to get some of those games back, winning on offense isn't a strategy any coach, and certainly Mike Babcock, would ever adopt.
If the Red Wings end the year with 224 goals-against, that will still be eight more than they gave up all of last year but, it will mean that, on average, the Wings gave up only two goals per game over the last 10 games of this season.
That's a trend that is well worth continuing into the playoffs and will need to continue throughout if Detroit has any hope of ending the year as the last NHL team standing.
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