It's time to officially consider the Red Wings a playoff contender
On Detroit's win agains the Wild and why things feel a bit different this season.
DETROIT — The Sweden trip has gone from disaster to minor footnote for the Detroit Red Wings.
Since back-to-back losses in Stockholm, the Red Wings have won three straight in their return to North America. Detroit beat contenders in the New Jersey Devils and Boston Bruins, and then dispatched the struggling Minnesota Wild 4-1 on Sunday.
It was an ugly game at times, the ice conditions also seemed suspect, but Detroit won the type of contest it had lost in prior seasons. And 20 games into the season the Red Wings only trail Boston in the Atlantic Division and are eighth in the NHL on goal differential.
Unlike last season’s early results, the 2024 playoff chase feels like it has staying power.
Lucas Raymond continued his hot streak, registering a point in his sixth straight game, when he danced a Wild defender and then teed up David Perron for a goal in the first period.
Dylan Larkin had a “captain moment” late in the second period when he created an initial chance with speed and skill, and then finished it off with an effort play to give Detroit a 2-1 lead.
Larkin made a similar play to setup Detroit’s third goal, a combination of will and skill, where he initial lost the faceoff but reached around Connor Dewar to win the puck back to Shayne Gostibehere who teed up Perron for his second of the game, and 300th of his NHL career.
And throughout Sunday’s game Detroit continue to benefit from the calming presence of Alex Lyon.
Lyon was a passenger for the first 16 games of the season, a third-string goalie behind Ville Husso and James Reimer that was never given a chance. But because of Reimer’s play and Husso’s wife giving birth, Lyon has started three of Detroit’s last four games.
During that stretch Lyon has stopped 79 of 83 shots, including 37 on Sunday against Minnesota.
It’s reminiscent of how Lyon saved the Florida Panthers last season, when he took over at the de facto starting goalie for the final month of the regular season and led Florida to a surprising playoff berth.
Believe it or not, regular season wins in November count the same in the standings as wins in March and April.
And, yes, the Wild are a flawed and struggling team, one that’s being ripped internally right now by GM Bill Guerin. But good teams are supposed to capitalize against struggling ones, and right now the Red Wings are a good team.
And that hasn’t been the case of years.
Detroit last made the playoffs in 2016, then playing in the since demolished Joe Louis Arena. Little Caesars Arena, for all its modern touches, has never hosted a truly meaningful NHL game.
When Detroit travels to New York on Wednesday, for a nationally-televised game with the Rangers, it can be legitimately labeled a potential playoff preview.
I certainly don't want to jinx anything, but man they really do feel like a very different team. I know their records last and this year were nearly identical but if memory serves, they had a very easy schedule last year with a relatively difficult one this year. And goaltending bailed them out of a lot of games. They have firepower this year and have rarely felt out of a game when falling behind. I'm still cautiously optimistic, but with far less caution than in many, many years!