Even before the Red Wings were bombed for 10 goals by the Maple Leafs, they had crashed this season defensively. Saturday just left a crater.
"We gotta be better, we know that," Lucas Raymond said Monday. "We gotta be way more committed defensively."
The Wings took a step forward last year because they tightened up in their own zone. They've unraveled this year and taken another step forward all the same, because they've been more dangerous offensively. But this is not a foundation for success in the NHL, where goals are harder to come by in the playoffs and where the best teams can defend.
It's true, the Wings are scoring at their highest clip (2.89 goals/game) since the 2011-12 season when they racked up 102 points. Also true: they're one of only two of the NHL's 20 highest-scoring teams this season that's more than 10 points out of the playoffs. The Devils are the other. Detroit has given up far goals more than it's scored, which makes the scoring sort of pointless.
We say 'sort of' because there are things to build on here. Dylan Larkin has emerged as one of the NHL's top point-producing centers. Tyler Bertuzzi isn't far behind on the wing. Raymond is the top point producer among rookies. The Red Wings wanted to find more offense this season, and they have. Still, when asked if they want to be known as a high-scoring team, Raymond said, "No, I don't think we should be relying on scoring goals to win games."
"We are not going to win games by 6-4 or 7-5 or even 5-3," he said. "We need to win these close games, to be able to pull out 2-1, 2-0, 1-0-type games, and I think the D zone is where everything starts. If we can be tight there, we know that we can score goals. But we need to be way better defensively."
Smart words from the 19-year-old, who's no doubt echoing his coach. Jeff Blashill was pleased with the strides the Wings made in their own zone last season. They suppressed shots, scoring chances and goals to a much more efficient degree than the season prior, which you might remember as one of the worst in franchise history. Once they started to generate more offense, the thinking was, they'd be ready to win. But now their defensive identity has been lost.
"I don’t know that we’ve gotten there yet this year," Blashill said Monday. "We haven’t been a good enough defensive team really all season. It’s something that we’re continuing to work on. Some of that’s confidence defensively, but it’s certainly something we still need to get better at. I don’t think it’s been enough of our identity."
Games like last Saturday's bear that out -- it was Detroit's fourth time in the last month allowing seven or more goals. Indeed, so do the numbers. It's not just that the Wings are allowing 3.6 goals/game this season compared to an even 3.0 last year, down from 20th in the NHL to 27th. It's that they've done so despite more talent on the blueline and in net because they've been leaking scoring chances at five on five.
Per NaturalStatTrick, the Wings allowed 9.9 high-danger scoring chances/60 at five on five last season, 15th in the NHL. This season, they've allowed 12.6 high-danger scoring chances/60 at five on five, dead last in the NHL. That's a pretty stark drop-off, especially for a team that bolstered its D corps (it did, right?) with Rookie of the Year favorite Moritz Seider and veteran Nick Leddy. Of course, defensemen aren't the only ones who defend.
"Part of it is, as you move guys in and out, you have a different look to your team a little bit. I’d make an argument we probably have some naturally better offensive players this year and maybe not as naturally good defensive players, and sometimes it’s partly that," Blashill said. "If you get your offensive guys to learn how to be great defensively or even young players learn how to play in those roles and be great defensively, you’re going to get a lot better. So I don’t have the exact reason for it, but we’re going to keep working on it."
That continued Monday in practice when Raymond said the Wings stressed their D-zone coverages "to make it clear, so that everyone knows what we’re doing and can execute it at a high pace." Their wobbly structure has collapsed in this gauntlet of games against the NHL's best. In fact, Detroit has allowed at least five goals in each of its last seven games against the 10 highest-scoring teams in the league. Its record: 0-7. Its own scoring has been futile. Pointless, even.
The gauntlet began four games ago with a 7-4 loss to the Wild and concludes this week with the Hurricanes, Lightning and Panthers. The Wings wanted to measure themselves in this stretch. So far, they haven't measured up. They've played high-risk hockey against high-skill teams, with little reward to show for it.
At times this season, Blashill said the Red Wings have been defined by an "extraordinary high compete level and extraordinary high sacrifice level," and that's covered some of their defensive flaws. So has an influx of skill. But eventually, this team has to recover the defensive identity it started to forge last season. It won't go anywhere meaningful without it. Blashill would say as much himself. So would Steve Yzerman, who's supported Blashill from the moment he arrived three years ago.
But it there aren't signs of progress in the next two months, the GM might have to rethink his head coach.