Todd McLellan has coached too many good teams to celebrate a mediocre record. He's made the playoffs in San Jose, Edmonton and LA, each of his stops prior to Detroit. So while McLellan is encouraged by the surge that has pushed the Red Wings to 18-18-4 and back into the playoff race, ".500 is just .500, and that gets you nothing in this league," he said after Detroit's 3-2 win over Ottawa Tuesday night.
"To crawl back the way we have is important, but I did tell the players, quit worrying about wins and losses and streaks and playoffs. Just play the game," McLellan said. "Make mistakes, play well, we’ll fix it the next day, and later on we’ll look at the standings."
In Detroit, the so-called New Coach Bump is real. After getting punished by the Leafs in their first game under McLellan following the dismissal of Derek Lalonde, the Wings have won five in a row. They weren't at their best Tuesday night, but rallied in the third against a division rival to steal two points. Don't tell McLellan, but let's peek at the standings: the Red Wings -- not long ago buried -- are two points out of a playoff spot halfway through the season, albeit with four teams to jump.
Patrick Kane had to laugh when the question came his way, as if it could be so simple: "What's turned it around for you guys?" The answer, as Kane said, is a lot of things at once. But distilled to one thing, "obviously, you gotta give credit to Todd."
"He’s come in and done an incredible job of changing some things, helping us be a little bit more aggressive in our game and up the confidence in the room, too. That’s a huge part of it," said Kane. "Even when you’re not playing great -- we had a good first period, the second was a little bit of a lull -- we can come in down 2-1 knowing we have a chance to come back and win."
In the locker room before the third, McLellan issued a challenge to the group in what he called a "brand-new experience for all of us: what are we going to do when we’re down by one?" McLellan didn't like the way the Wings had skated in the second; no one did. He saw a disconnected group getting up the ice. He saw very little in the way of a forecheck. As a coaching staff, he said, "we try to give (the players) something to grab on to. ... And right now, they’re willing to grasp it and try things."
"We thought that we were (too) spread out," McLellan said. "The first pair of forecheckers were going, but the third forechecker and the D were too far behind. So we gave them something that maybe they could grab on to and go."
Away they went. The Wings jumped onto the ice and tied the game within five minutes on exactly the kind of play McLellan has been preaching to his team: a shot from the point, a rebound in the slot, a forward on the spot. It was Joe Veleno, who had his stick on the ice when the puck caromed his way and the wherewithal to chip it over the glove of Anton Forsberg as he was knocked to the ice by a defenseman.
Veleno popped up, then dropped to a knee and pumped his fist as he slid toward the boards and came nose to nose with a fan behind the glass; they banged it in united delight. Veleno laughed later and said, "I was just really excited. I knew it was a big goal for the team." No stranger to celebrating big goals, Kane smiled and said, "That was pretty good."
"He had a few pumps in there. I’m not sure what the count was, might have been over/under 3.5 pumps. I think I’m taking the over on that. It was a good one. It’s nice to see that emotion, too, right?" said Kane. "It’s a hard thing to do to score in this league, and it’s cool when guys get excited."
It's a little easier when you get pucks to the net. It was an area in which the Wings struggled mightily this season under Lalonde. They're still last in the NHL in five-on-five shots per game (19.3), and by extension, second to last in five-on-five goals per game (1.6). But they're making a more concerted effort under McLellan to funnel pucks on goal and swarm for second chances.
"I’ve always been a real big believer that volume shooting is important," said McLellan. "And I know the analytics departments all over will say, 'Well, it’s the quality of the shot.’ I think it’s the quality of the shot off the rebound that’s really important, and we saw Joey Veleno score. You break defenses down by taking a shot and then grabbing it and re-attacking. You can cycle to death all you want and often you don’t get anything off of it.
"I just believe in that. Been selling to that to the players, and our D are doing a good job of creating opportunity with the shot and the forwards capitalize on secondary chances or getting teams out of position. That’s where the volume comes in."
The Red Wings were outshot, at all strengths, in 24 of their 34 games under Lalonde. They've yet to be outshot under McLellan. They've clipped some good teams playing this way, including the Jets and Capitals. The shoot-first mentality, said Kane, has "definitely been a positive part of our game."
Their power play has also rediscovered its groove under Lalonde-holdover Alex Tanguay. The Wings scored multiple power-play goals Tuesday for the fourth straight game, highlighted by a tic-tac-toe from Lucas Raymond to Alex DeBrincat to Dylan Larkin to open the scoring. The unit is clicking at better than 50 percent since McLellan took over, and now ranks third in the NHL on the season. It won't continue at this rate, of course, but "it's been incredible," said Kane.
"Every time we go out there, we feel like we can score. The production has been really high right now. We know it's not realistic to score two every night, but it’s been a huge reason for our success and gotta keep that rolling," Kane said.
Some of Detroit's best players didn't look like themselves toward the end of Lalonde's tenure. As Steve Yzerman put it, "Zapped." In the final 15 games under Lalonde, Kane had two goals, Larkin had one. They've combined for nine goals over this five-game streak, with Kane netting the game-winner in overtime Tuesday night -- on the power play, off a face-off won by Larkin.
Not to be outdone by Veleno, Kane dropped to a knee and slid to center ice as he wind-milled his arm and then blessed himself on a night that a pair of nuns in the upper deck of Little Caesars Arena were hits on the Jumbotron. One of them even brought her rosary to bless the crowd. She may have blessed the team, which is trying to resurrect its season. Kane grinned when asked about Veleno's celebration and said, "I think it was the second best celly of the night."
The Red Wings still have a ways to go, and the bounce from a new bench boss only lasts so long. But they opened a crucial homestand with a clutch win Tuesday night, with three more beatable teams -- Chicago, Seattle and San Jose -- on deck. A daunting road trip looms on the other side. Kane, like McLellan, has been around too long to get ahead of himself, but he's not too proud to know that the Wings were falling behind.
"A month ago if you told us we’d be in this position, everyone on the team would have taken it," he said. "We’ve done our job the last five games to get ourselves back in a good spot, and we have half a season to keep going."
At the very least, they're on the move.