Desperate times call for desperate measures, as was evident midway through the third period of Saturday’s Detroit Red Wings vs Buffalo Sabres game at Little Caesars Arena.

Clinging to a 2-1 lead, the Red Wings were pulling out all the stops to protect their slim advantage. Thus, those in attendance were treated to the rare sighting of a Patrick Kane bodycheck on Buffalo forward Jordan Greenway.

Speaking of rare sights, Saturday afternoon’s tilt would end in a 4-1 victory for the home side. Detroit’s first win since Feb. 27 brought to a halt the club’s seven-game losing skid.

We hear from Christian Fischer, who scored the Wings' first goal, and James Reimer, who had 25 saves in the 4-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres.#LGRW pic.twitter.com/392F6fD5Oy

— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) March 16, 2024

The win also put the Red Wings back into a playoff position. They are holding down the second Eastern Conference wild card spot, one point ahead of the New York Islanders.

Many clad in the winged wheel had a hand in this outcome. None were more of a factor in the success story than goaltender James Reimer.

Reimer Delivers For Red Wings

Handed just his third starting assignment over the past 13 games, Detroit’s veteran backup puckstopper was moving to the front of the class. Reimer parried 25 of 26 shots. He’s won four of his last five starts.

“High, high compete,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said of Reimer. “He just battled around the net. I think he lifts our guys a little bit.

“One against versus a team like that, that’s a very strong performance.”

Strong enough to bring forth an even stronger statement. As the Red Wings roll into Pittsburgh for a Sunday night showdown with the Penguins, the choice is obvious: Reimer must be given a second straight starting assignment.

Alex Lyon is deserving of plaudits for the heights his netminding has enabled the Red Wings to rise to. They are at the level of playoff contender. Lately, though, the wheels have come of Lyon’s game. Is he worn down from the workload, or simply battling a slump?

This debate is immaterial. The fact of the matter is that Lyon is fighting the puck. And when goalies fight the puck, the puck always wins.

Lalonde Isn’t Committing To Reimer

The difference in Detroit’s game was noticeable to even the casual observer. This was a Red Wings teammate committed to the forecheck, determined to take time and space away from the Sabres. Was it a case of a team that was simply fed up with losing? Or was the factor of playing in front of a goalie who gives them a touch more confidence at the moment also playing a role?

When teams aren’t trusting of their goalie, they get tentative. Pressuring the puck is surrendered in favor of a more passive approach. the fear is by attacking on the defensive, they will leave themselves open to odd-man rushes, or even breakaways, which they don’t trust their netminder to save.

However, by sitting back, they do the opposite of their objective. They’re allowing the opponent to generate speed through the neutral zone and gain easy access to the attacking zone, thus leading to more scoring chances.

While this can’t be 100% attributed to the goalie switch, Reimer’s early saves certainly bolstered a Red Wings team that ultimately would gain a lead for the first time in 280 minutes and 34 seconds of hockey.

Reimer is 4-1 through his past five starts. However, he’s not been in the net for back-to-back starts since Dec. 20-22.

Depsite his solid showing Saturday, Lalonde still wasn’t ready to commit to a Reimer start on Sunday.

Happy 36th Birthday to #SJSharks alumni goaltender James Reimer.

Dean Tait/Hockey Shots pic.twitter.com/95NooFh4HZ

— San Jose Sharks History (@sjsharkshistory) March 16, 2024

“Obviously the instinct will be to go back to him after a win,” Lalonde acknowledged. “But he is 35 and not many goalies in this league go back to back.

“So I’ll probably have a better feel after I consult with our goalie coach and kinda go from there.”

Actually, Reimer turned 36 on Friday, but that’s also immaterial. Considering what’s on the line, consultation shouldn’t be necessary.

The only correct answer is to start Reimer on Sunday.

The post Red Wings Have No Choice: They Must Ride Reimer appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

DETROIT — Christian Fischer went to his knees in the second period to help the Detroit Red Wings halt their seven-game losing streak.

And he wasn’t praying.

Fischer was stumbling to the ice, but managed to twist his body and fling the puck past Buffalo goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. The goal tied the game 1-1 and seemed to restore the Red Wings’ competitiveness and launched them to a 4-1 win that put them back in an Eastern Conference wild card position.

“Obviously a much-needed win and I just love the way we did it,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said.

The Red Wings now have 74 points, giving them a one point lead over the New York Islanders.  The Sabres are now five points behind Detroit. Lalonde’s team will be in Pittsburgh to play the Penguins Sunday in another key game in the playoff race.

Christian Fischer, while falling down

HUGE goal to tie things up in Detroit pic.twitter.com/KjaN9ThV1P

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 16, 2024

Reimer Steps Up

The Red Wings didn’t give up fewer than four goals in any of the seven losses, and James Reimer held the Sabres to one goal on 26 shots. The Sabres had just defeated the Red Wings 7-3 on Tuesday.

“Just in a broad sense, I think we really played a complete game, start to finish,” Fischer said. “Not too many lapses in the D-zone… We just felt a different compete level, kind of back to our old ways.”

In addition to scoring a crucial goal on a memorable effort, Fischer and linemates Michael Rasmussen and Andrew Copp shut down Buffalo’s top line of Zemgus Girgensons, Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch in even-strength situations.

“The guys love Christian,” Lalonde said. “He plays the right way. Obviously they had the Thompson assignment tonight and their job was not to get scored on. And for them to get a goal the way they did with second effort, zone time, below the goal line battle, very uplifting

Patrick Kane’s 14th goal of the season, scored with 2:20 remaining in the second period, gave the Red Wings a 2-1 lead. J.T. Compher set up the tally by poking the puck across the slot to Kane. It was like he was playing shuffleboard. It was the first lead the Detroit squad had known since March 6 when it lost to the Colorado Avalanche. That was a span of 280 minutes, 34 seconds over five games.

“I think once we got up 2-1, we knew we were going to win that game,” Fischer said. “just on how we felt and everybody working.”

No Style Points

Fischer laughed when asked whether his goal was executed just the way he drew it up.

“Yeah, I meant to do that for sure,” he said, playing along before confessing . “Just bad skater, I don’t think he even tripped me. It was obviously a big goal for our team at the time and with me. Copp and Ras, that’s our type of goal, to the net, cycles, that type of stuff.”

This felt like a big game because of the playoff implications. Tomorrow’s game against the Penguins will be just as important.

The Red Wings played Saturday like they had their confidence back.

“You see every guy having that second and third effort, whether it’s a turnover, a good play or a bad play. You saw every single guy competing like our lives are on the line,” Fischer said. “That goes a long way when you see Kaner and (Alex DeBrincat out there throwing some hits around. Second and third sticks in the D-zone. Second efforts to get pucks out. Diving saves, big saves on the PK, block shots. I could down the list of the little things that mean so much to the group. You feed off each other. We felt it in that room, in between the second and third, not too much needed to be said. We just needed to keep doing what we were doing. That type of feeling is what we had in January and February when we were rolling.”

The post Fischer Performance Helps Red Wings Rediscover Their Confidence appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

The Detroit Red Wings don’t have to say a word because the numbers can scream for themselves.  An 0-4 road road trip. Six consecutive losses overall. Outscored 32-11. An eight-point cushion in the playoff race is gone.

And worst of all, the Red Wings seem to have zero answers about how to turn it around.

The Red Wings went into the game expecting, or at least hoping, they could halt the losing streak. Instead, Buffalo Sabres dominated them in a 7-3 win that pushes the Red Wings below the playoff line. The Red Wings and Islanders are tied for the second Eastern Conference wild card spot, but the Islanders have a percentage points lead because they have a game in hand.

With the win, the Sabres are now only five points behind Detroit. The Red Wings gave up seven goals to a team that has scored three or fewer goals in 14 of their last 17 games.

Another Poor Start

“Rough start,” Coach Derek Lalonde told Bally Sports. “We gave a top player a breakaway just over a minute into the game. Can’t feed their offense, their skilled guys. We want to make it hard on them. We gave them easy offense. And then we just got chasing it. We got out of structure a little bit. I think we got a little bit rattled and obviously that was the first period.”

Poor starts have been a problem throughout the losing streak.

“It’s for sure a mentality thing,” Detroit’s Lucas Raymond said. “I think we, if you look at the three periods, we’ve had really tough starts. It kind of gets ourselves in a hole to kind of dig out. That’s a huge thing for us. We need to come out with better starts to keep us in it and just find a way to win hockey games.”

Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said earlier that the game in Buffalo wasn’t a “must win.” But it was a “must play well.” That didn’t happen. The Red wings played better in the loss to Vegas Saturday then it did against Buffalo.

“We got to fight out of it,” Lalonde said. “Even after the second period – stay positive with it, we’ll play through it. We’ll get an opportunity again on Thursday. We just need to fight with some positives here. It’s disappointing because we showed some signs in Vegas with some positive team play, especially in that third period, and then we just didn’t have it tonight. We were slow. They played with way better pace. It looked like a huge mismatch. We got to figure it out.”

Joe Veleno had to leave the game when he was struck in the head by Buffalo defenseman Connor Clifton’s shot.

Scary moment for Joe Veleno after he took a Connor Clifton shot to the head #LetsGoBuffalo #LGRW pic.twitter.com/DdZMipyFiC

— Buffalo Hockey Moments (@SabresPlays) March 13, 2024

“I did see him just now,” Lalonde said. “He felt pretty good. Probably more kind of a protocol situation. So he’ll see the doctor in the morning and hopefully be available for us on Thursday.”

Many Detroit players subpar

The defensive pairing of Ben Chiarot and Jeff Petry was -4 in this game. Alex Lyon was pulled late in the first period after giving up four goals on 11 shots. This losing streak isn’t on him, but his .692 save percentage is clearly not what Detroit needed in this game.

The fact this losing streak is coming with Dylan Larkin on the injured list illustrates his importance. He is going to be sidelined at least through the weekend.

“Obviously a huge part of our team,” Raymond said. “Our captain on and off the ice. But at the same time we need to play better. I think that’s just it. We can do it. When we play the way we’re supposed to, we’re a hell of a hockey team. Obviously he’s a huge part of our team, but we need to get back to things here.”
 

The post Red Wings Hole Gets Deeper; Losing Streak at Six appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

Game Facts

Who: Red Wings at Buffalo

Where: KeyBank Center, Buffalo

When: 7:30 p.m.

TV/Radio: ESPN+, Hulu/97.1 FM

Records: Red Wings 13-7-3, Sabres 10-13-1.

What to Know

We’ll get this out the way now: No Patrick Kane debut tonight in his hometown. He had his first practice with the Red Wings on Monday and Derek Lalonde had said  that playing tonight would have been “ambitious.” Kane said the delay isn’t for conditioning reasons. “My body feels good,” he said Monday. “Just more almost learning the game again. Hopefully it’s one of those things if you do it for one game, two games, three games, it comes back to you pretty naturally. I’m confident I’ll get there. Just gotta be patient with it a little bit, I guess.” He’s likely to make his debut Thursday in Detroit against San Jose. ….

The Red Wings have won two in a row and five of their last six, while the Sabres have lost three in a row and five of their last seven. Part of the reason has been the resurgent power play. The Wings have scored a power-play goal in each of the last six games. …

Buffalo will have Tage Thompson back in the lineup.. He had missed the last nine games due to a wrist injury. It could be a boost to the Sabres’ sagging offense. He had 47 goals last season, six in 16 games this season before he was hurt. …

Buffalo’s defense has left a lot to be desired this season, allowing 3.4 goals per game, but goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has been outstanding, with a 2.81 GAA and a .905 save percentage. …

Goalie who appeared in three games with #RedWings in 2019-20 starts tonight against Wings at Sabres (7:30, ESPN-Plus/Hulu). https://t.co/dCueHk8Chm

— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) December 5, 2023

Speaking of hot goalies, Alex Lyon is back in net tonight for the Red Wings. He’s 3-1 this season with a 1.26 GAA and a .958 save percentage. Those numbers are keeping James Reimer on the bench for the time being.

The post Red Wings at Sabres: What to Know appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

While it’s evident that the Detroit Red Wings are still among the contending teams for the services of former Hart Trophy winner Patrick Kane, the fact of the matter is it appears that that they aren’t front runners.

The Kane sweepstakes are officially underway. Kane’s agent Pat Brisson has begun the process of talking to NHL teams regarding his client. And Detroit is on that list. All of the contending clubs play in the Eastern Conference.

According to a report from TSN insider Chris Johnston, the four teams atop Kane’s list are the Buffalo Sabres, New York Rangers, Florida Panthers and Detroit Red Wings. Kane is reportedly seeking a pact that will pay him an AAV of $5 million.

Friedman on 32TP: "We're starting to get close to the Patrick Kane decision, I think this week he's going to start talking to some teams. Bill Zito, the GM of Florida, has been one of the most aggressive GMs when it comes to Kane.."

— NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) November 13, 2023

Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman is reporting that Panthers GM Bill Zito is putting the full-court press on in order to convince Kane to bring his talents to South Beah.

Kane underwent hip resurfacing surgery on June 1. At the time, the prognosis was that the 2010 Conn Smythe Trophy winner would require 4-6 months of rehab before he’d be able to resume playing.

Would Kane Consider Red Wings?

There seems to be a groundswell of support for Kane ending up with the Buffalo Sabres. He’s got strong personal relationships with Sabres coach Don Granato and GM Kevyn Adams. Of course, Buffalo is also his hometown.

Sean McDermott praying the Sabres sign Patrick Kane to a three-year deal today so the target gets pulled off his back for at least 24 hours.

— Matthew Hogan (@MattNHLHogan) November 14, 2023

Kane is interested in going with a team that’s a Stanley Cup contender and certainly the Panthers, last season’s Eastern Conference winners, exemplify that possibility as being real. While the Panthers are tight on the salary cap, George Richards of Florida Hockey Now outlines exactly  how a Kane to the Panthers move could work out. Zito and Kane also have a relationship from working together with USA Hockey.

The Rangers appear to have fallen off the radar in the battle for Kane. He finished his season there in 2022-23 following a trade from the Chicago Blackhawks and it wasn’t exactly spectacular. Kane would collect 5-7-12 totals in 19 regular-season games for New York. However, he had only one goal in seven playoff games as the Rangers made a first-round exit.

Where do the Red Wings fit into this picture? Well, it’s known that Kane loved playing on a line with Detroit’s Alex DeBrincat in Chicago. DeBrincat already has 10 goals this season. Kane was his linemate for the majority of both of his 41-goal seasons with Blackhawks.

The two stumbling blocks would appear to be whether Kane considers the Red Wings to be contenders. Then there’s also the fact of whether Detroit GM Steve Yzerman is willing to pay Kane $5 million.

The post Red Wings Still in Mix for Kane appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

Patrick Kane agent Pat Brisson told ESPN’s Emily Kaplin that he will start talking to teams about his client in early November and then play later that month or early in December.

Kane, 34, is  4 1/2 months removed from hip resurfacing surgery. Kaplin further reported that he is already cleared for contact. He has been intensely rehabilitating the injury.

The return projection isn’t etched in stone because Kane wants to make sure the hip is 100% fit for duty. His hip injury curtailed his mobility and made it painful to play last season.

The timetable is important to many teams around the league, including the Detroit Red Wings, because there’s hope that Kane can again be the player he was two seasons ago when he put up 92 points.

DeBrincat Connection

The Red Wings, for multiple reasons have been listed as a possible suitor. First, Kane and Alex DeBrincat played together in Chicago and Kane has said publicly he would like to play again with DeBrincat.

Second, Kane has history in Michigan. He billeted with former Red Wings assistant general manager Pat Verbeek when he played for the HoneyBaked Ham program years ago. He also lived in Michigan when he played for the U.S. National Team Development Program.

Third, Kane is known as a highly competitive, no-quit-in-him player and Yzerman respects those kind of athletes.

Finally, the Red Wings’ stated goal is to upgrade their offense and Kane, presuming he is fully healthy, could help. Also, not many teams have cap space and the Red Wings have roughly $4 million in cap space.

How Will Kane View Red Wings?

Brisson did also tell Kaplin that it is too early to talk about teams, and he’s probably right. Injuries and won-loss records over the next few weeks could influence bidding. It’s presumed he wants to go to a team that has an opportunity to win. It’s hard for Detroiters to know what to make of the Red Wings’ start? How does Kane feel about it?

Kaplin had her own list of potential landing spots for Kane, which included the Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres, Florida Panthers, Dallas Stars and New York Rangers. The Panthers, Stars and Rangers clearly provide him with a better opportunity to compete for the Stanley Cup.

The Sabres are intriguing for multiple reasons, including they are Detroit’s Atlantic Division and they had the NHL’s highest-scoring offense last season. They also have more than $9 million in cap space.

For a long time, it was said that Kane didn’t want to play in his hometown. But Kaplin reports that he is interested in Buffalo because of the relationships he has with general manager Kevyn Adams and coach Don Granato.

The post Are Red Wings, Sabres Both Eyeing Patrick Kane? appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

Preseason prognosticators have been pessimistic about the Detroit Red Wings chances of qualifying for the playoffs. The overwhelming theme seems to be that the Red Wings have improved, but not enough, to earn a playoff spot in the highly competitive Atlantic Division.

But if you listen carefully to Detroit players, you do hear hope coming from their lips. Players generally are a confident bunch, but this seems like genuine optimism.

“I think we have a great mix here of personalities and guys in different stages of their career,” Red Wings forward Christian Fischer. “If we can put it all together, I think we’re going to have a very exciting team to watch.”

The post Five Reasons Why the Red Wings Could Make Playoffs (+) appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

In some circles, seven is considered to be a lucky number, but don’t try telling that to the Detroit Red Wings. If you check the Atlantic Division odds at NHL betting sites or look into some preseason prognostications of NHL publications, you’ll discover that the majority of these entities are slotting the Red Wings into the seventh spot in the division.

In other words, exactly where the team finished up a season ago.

Is there legitimate hope that the team can buck those odds, take the standings, and if not turn them upside down, at least shake them up enough to shake out a playoff spot? Even GM Steve Yzerman is wondering how that development might come about.

Are the Red Wings ready to make a playoff run during the 2023-24 campaign?

The post Which Teams Can Red Wings Beat to Make Playoffs? (+) appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

The bad news for the Detroit Red Wings is that their drafting performance in the five years before the Yzerplan began was poor. The worse news for Detroit is that every Atlantic Division rival had more drafting success from 2014-18.

The Red Wings  saw 32% of their draft picks (from 2014-18) play at least one NHL game. By contrast, the Boston Bruins had almost 66% (21-for-32) of their draftees play at least one game, while the Tampa Bay Lightning were at 47%, followed by the Buffalo Sabres (46%) and the Toronto Maple Leafs (44%).

That’s the same Bruins who set a new record last season on for wins and points in a season, and the same Lightning team that made three consecutive trips to the Stanley Cup Final. They won back-to-back Cups.

The post Atlantic Rivals Moved Ahead of Detroit With Better Drafting (+) appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

This time around, no hot dogs were idling in the bowl of Lord Stanley’s mug during Phil Kessel’s day with the Stanley Cup.

VGK Phil Kessel keeps it relatively quiet (except for the birthday party ) after his 3rd Cup victory. BTW, there were no hot dogs. (Toronto, ON). #StanleyCup @GoldenKnights @NHL @HockeyHallFame pic.twitter.com/DBNBkgfOOu

— Philip Pritchard (@keeperofthecup) July 19, 2023

The NHL iron man and Vegas Golden Knights forward brought the Cup to his daughter’s birthday party. But if hot dogs were on the menu, they would not be served from the Cup’s legendary bowl.

Third Stanley Cup For Kessel

In 2016, when Kessel, then with the Pittsburgh Penguins, won the first of his three Stanley Cups, he was photographed next to the famous trophy, which was filled to the brim with hot dogs.

Kessel was trolling a Toronto sports columnist who claimed in print that Kessel began each day as a member of the Maple Leafs by visiting the same hot dog street vendor en route to the rink.

Red Wings In Case You Missed It

• Two-time Detroit Stanley Cup winner Viacheslav Fetisov believes that the IOC is being unfair to Russian athletes
• Following a lost season, Red Wings prospect Tnias Mathurin is looking forward to the 2023-24 OHL campaign
• These are the uniform numbers that the newcomers to Detroit will be wearing during the upcoming NHL season
• The speed of prospect Kevin Bicker should enhance his chances of one day playing for the Red Wings

Red Wings Offseason

Goaltender Luke Pavicich, a free-agent attendee at the recent Red Wings development camp, will be playing for a new team during the 2023-24 hockey season. He’ll be transferring from Massachusetts to UMass-Lowell.

Hockey Now Network

Pittsburgh: Former Toronto Maple Leafs netminder Garret Sparks is signing with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Philadelphia: What could a healthy Sean Couturier mean to the Philadelphia Flyers?

Islanders: The solution to the salary cap woes of the New York Islanders starts with Ross Johnston.

Washington: Completing their coaching staff, the Washington Capitals are hiring former NHLer Kirk Muller.

Boston: The rookies of the Boston Bruins will be participating in the Buffalo Sabres NHL rookie tournament this fall.

Buffalo: The depth of the Buffalo Sabres could see the club making trades next season in order to fill holes in the lineup.

Florida: Can defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson engineer a bounceback season with the Florida Panthers?

Montreal: Here’s what Jesse Ylonen’s contract extension with the Montreal Canadiens might end up looking like.

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Colorado: Legendary Colorado Avalanche star and multiple Stanley Cup winner Peter Forsberg was celebrating his 50th birthday on Thursday.

Chicago: Chicago Blackhawks prospect Marcel Marcel signed a one-year contract with AHL Rockford.

Nashville: Speculating on what the lineup might look like next season for the Nashville Predators.

San Jose: Rumors are that the San Jose Sharks are seeking defenseman Marcus Pettersson in any Erik Karlsson trade package with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Calgary: Forward Mikael Backlund isn’t completely ruling up signing a new contract with the Calgary Flames.

The post The Daily: Hot Dog – Golden Knights Kessel Has Day With Stanley Cup; Depth of Sabres Could Lead to Trades Next Season appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.