Thanks to a six-game winning streak, national attention on Detroit is mounting, but the Red Wings remain focused on the work they haven't done yet
Thanks to a six-game winning streak, national attention on Detroit is mounting, but the Red Wings remain focused on the work they haven't done yet
The Red Wings skate into tonight's game with the New York Islanders riding a six-game winning streak.
After Patrick Kane's return to Chicago Sunday and ensuing heroics and then Tuesday night's offensive explosion against the Capitals, Detroit has generated more national attention than it has at any point since Steve Yzerman returned in 2019 to manage the team he once captained to three Stanley Cups.
For the Red Wings, the laudatory coverage is of course pleasant, and it would be difficult not to enjoy the way the team has been playing throughout the new year, but the team's collective focus remains firmly on the work that hasn't been done yet.
"We just continue to have to work day by day, live day by day," said Alex Lyon yesterday. "I think it's super important that we don't get too far ahead of ourselves. We still a lot of games left, so we just have to continue to do the right things."
When asked about the increased national media attention the last week has stirred up, Jake Walman told The Hockey News after this morning's skate, "I haven't really noticed it too much. We've kinda just been going about business...It's nice to get a little bit of recognition from the NHL, around the league, and see some people are talking about the Right Wings now. Hopefully just play our game, get into the playoffs, and hopefully that's where we can make our mark."
Walman made clear that while this time in the calendar inevitably creates excitement and intensity, Detroit won't be satisfied with that alone, saying "We have playoff implications, and we can really kinda see the finish line, but at the same time, we haven't accomplished anything. I think guys in the room are as hungry as ever."
To Alex DeBrincat, who after a slow start to the calendar year now has five goals and five assists in his last eight games, the Red Wings' present run of form has inspired confidence across the lineup, but what stands out most is the way Detroit hasn't had to rely on a single game script to find its victories.
"Guys are feeling good about our games," DeBrincat told THN after this morning's skate. "We definitely have that confidence that each night we can win, and it doesnt matter how you win, as long as you win. We've had close games like Chicago, and then we've had some high-scoring games, so it's nice we've been able to win different ways—go into each game, feeling out the game and figuring out which way we're gonna win."
When asked whether these past two games—being the emotion of Kane's return and the cornucopia of offense against the Capitals—have been especially fun to play in, DeBrincat replied, "honestly, right now, they're all fun. All of them mean so much, it's just been fun to be playing in meaningful games, and obviously, when you have that confidence that you're going to win every night, it makes it that much more fun."
Like Walman and Lyon, coach Derek Lalonde has tried—perhaps as any coach would—to avoid the mounting outside noise around his team, but it also comes as no surprise. "We're an Original Six team," he said this morning. "I think the league is in a much better spot when the Red Wings are relevant...but it's on us to live in the moment and keep it going."
The chance to keep building momentum and to have a little more fun will come tonight a few minutes after seven, when the puck drops on Red Wings-Islanders at Little Caesars Arena.
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