The Red Wings' upcoming five-game road trip comes against five playoff-caliber teams, emphasizing Detroit's need to play a strong first period in pursuit of wins
The Red Wings' upcoming five-game road trip comes against five playoff-caliber teams, emphasizing Detroit's need to play a strong first period in pursuit of wins
Sometimes, it really is about where you start.
Over their last two extended road trips, the Red Wings dropped their opening games due to poor play in the first period, the same slow starts that afflicted them over most of the past 10 games. As they look to get a better result on a five-game road trip in the thick of the wild card race, their starts could help dictate the outcome.
“It sounds like a cliche but not only is it a long road trip, the caliber of opponent on the road trip and we’re in survival mode — we gotta try and eat every point possible,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. “Then we have an opportunity tomorrow against a (Nashville) team that hasn’t given up many points. So that’ll be a really, really good challenge for us.”
Not all of the Red Wings’ challenges are external; in fact, perhaps their biggest is an internal one. Over their past 10 games, six of those games included at least a two-goal deficit at some point in the first 20 minutes. In some, Detroit’s folding in the first period put it squarely on its heels the rest of the game. Winning in the NHL is hard enough as is, but spotting opponents goals doesn’t make it any easier. The Red Wings’ woeful starts have made them painfully aware.
In Thursday’s 6-3 win over the Islanders, however, Detroit seemed to round a corner. It stayed even with New York for the duration of a scoreless first period, giving up some chances along the way but also generating its own. It was the most competitive opening frame the Red Wings have played in a while, and the position it put them in made a difference in the outcome.
“I thought we had a pretty good start,” forward Christian Fischer said. “That (Islanders) team, they’re one of the best at clogging up that neutral zone and then defensively they have a lot of old veterans that know how to play the game the right way and kind of keep things safe.
“I mean, that was one of our messages going into this game was it might be at 1-0, or it might be at 2-0. Definitely felt like that after the first, that it was probably going to be a pretty tight game but I mean, it’s pretty simple. We just stick with it. And eventually they’re gonna have a breakdown or two. It happens to every team. You can’t play a perfect 60 minutes.”
No one plays a perfect 60 minutes, but playing an adequate opening 20 has to become the emphasis for Detroit on this road trip. In the past two road trips they played — a four-game Western Canada trip in mid-February and a Southwest-plus-Buffalo conglomerate two weeks ago — the Red Wings only won two games. This included their lone game in which they earned a first-period lead in a 5-0 rout of Calgary, and one of their two first-period ties that came in an overtime win in Seattle. The other six losses were games when they dug an early hole, which made winning harder. The first frame can’t win a team a game outright, but it can help them lose it.
What does first period success look like for Detroit? Namely, it’s whatever isn’t the big leads they’ve surrendered as of late. At risk of overstating a mathematical certainty, a tied frame — even a scoreless one like Thursday — prevents them from having to dig out of a deficit. This in turn makes winning much more manageable, let alone if they can build a lead. Even if the offense isn’t there right out of the gate, avoiding goals against is a must.
The Red Wings will have their hands full with their opponents on this road trip. The next five are all playoff teams or those vying for the same Eastern Conference wild card they currently occupy. Nashville, Washington, Carolina, Florida and Tampa Bay are tough wins made even tougher on the road. Detroit will need to bring its A-game.
“Part of, I think, the growth is being in this position,” Lalonde said of his team’s playoff hunt. “We just haven’t been here and there’s such growth in games like last night. That was an intense game. You could feel it in your gut. You could feel it in the crowd. You could feel it in the first period from both teams. But I think there’s just growth in being in those situations. We wanted to be battling for it as late as possible, and now we’re here and hopefully we can continue to stay in the fight.”
Staying in the fight for a whole game, the first period especially, can bode well for the Red Wings’ results this road trip. Lalonde was right in saying Detroit needs to soak up every point it can, and there are 10 really big ones on the table during this road tilt.
If Detroit takes care of where it starts, where it finishes could take care of itself.
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