Goals are hemorrhaging and scoring has dried up, exposing critical Red Wings' weaknesses on defense and at forward.
The Detroit Red Wings still remain in the top two of the Atlantic division with a 13-9-1 record but the cracks are starting to show.
The team has won just five of their last 12 games with defense continuing to be a pressing issue. During their recent slide, the Red Wings have surrendered 40 goals, which is tied with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the fifth-worst mark in the NHL over that span. Just as troubling is the drop in offensive support. Detroit has averaged only 2.42 goals per game during the skid, another bottom-five figure in the league.
Head coach Todd McLellan, hired for his reputation as a defensively structured bench boss, suddenly finds his team leaking goals at an alarming rate. The pressure is mounting for Detroit to make adjustments or consider personnel changes before the standings tighten further.
The biggest red flags remain on the blue line, particularly among the bottom-pair defenders. Travis Hamonic and Albert Johansson have been overwhelmed in recent weeks, offering Detroit little stability at five-on-five or on special teams. Johansson has been on the ice for 16 goals against during this stretch, with four coming on the power play and 12 at even strength, while contributing to only three even-strength goals for Detroit.
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Hamonic’s struggles have been even more glaring as he leads the team with a -10 even-strength goal differential during their slump, without a single goal for the Red Wings occurring with him on the ice to offset the damage. Detroit’s second forward line has not fared much better defensively, even though it has managed to produce some scoring of its own.
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Alex DeBrincat has been on the ice for 12 even-strength goals against, though he has broken even by being out for 12 goals for, along with five more on the power play. His center, J. T. Compher, has not been able to match that balancing act. Compher has been on the ice for 11 even-strength goals against while contributing to just five for Detroit, raising concerns about his two-way reliability. Patrick Kane has also found himself on the wrong end of the ledger, being on the ice for nine even-strength goals against. Kane’s numbers come despite missing three of the 12 games, which suggests that the problem is not limited to deployment or fatigue but is instead systemic across the line.
With multiple players in double-digit goals allowed over a 12-game span, the performance is far from what fans expected under McLellan’s defensive identity. Equally worrying is Detroit’s disappearing depth offense. Veteran James van Riemsdyk finally snapped his drought with a goal on Monday, but the larger trend remains grim.
Van Riemsdyk, Compher, Mason Appleton, and Andrew Copp have combined for only two goals across their last 14 games. General manager Steve Yzerman signed van Riemsdyk and Appleton in free agency specifically to bolster Detroit’s secondary scoring. So far, that investment has not yielded the returns the organization hoped for.
The Red Wings now look ahead to Wednesday night, when they host the slumping Nashville Predators in a favorable matchup. With their defensive structure shaken and their depth offense struggling, Detroit will aim to regroup and rediscover the winning ways that carried them through the early part of the season.
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