The Red Wings' fourth line of Robby Fabbri, Joe Veleno and Austin Czarnik has been one of the most active lines in recent weeks, bringing productive minutes at a time when Detroit needs all the help it can get
The Red Wings' fourth line of Robby Fabbri, Joe Veleno and Austin Czarnik has been one of the most active lines in recent weeks, bringing productive minutes at a time when Detroit needs all the help it can get
It’s easy to ignore the fourth line. After all, for most teams these players aren’t as impactful as those in the top nine. Most of the time, they don’t get much more than eight minutes of ice time.
For Detroit, though, its fourth line has become a beast unleashed. Since putting together a line of Robby Fabbri, Joe Veleno and Austin Czarnik, Detroit has gained a unit that thrives in transition and plays responsible defense. In five games and 20 minutes of usage, the line has accounted for the highest expected goals percentage and lowest expected goals against of any line combinations this season per Moneypuck.
Let’s be honest, that data feels cherry-picked. It probably is considering how small of a sample size that data comes from. But overall, the fourth line has been one of the Red Wings’ best units in this recent stretch. That included Tuesday’s game against the Capitals, when it finished with the most shot attempts for (17) and the least shot attempts against (6) of the four lines in just over eight minutes. All five of its shots on goal came off Fabbri’s stick. Needless to say, the trio was busy.
At one point not too long ago, the fourth line was a liability at best. Earlier this month, a unit featuring a mix of Daniel Sprong, Jonatan Berggren, Christian Fischer and Fabbri was borderline unplayable.
“We got in some issues on the road where we couldn’t play the quote unquote fourth line,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said March 16. “They gave up a ton of goals, they were getting pinned. It was a huge positive for us and it’s a good sign going on the road.”
Since then, Detroit sent Berggren down to Grand Rapids and Sprong has been a healthy scratch. The current concoction of the fourth line is finding success, and a reliable bottom six has led to better play overall for the Red Wings.
The utility of the fourth line spans further than just Corsi metrics. It’s also about usage. Even if the fourth line played almost exclusively against the Capitals’ bottom six, it also set a tone while it did. After giving up the opening goal and scoring to tie it shortly thereafter, Detroit coach Derek Lalonde turned to his fourth line for the next shift. They forechecked heavily, building a foundation from which successive shifts built their own success.
This usage didn’t last all game, and the line didn’t take a shift in the final five minutes of the third period as Detroit chased a tying goal. This made sense from a surface-level view — the Red Wings wanted their big guns out to score — but one has to wonder whether that line might have also scored a goal if it had taken the ice. To be fair, it hadn’t scored for its 17 attempts on the night to that point, so maybe it’s equally likely that they wouldn’t have scored.
The fourth line generates offensive looks, but its overall construction is versatile. Fabbri brings some playmaking and two-way play, while Veleno thrives as a forechecker and defensive presence. Czarnik, meanwhile, springs transition with well-placed passes and an ability to get on top of opponents while blocking passing lanes. It’s similar in a way to the Michael Rasmussen, Andrew Copp and Christian Fischer third line, if not in one-for-one comparisons then in overall effect.
In a way that the kindling of the third line once carried Detroit’s play to a higher level, the fourth line offers a counterpunch with much of the same stylistic elements as the third. Particularly, success has risen since Czarnik earned a call-up to Detroit March 14, when he brought center depth. Even playing on Veleno’s wing, his impact has remained positive.
“We went through a stretch with playing (Christian) Fischer out of position — that just creates some chaos throughout our lineup,” Lalonde said Monday. “(Czarnik has) given us reliable minutes. And I talk about his team game of late, how we’re limiting chances, how we look a little more less chaotic throughout our entire lineup. I think he’s helped that with just giving us quality minutes down the middle.”
Czarnik isn’t the only one — in fact, it’s his whole fourth line. With Fabbri and Veleno alongside him, the unit has played well at a key time.
As they continue to succeed despite limited minutes, their success is hard to ignore.
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