DETROIT – Through large parts of the season, the eye test told Detroit Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill that his team was making progress.
As it winds down, their record shows it.
The Red Wings defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 1-0 in an eight-round shootout Saturday at Little Caesars Arena. Thomas Greiss made 33 saves for his second consecutive shutout.
Detroit has 18 wins and 45 points in 53 games, after recording 17 wins and 39 points in 71 games last season.
The Red Wings (18-26-9) are 24th out of 31 teams in points percentage (.425), after finishing last by a significant margin in 2019-20 (.275). The have three games remaining, including a nationally televised rematch against Tampa Bay on Sunday (3 p.m., NBC).
“I don’t think there’s any doubt, anybody who’s watched us, that we’re a much better team this year than we were a year ago,” Blashill said. “What I’ve liked here in the last bit is we’ve won a number of games with a whole bunch of young guys in the lineup and that’s a big thing for our organization. That shouldn’t discredit the older guys in the lineup; they’re making great contributions. We’ve got a number of them that have done a great job.”
The Red Wings are better defensively. They rank 20th in the NHL in goals-against per game (3.00), after finishing last in 2019-20 (3.73).
Much of that is due to goaltending. Jonathan Bernier has been strong for the better part of two seasons. Greiss, after struggling for a stretch earlier this season, has played well for several weeks, outstanding of late (5-0-3 in his past eight starts, with a 1.54 goals-against average and .951 save percentage).
“We’re clearly a better defensive team,” Blashill said. “I don’t necessarily believe in a whole bunch of stats that you can make an argument for one way or another, but we’ve got stats we trust, like Grade A (scoring chances) against in different situations, Grade A’s against for the season. We’re giving our goalies a chance to make saves on a more consistent basis.”
Said Greiss of his recent performance: “Just playing better. We got a couple of bounces, a couple of two-on-ones where they could have easily scored with an empty net and they just missed.”
Offense continues to be an issue. The Red Wings have been shut out seven times and are averaging only slightly more goals per game (2.17) than last season (2.00).
But they have been hit hard by injuries and COVID protocol, missing key contributors Tyler Bertuzzi, Bobby Ryan, Robby Fabbri and Dylan Larkin for large parts of the season.
“We’re not a better offensive team today than we were a year ago, so we need to find ways to score,” Blashill said. “But you can win games when they’re tight.”
That is what they did against the defending Stanley Cup champion, a team that is competing with Carolina and Florida for the top spot in the Central Division and home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs.
Detroit outscored Tampa Bay 4-3 in the shootout, getting goals from Jakub Vrana, Filip Zadina, Valtteri Filppula and the winner by Sam Gagner.
It wouldn’t have reached that point if they hadn’t killed a five-on-three power play that lasted for 1:46 with less than four minutes remaining in regulation. Luke Glendening, Danny DeKeyser and Marc Staal were on the ice for most of it.
“Great kill,” Blashill said. “How you kill those is you stay tight like we did, you block shots, you get a huge save and you get a little lucky -- they hit a post. The sacrifice was there all night from our team. It was illustrated with that kill; the number of blocked shots is unreal.
“We’re not playing for the playoffs and we got guys laying it on the line with 3-4 games to go. It shows the character of guys we have.
“It shows you can win games without necessarily outplaying your opponent.”
More: Thomas Greiss posts back-to-back shutouts
The Link LonkMay 02, 2021 at 06:50AM
https://www.mlive.com/redwings/2021/05/red-wings-jeff-blashill-no-doubt-were-a-better-team-after-topping-2019-20-win-total.html
Red Wings’ Jeff Blashill: ‘No doubt we’re a better team,’ after topping 2019-20 win total - MLive.com
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