DETROIT — At the Detroit Red Wings’ first practice under Todd McLellan on Saturday, the team’s new head coach implored his players to use their instincts and “play f—ing hockey.”
On Sunday, they did just that, racing out to a 4-1 lead in the first period, and then closing out a 4-2 win over the Washington Capitals.
It was just one game, of course, and the Red Wings still have plenty of work in front of them. But it was the kind of performance Detroit needed coming out of its coaching change earlier this week.
Here’s five thoughts on the performance and the beginning of the McLellan era.
1. For a team that has been in dire need of a spark, Sunday’s effort showed one.
Detroit came out hot, scoring twice in the game’s first seven minutes and outshooting Washington (one of the league’s top teams so far this season) 13-6 in the first frame. The Capitals were coming off a game in Toronto Saturday night, so circumstances were on Detroit’s side, but it’s a credit to the Red Wings that they capitalized on that advantage.
Patrick Kane actually pointed back to Detroit’s previous game, a 5-2 loss to Toronto in McLellan’s debut, as the beginning of some “positive vibes” stemming from Detroit not quitting and putting up a pair of goals in the third period.
Saturday’s practice did seem to offer a more natural “reset” point, though, both in terms of getting some actual practice time (as opposed to merely a morning skate) with their new coach, and in allowing him to further drive home his initial messages. McLellan had commented after his first game that the team had looked “kind of mechanical,” which made his directive to just play hockey a purposeful message, not just a good slogan.
But the way it resonated throughout the Detroit fanbase certainly speaks to what the frustration level had been within the market, and delivering an early win only drives it home more.
2. For me, the key moment in the game was not Alex DeBrincat’s redirect goal in the first four minutes or Kane’s quick power-play tally after that, but rather Detroit’s third goal, which came just 31 seconds after the Capitals had cut the deficit to 2-1 on an Alex Ovechkin goal.
While the Red Wings still had the lead, that next goal was going to be huge one way or another, either showing some key resolve for Detroit or putting them in their heads about an early lead let slip.
Andrew Copp came through with a good forecheck and puck battle behind the net, with Kane swooping in to scoop up the puck, then slide it across to DeBrincat for the quick response.
“We knew it was a big shift,” Kane said. “And to make it 3-1, those are momentum shifts, right? Like that gets the momentum right back on our side. So that was a big goal.”
Alex DeBrincat’s second goal of the game shifted momentum back toward the Red Wings. (Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)
3. The assist on that goal was Kane’s 1,300th career NHL point, tying him with Jarome Iginla for 37th all time.
“I wish I got it a little bit sooner this year,” Kane joked, referring to his quiet start to the season. He now has six points in his last seven games, though, a sign that he may be heating up.
Getting Kane going would be huge for the Red Wings, as Detroit has been highly reliant on just a few top scorers (DeBrincat, Lucas Raymond and Dylan Larkin) so far this season.
And McLellan has seemed to like his early experiences with Kane.
“He’s got a lot of hockey smarts that he can share with the coaching staff, too, and with his teammates,” McLellan said. “And I really felt like he’s really committed to winning right now. So that’s a good thing to have. We have to allow him to be somewhat creative, especially power play-wise. They had some things going on tonight, some really good looks, and when you have that special mind, you have to allow it to come out. And as long as the commitment’s there on the other side, I have zero problem with that.”
4. One thing that’s always interesting with a new coach is how players’ roles change. That can move in both directions, of course, but two players who could be ones to watch early are Joe Veleno and Justin Holl.
Holl was one of the more confusing stories of the last year and a half under Lalonde: a player who had some track record as a top-four defender (albeit a divisive one) in Toronto, but who spent most of last season as a scratch. He had played more this season, but with a clean slate, I’m curious if he’ll become a bit more of a nightly staple under McLellan.
He logged 16 minutes in his first game Friday, but just over 11 Sunday — though some of that could be because of the amount of special-teams play in the game, with more than 12 minutes of the game played up or down a man, where Holl’s role is limited.
Meanwhile Veleno is certainly getting a great opportunity to start out, playing Sunday’s game on the top line with Larkin and Raymond. McLellan is still getting to know Veleno, but his early impressions have taken note of the honest game Veleno plays, as well as his pace and skill.
Can he stay in an upper-lineup role? That remains to be seen. But the fit looked good with two of Detroit’s most important offensive players on Sunday. It’s a big-time opportunity for Veleno, so we’ll see if he can make the most of it.
5. This will play out over weeks and months (and really, years) more so than a couple games, but one thing I’m very curious to see is how McLellan and new assistant coach Trent Yawney work with Detroit’s two young defense pillars, Moritz Seider and Simon Edvinsson.
Between them, the list of young defenders they’ve worked with over the years is impressive. Both had Marc-Edouard Vlasic in San Jose, and Matt Roy and Sean Walker in Los Angeles. McLellan coached all of Darnell Nurse, Adam Larsson and Oscar Klefbom in Edmonton. And Yawney had Cam Fowler, Hampus Lindholm, Sami Vatanen and Josh Manson in Anaheim.
That’s a great group of names, spanning different skill sets, too.
Even though McLellan has been in the Western conference for all of Seider’s career so far, he said he’s been unsurprised by what he’s seen from Detroit’s top defenseman so far, and his trust in Seider is clear from the 25:49 he had him play Sunday. But he also sees more room for Seider to grow, too.
“He is a horse,” McLellan said. “He can handle those minutes. He can block shots, he recovers well, and all of those things are great. But there’s a lot more there, and there’s a lot more learning to do. And we’ll keep working with him. He seems to be a sponge, he wants to absorb stuff and try it.
“So I wouldn’t put any type of ceiling on him yet. I think there’s a lot left in him, and we’re going to push him for it.”
(Top photo of Patrick Kane celebrating with Erik Gustafsson: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
