The Detroit Red Wings kicked off their season tonight against the New Jersey Devils, one of the favorites in the Eastern Conference in 2023-24, and the Red Wings looked good tonight against them, all things considered. There was a lot to take away from tonight’s game, but let’s look at the three things I saw from tonight‘s game.
New Additions Pitch In
Over the offseason, the Red Wings added Daniel Sprong, Alex DeBrincat, Jeff Petry, J.T. Compher, Shayne Gostisbehere, Christian Fischer, Klim Kostin, and Justin Holl. All made their presence known in their first game in a winged wheel sweater, even if not on the score sheet. Kostin and Sprong both hit the post in the first period. Sprong would later find the back of the net, scoring the first goal of the season for the Red Wings in the second period. In the third, with the Red Wings down 2-1, DeBrincat made a statement scoring a power-play goal to tie it at 2’s. Gostisbehere and Compher would both tally assists as well.
Lucas Raymond needs to be on the first line
David Perron got the start on line one alongside Dylan Larkin and DeBrincat, while Lucas Raymond got the start on line two with Compher and Robby Fabbri. Perron is a player on this team who can slide in just about anywhere and play with anyone, but Raymond has his best success whenever he’s with Larkin; if you want to use your player’s best abilities, it makes sense to put Raymond on that first line and watch the connection go to work.
Second-period issues continue
Last year, the Red Wings seemed to come out red hot to start a game, but when the middle 20 minutes hit, they struggled, and that trend seemed to continue tonight. The Red Wings looked dominate in period one, outshooting the Devils 14-6, but in the middle frame, the Devils outshot the Red Wings 15-11 and outscored them 2-1. The Red Wings like last season, tried to turn it around in the third, but they played even hockey; the Red Wings outshot New Jersey 10-6 in the final frame but were outscored 2-1 again, granted one of those was on an empty netter. The Red Wings must take how they play in the first 20 and do that for a full 60.
Wrap Up:
This Detroit Red Wings team looks much better than last year. It already has much more talent and can compete against a top team in the league, like the Devils. Now they must regroup and prepare for Saturday night when the Tampa Bay Lightning come to town for the Red Wings home opener.
