The NHL season is starting to gather up steam as the playoff races heat up with the arrival of the New Year. The Detroit Red Wings are one team that is fighting to stay in the playoff race despite recent struggles to stay afloat.
The Red Wings are 4-9-1 since Patrick Kane’s debut on December 7, which is 29th in the league. Although Kane is not at blame for these problems, Detroit has not been able to create scoring opportunities in a five-on-five situation even with him starting. With 2.22 xGF/60 at that time, the squad is ranked 30th.
Despite those lack of chances, the Wings have managed to be opportunistic offensively, so they’ve given themselves a chance. Where things have really faltered has been in net, where they’ve posted the worst five-on-five save percentage (87.7%) since Dec. 7. Goaltending has been an issue for Detroit for most of the season, but it is actively harming them now.
Earlier this season, the Red Wings appeared to be a team poised to make some noise in the Atlantic Division, but that has changed quickly. Due to underwhelming play at five-on-five, and lackluster goaltending, Detroit is falling rapidly in the Eastern Conference standings.
With the Red Wings headed in the wrong direction, here are the updated NHL Power Rankings.
