Red Wings see red-hot Oilers, McDavid as ‘good challenge at good time’
The Detroit Red Wings did not have the good fortune to catch the Edmonton Oilers when they were struggling; instead their first meeting of the season comes under the category of “a good challenge.”
The Oilers swagger into Little Caesars Arena Thursday having won eight straight games, their second such streak after starting the season 2-9-1. They’re paced by superstars Connor McDavid (55 points in 35 games) and Leon Draisaitl (43 in 37).
“It’s always a fun game,” Dylan Larkin said. “(McDavid is) a special player, him and Draisaitl, so you have to watch out for them at all moments. They look to go. We are going to really have to play with the puck and play smart with it and make sure that there’s no risk and even in the offensive zone, throwing pucks back, you have to make sure 100% it’s going tape-to-tape or else they’re taking off, three-on-two, two-on-one, and turning it into a track meet. That’s the kind of game they want.”
The Wings (20-16-4) are feeling good about themselves after sweeping their way through California; that 3-0 trip improved their recent outings to winning four of five.
“We look on it as a good test and see where we’re at,” goaltender Alex Lyon said. “It’s going to be difficult coming off an emotional trip, tough to emotionally re-invest. It’s something we need to be cognizant of.”
Lyon’s goaltending has been key, but even he couldn’t erase an egregious error like in the last game when Anaheim Ducks forward Trevor Zegras was left alone near the net and had time and space to score. That’s exactly the kind of high-risk situation the Wings want to eliminate; hence why the Oilers, with their talent, present an opportunity to show growth.
“It’s a really good challenge, and it’s kind of good timing,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “We’re trying to improve in our process a little bit, not give up easy offense, defend a little bit better, and this is obviously a really good contest and they’re playing at an extremely high level. Eight in a row, that’s very hard to do in this league. It’s a credit to them and their talent.
“You look at the depth and how they’re built, it’s going to be a really good challenge for us.”
Larkin has the speed to deal with McDavid, but based on Wednesday’s practice, it looks like Lalonde is leaning towards using as good of a checking line as he can assemble, in Andrew Copp, Michael Rasmussen and Christian Fischer, against McDavid.
“The way we’re built, we’ve appreciated the extra offense,” Lalonde said. “We are rolling out some lines with a lot of skill, but not a lot of guys that check or have a check-first mentality. A player of that ilk is going to create issues for us. There’s always that balance of if you have the puck, it’s probably the best defense, but I’m a little old school where I would love to have a true checking line. It’s been tough for us to find that this year, with our group. It’s not a bad thing, just where we are at.”
Defenseman Jake Walman didn’t practice Wednesday because he was feeling “under the weather,” Lalonde said while adding he would be re-evaluated Thursday.