After dropping their season opener 4-3 to the New Jersey Devils, the Detroit Red Wings have turned around to win five consecutive games, landing them fourth overall in the league standings.
The duo of captain Dylan Larkin and Alex DeBrincat has fuelled Detroit’s rise to the top in the early going. The Red Wings have scored at least four goals in each of their victories and have topped six goals in a game three times this season.
DeBrincat leads the NHL in goals (eight) and points (12) to start off his career as a Red Wing. After a one year stint in Ottawa last season, the Red Wings acquired the Farmington Hills, Mich., native in the off-season in exchange for Dominik Kubalík, prospect Donovan Sebrango, a conditional 2024 first-round draft pick and 2024 fourth-round selection. He then inked a four-year, $31.5 million contract with Detroit.
Now in his seventh NHL season, DeBrincat has previously scored 40-plus goals twice in his career and his best season statistically was the 2021-22 campaign, where he scored 41 goals with 78 points in 82 games with the Chicago Blackhawks.
He is coming off a hat trick performance against the Calgary Flames in a 6-2 victory on Sunday.
“Cat’s hockey sense is off the charts,” Larkin said of his new linemate after the game. “Everyone knows he can score, but it is how he finds space and how he finds pockets. It honestly took a little bit to get used to playing with a player who is looking for spots where most guys can’t score.”
Larkin is tied for the league lead in assists with eight alongside Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson. The Waterford, Mich., product signed an eight-year, $69.6 million contract extension on March 1 during a season where he would score 32 goals with a career-high 79 points in 80 games.
The Red Wings made a number of additions in free agency this summer. The best one so far has been defenceman Shayne Gostisbehere, who has six points in six games. Forward Daniel Sprong, who had a career season in Seattle last year before inking a one-year deal on July 1, has two goals and two assists in six games.
The goaltending duo of Ville Husso and James Reimer has held steady to start the season. Husso is 3-1 with a .901 save percentage and 3.04 goals-against average while backup Reimer has won both games he has started with a .963 save percentage and 1.00 GAA.
Detroit boasts the second-best power play in the league at 39.1 per cent, behind only the Devils at 42.9 per cent, while their penalty kill is 10th best at 87 per cent. They also lead the NHL in goals scored with 30, three ahead of the second-place Carolina Hurricanes.
