By Kevin Allen
Tage Thompson’s numbers, or rather the lack of numbers, tell the tale of how the Detroit Red Wings stepped up their game in 2-1 home triumph against the Buffalo Sabres.
Thompson is a player who came into the game with a six-game scoring streak in games against the Red Wings. He boasted 18 points in his previous 10 games against Detroit. He had been feasting on Detroit defensive lapses for a couple season, and he left Saturday’s game hungry.
In Saturday’s contest, Thompson played his usual 20-plus minutes and had no points. He had two uneventful shots. The 6-foot-6, 220-pound center struggled to the point of being 30% (6-14) in the faceoff circle.
“They got some zone time, but a lot of it was on the outside,” Detroit captain Dylan Larkin said. And that’s a big area of emphasis for us. Keep things out of the slot, keep them to the outside, and let our goalies handle what comes from the point. And they do that. So, I would have liked a little more of his own grind in the third and throughout the game.”
Strong goaltending (31 saves) by Cam Talbot. Holding a one-goal lead throughout the third period. Aggressive defensive play. This is what the Red Wings have been looking for since the start of the season.
“That’s a quality win,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. “Again, that’s a really good offensive team. It’s a small sample size, 10 games, but they’re trending as one of the top offensive teams in a lot of categories. So again, the power play was good tonight. Penalty kill, two for two. And I liked our third. I still think we probably can make a few more plays there in the third, but I think we were consciously trying to make a few more plays.”
Power Play Plugged In
With the Red Wings receiving two Larkin power play goals in four opportunities, they now ranks eighth in the NHL (26.5%).
“A lot of confidence, and I think it’s had to be built,” Larkin said. “We finally got the five guys on the ice that are out there, and you see the confidence now and you see the puck movement, you see the plays. We have five really talented players out there, and we move around a lot. There’s a lot of movement, which is good.
Larkin leads the team with seven goals, and five of them have come on the power play.
“Now he’s trending,” Lalonde said. “It’s a go-to. Usually, when we (have) a quality game like this — since I’ve been here — it’s usually driven by Dylan.”
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Larkin’s first goal was the 218th of his NHL career, passing Nick Libett for 13th place on Detroit’s all-time list…Lucas Raymond picked up an assist to give him seven points (one goal, six assists) in his past five games…Moritz Seider played in his 257th consecutive NHL game, dating to his league debut on Oct. 14, 2021, tying Brad Marsh (257 games played from Oct. 11, 1978-Nov. 10, 1981) for the sixth-longest ironman streak by a defenseman from the start of his NHL career. Red Wings great Nicklas Lidstrom began his career on a 284-game ironman streak from Oct. 3, 1991-April 9, 1995.