from Kevin Allen of Detroit Hockey Now,

When Derek Lalonde started coaching the Detroit Red Wings, players quickly realized that he brought some of the Tampa Bay Lightning success with him.

“When we went into training camp and saw clips of what we were going to be doing and how we were going to be playing, there was a lot of seeing Tampa do it,” Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin said. “I think it is easy to get behind because it’s had success, it’s proven in what they do.

Lalonde was a Tampa Bay assistant coach for both of their recent Stanley Cup championships. Lalonde hasn’t transformed the Red Wings into the Tampa Bay Lightning. But we will see how the two teams compare Tuesday when they meet in Tampa. Lalonde has changed the team’s approach to playing the game. They are playing a simpler defensive style, paying more attention to preventing high danger scoring chances. The Red Wings were last in the NHL in that statistic last season, and today they rank 11th.

The Red Wings rank eighth with an average of 15.68 blocked shots per 60 minutes, and they are 14th in hitting. Even though Lalonde isn’t happy with the team’s consistency 5-on-5, the Red Wings’ scoring average of 3.17 goals-per-game ranks 15h.

Lalonde has even pushed hard on Larkin to be better in the defensive zone.

“Yeah there’s been some uncomfortable moments in video,” Larkin said. “That’s part of being a leader and part of being a top player. It’s meaningful when you’re in there and getting called out, because we’re all in this together and we all have to defend together and get better together. There has been some uncomfortable clips but I think it helps the group, it helps me.”

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