from Bob Duff of Detroit Hockey Now,

At LCA, there was a cookie-cutter feel. It looked just like all the other new facilities. And it didnt help that the Red Wings were going into a downward spiral as a quality hockey club at the time of their relocation.

Today, though, as the Red Wings are positioning themselves to make the NHL playoffs for the first time since 2016, LCA is proving to be an imposing place for visitors to find two points. Only eight NHL clubs have more home-ice wins than the 18 fashioned by Detroit.

Its for sure an advantage, Seider said. Coming into LCA I think is a hard building to play in. Obviously its a lot of fun for us playing in front of our crowd, especially when the octopus is thrown on the ice.

That gets us fired up even more. And weve got a really cool goal song (Without Me by Eminem), so were obviously pushing to hear that as many times as possible. The crowd is giving us a big boost in tight games.

This trend began last season, when the Red Wings were posting a 19-17-5 record at home while finishing 24th overall in the NHL.

Even last year, we had a winning record at home, which was a positive. The guys have done a good job with it and we need these, because weve got some tough, tough assignments coming up on the road pretty soon.

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Since we are on the paid topic, the last few days Mlive has posted the majority of their stories in a paywall area.

Mlive is the only Detroit area site I won't pay for.

from Ansar Khan of Mlive,

The Red Wings have won six in a row for the first time since March 23-April 2, 2019. Their most recent seven-game winning streak was from Jan. 12-23, 2012.

Detroit (33-20-6, 72 points) has an opportunity to tie Toronto for third place in the Atlantic Division while also creating more separation with teams in pursuit: Tampa Bay (69 points), New Jersey (64 points), Washington (63 points), the Islanders and Pittsburgh (62 points each).

The Red Wings are 16-4-2 since New Years Day, but coach Derek Lalonde said complacency is not a concern.

I really think the guys know were going to need every single point right up to Game 82, Lalonde said. Still judging ourselves on performance over outcome. The other night (8-3 victory over Washington Tuesday) is a perfect example. Obviously, a great offensive night. But there were some times, and its understandable with some of the leads we had, where we got a little loose in our game.

Hopefully talk about that, correct it. And I think our guys know this might be a little different animal tonight in the Islanders. We got Washington on a back-to-back. Islanders will be fighting for their season tonight.

The Red Wings are 8-1-2 at home since Jan. 1....

Were an Original Six team. I think the league is in a much better spot when the Red Wings are relevant, Lalonde said. I know we were flirting with it a little bit last year. It got some attention. I think its a good story, but its on us to live in the moment and keep it going.

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Theres still 46 points to go but its a lot better being up 8 points than down 8.

Since Game 40 in January the Wings have really climbed over their peers and left many behind.  Still a long way to go but the playoff position is the Wings to lose at this point.

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