Abel to Yzerman

Abel to Yzerman

Wings Problems Can Be Fixed

10/05/2018 at 8:21pm EDT

from Arthur J. Regner of DetroitRedWings.com,

On Friday, the Red Wings stayed off the practice ice and held an off-ice workout instead, but Thursday's 3-2 opening night overtime loss to Columbus at Little Caesars Arena was still fresh in their minds.

Detroit was plagued by penalties, which caused the Wings to chase the puck most of the night, putting them in a defensive posture for long stretches of the game.

They were also dreadful on face-offs, winning only 34 draws (43%) to the Blue Jackets 45 (57%).

If the Red Wings want to increase their offensive production from last season, they must stay out of the box, be much better in the dot and shoot more when they have the opportunity.

"We didn't generate much, which is unfortunate, especially (since) our depth is up front. We are good, we just couldn't get anything going," Thomas Vanek said. "We struggled on face-offs, which is a big part because you're not starting with the puck and then all the sudden you're chasing it. You don't get those puck touches to get in the game.

"Those are things you can address pretty simple. Just breaking out the puck is nothing too major that we can't look at and correct and get better at."

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Welcome to Abel to Yzerman, a Red Wing blog since 1977. No other site on the internet has better-researched, fact-laden and better prepared discussions than A2Y. Re-phrase: we do little research, find facts and stats highly overrated and claim little to no preparation. There are 19 readers of A2Y. No more, no less. All of them, except maybe one, are juvenile in nature. Reminding them of that in the comment section will only encourage them to prove that.