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if you’re in Michigan, head to Arby’s tomorrow and get free curly fries since Detroit scored more than 3 goals!

For the pregame post, I mentioned that Detroit seems to do better in the second game of these 2 game stints. From being shutout to scoring 5 from depth players is a fairly big leap. Bernier stopped 37 of 39 shots and gave Detroit every chance to stay in. Luke Glendening netted the hardest working Wings goal of the season early on. Gagner scored two that went in with a little help from Pekka Rinne. His empty net tally for the hat trick was a nearly 200 ft drive. It was Gagner’s first hat trick since 2012. Adam Erne had a nice tap in off of a rebound on a rush with Glendening and Helm.

Detroit’s effort was solid, but the power play is still anemic. There were some decent looks, but a far cry from what the man advantage should look like. Without Bernier standing on his head and a rare night from the bottom 6, the song would have been the same.

Confidence is a strange force. When a player has it, the game seems to follow them. When they don’t, they continue to chase everything until they get it back. A good feeling in the locker room and scoring for Glendening and Erne are some much needed boosts. We’re getting near the halfway point of the season and the trade deadline is just over 6 weeks away. In reality, if a Canadian team wants a player from the U.S., mid March is probably when things will start really picking up.

I expect that Yzerman would touch base with any of the players that are being asked about. Expiring contracts and low cap hits are certainly a plus. The start of next season could, again, be a very different looking group. The expansion draft is coming as well. Yzerman has done well to keep many short contracts as the churn continues.

Detroit will face Chicago on Saturday. So far the Blackhawks have won all 4 in the season series. Without a power play clicking, and if players can’t stay out of the box, it’s hard to imagine Detroit changing it’s fortunes vs a surprising Chicago offense.

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