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Flames will be a true test of the turnaround

January 18, 2019, 6:57 PM ET [10 Comments]
Bob Duff
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Winning at Minnesota by a 5-2 count over the Wild was a solid performance. Rallying to defeat the Anaheim Ducks 3-1 at home to win back to back games for the first time since the beginning of December was also notable. But neither of those teams are mentioned in the discussion with talk turns to Stanley Cup contenders.

Now comes a real test of the mettle of the Detroit Red Wings - Friday’s game at Calgary against the Pacific Division-leading Flames, who with 65 points also top the entire Western Conference.

“They’re obviously smart and have got lots of skill,” defenseman Mike Green told Detroitredwings.com of the Flames. “As a defensive corps, we need to take away their time and space and sort of stay on top of them and eliminate those extra plays and moves that they can do. Just don’t let some of those guys shoot. They’ve got some good shots.”

The Flames schooled the Wings earlier this month in Detroit, rallying from an early deficit for a solid 5-3 win, but Wings coach Jeff Blashill likes to say that his team can’t worry about the opponent, only how well they are playing themselves.

“We got to a stretch where we were giving up way too many goals,” Blashill said of earlier this month when they lost to the Flames. “You can’t do that and have success. I think we went through a five-game stretch where we were 1-3-1 but yet we have played way better hockey than the previous five game stretches where we had identical records. Our team game was building. I thought we had done a better job of creating O-zone time. We had done a better job of limiting chances and in creating. We had the chance advantage in those games.

“I think that’s shown itself in the last couple of wins. We were excellent against Minnesota. We were good enough to win against Anaheim. I think those two areas are areas that we focused on. I think we’ve been better defensively and better from a zone time standpoint.

“Certainly, getting back Mike Green and Danny DeKeyser, I think you could make a strong argument that they’re our best two D. They’ve certainly been our best two D on a nightly basis. So getting those guys back, it’s like any team. When you insert some of the best players back, you’re a better hockey team.”

Green believes that the Wings have maintained their commitment to doing the things they need to do to win, even through the stretch where they weren’t winning.

“I think we’ve really focused on staying with the process here the last month,” Green said. “Sometimes you don’t get the results right away, but they’re starting to come. I think if we continue with that path, we’ll give ourselves a good chance to win a lot of our games.”

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