Detroit Red Wings vs. Anaheim Ducks - The Season Heats Up

The Detroit Red Wings vs. Anaheim Ducks match will take place on the evening of Monday, January 31, at the Little Caesars Arena. The Detroit Red Wings had lost several matches in the near past and are on the lookout for a win. The Anaheim Ducks also need a victory after losing more than three of their previous four matches some time ago. The Detroit Red Wings have nearly three goals per match and score fifteen percent of their power-play chances. Dylan Larkin leads the scoring for the team with more than fifteen goals. Lucas Raymond has nearly twenty assists, and Pius Suter has more than seventy shots on goal. On the defensive end, the Detroit Red Wings are allowing 3.5 goals per match and are ending more than seventy-five percent of the power plays of their rivals. Alex Nedeljkovic has given up more than sixty goals on nearly seven hundred shots faced by him. Thomas Greiss has let in more than forty goals on four hundred shots.

The Anaheim Ducks are scoring on twenty-seven percent of their power-play chances in the league. Troy Terry leads the team with more than twenty goals. Ryan Getzlaf has 21 assists, and Trevor Zegras has more than seventy shots. On the defensive end, the team has allowed nearly three goals per match and is ending nearly ninety percent of the power plays of their rivals. John Gibson has given up more than seventy goals on nearly nine hundred shots. Anthony Stolarz has let in twenty-one goals on three hundred shots. We are not jumping up and down to bet on either of these squads. But the Anaheim Ducks will have a slight edge because it is a home game. The Detroit Red Wings have not been very good on the road in the past couple of years. They have been even worse when they have traveled as an underdog in the match.

The Anaheim Ducks have won more than seven of their previous eight matches as a favorite. We think the Ducks are more likely to get a victory here. But first, let us go through our article for the upcoming Detroit Red Wings vs. Anaheim Ducks.

Detroit Red Wings vs. Anaheim Ducks: Detroit Red Wings Performance

You may not believe it. But the Detroit Red Wings have already completed nearly half of the NHL season schedule. The team has a schedule that is one of the hardest in the NHL, and several players are seen to be struggling. So, the upcoming half of the season should see several more changes before Steve Yzerman starts retooling a few more in the offseason. This is because he has a lot of capital space at hand. Fans had predicted that Dylan Larkin would be the MVP this season, and he has kept perfectly on course. Larkin is maintaining a good speed with nearly twenty goals and assists each. But we are looking at the return of Tyler Bertuzzi from the injury list and the addition of Filip Zadina and Lucas Raymond. Larkin should get his groove quickly as the team's first-line center.

The stars are aligning for a big rebound year for Larkin with a player such as Raymond slotting in and a robust top line. Moritz Seider has also been a big catalyst for success and has logged in big minutes this season. On the one hand, we predict that Larkin will see a rejuvenated NHL season. We also think that Seider will give stability to the team's line that has not been seen since Nik Kronwall and Nick Lidstrom. We will go with Seider because we think that his success will show that Yzerman knows what he has been up to all along. Pius Suter has not produced like Bertuzzi and Larkin. He has been very good as a second-line center and has been vital in the team's improvement. Suter's impact has been felt, and he may well be the breakout player for the team. It is anyone's guess as to the final fate of the team, except that it is going to be up and down. 

Going forward, the main intrigue will be the trade deadline. Here, Yzerman moved the pieces leading up to it before the controversy in the Mantha deal. The legend of the Red Wings has said that he is not expecting to do much. But do not let that make a fool out of you. The other intriguing player will be Blashill. His decisions regarding the line-up this season have really driven the team's fans up the wall. From Danny DeKeyser being out beyond what he is usually capable of doing to the deployment of players during overtime. The decisions have been questionable in several situations. Also, we do not point fingers at DeKeyser for his play. Injuries have taken a lot out of his play and destroyed his skating and moving abilities. The responsibility falls on the coach to put the correct players out in the precise situations.

But in the same breath, it cannot be denied that the team has overshot the expectations placed on them. The fans were expecting some improvement, but not of this magnitude. Yzerman will still be seeking long-term growth and packing the scouting department with as many choices as he can. Detroit has a lot in the pipeline with prospects propping up in Europe and several players such as Jonatan Berggren knocking in Grand Rapids. The growth can take some time. But, it does not hurt to replace the existing talent with several fresh prospects who can create an impact in the near future. But think if this is the year that you get some lottery luck. The possibilities could be huge.

Detroit Red Wings vs. Anaheim Ducks Previous Match

In the previous Detroit Red Wings vs. Anaheim Ducks match, the latter got a victory against the former in a shootout at the Honda Center. This marked the second consecutive defeat on the west coast road trip for the Detroit Red Wings. In the match before that, The Ducks had finished their horrible losing streak of more than three matches. They defeated Philadelphia at their own stadium. But, in the following round, they were vanquished by the Rangers by a couple of goals. The team needs to take some measures since Vegas, the leader of the Pacific Division, has already taken the lead by several points. The Ducks themselves are ahead of the team at the moment. Because of a couple of defeats in the previous season, the Red Wings lost several points.

So, the lower Boston team suddenly emerged above them in the league. Again, the team had to go through a struggle to get back its place in the playoffs. The team was in the fourth position in the Atlantic Division standings. They had fewer points than the Bruins. Detroit had a crushing away loss from Los Angeles in the match before that. They conceded more than three goals in the match. Filip Hronek got his first goal in the past month. Vladislav Namestnikov and Tyler Bertuzzi also found the goal. But Detroit fell during the shootout. In the second half, Lucas Raymond became the fastest teenager in the franchise's history to get more than nineteen assists in the league. He got to the landmark in more than thirty-five matches.

Conclusion:

Both teams will look to avoid throwing away any points in the Detroit Red Wings vs. Anaheim Ducks match. In the match, Anaheim has the leadership position at stake. Detroit needs a place in the playoffs. The Detroit Red Wings have lost more than seven out of the previous nine away matches in recent times. This does not give much confidence to the fans. If we had to put in a wager, we would bet on the victory of the Anaheim Ducks in the match.

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