The Detroit Red Wings ended their first road trip of the season the best way they could: with a 4-3 shootout win over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
It capped a four-game swing through Seattle and western Canada, and it came in the middle of a grueling stretch for Detroit. This was the team’s fourth game in seven nights, so the calendar will finally give the Wings a breather before they host the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday. With seven of their first eight games played at Little Caesars Arena, this trip was also their first real taste of life away from home.
The overall takeaway from the trip was a mixed bag, but the biggest positive was Detroit’s ability to keep climbing out of trouble. That showed up most clearly against Seattle and Edmonton.
Against the Kraken, the Wings entered the third period down 3-0 and had managed just 10 shots on goal. Then they flipped the script completely, outshooting Seattle 13-4 in the third, scoring three times, and dragging the game to overtime before winning in a shootout.
The Edmonton game followed a similar pattern. Detroit trailed 1-0 in the first period, then found itself behind again at 2-1 and 3-2 in the third.
Each time the Oilers scored, the Red Wings answered quickly. They survived overtime, forced a shootout and finished the job there.
Thursday’s 5-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks stood out as the trip’s cleanest performance. Detroit never trailed, and when Vancouver threatened to make things interesting, the Red Wings slammed the door and pulled away again.
Michal Postava also made his NHL debut in the third period and stopped seven of eight shots he faced. The second period, meanwhile, was as airtight as it gets: Vancouver didn’t record a single shot on goal.
Not every stop on the trip went that smoothly. The low point came in a 4-1 loss to the Calgary Flames, a game that looked winnable on paper and never really got on track for Detroit.
The Red Wings actually owned the expected goals battle 2.78-1.49 in all situations, according to MoneyPuck, but that edge never translated into sustained pressure. Detroit had trouble holding the puck in the offensive zone and repeatedly settled for a shot before losing possession. The special teams battle hurt, too, with the Wings giving up a goal on both shorthanded chances while failing to score on the power play.
Calgary may have been projected as a lottery team before the season, but the Flames had already picked up quality wins over the Carolina Hurricanes and Minnesota Wild before beating Detroit. Still, this was the kind of game the Red Wings had a real shot to take, and they let it slip away.
The other lingering issue from the trip is the penalty kill, and that’s where things start to get ugly. After finishing last in the league at 70.1% in 2024-25, Detroit improved to 77.1% last season.
There was hope the unit could take another step this year. Instead, through 12 games, the answer has been no.
The Red Wings are sitting at 65.9% on the penalty kill, which ranks 30th in the league. During the road trip alone, they allowed six goals in 12 shorthanded situations. The problems appear to be as much about goaltending as structure, since Money Puck has Detroit at a 0.740% save percentage at 4 on 5, the third-worst mark in the league behind only the Vegas Golden Knights and Columbus Blue Jackets, each at 0.719%.
At 5-4-3, the Red Wings are seventh in the Atlantic Division and on pace for 91 points. That puts them a bit above some preseason expectations, but not by much. The bigger picture is pretty clear: Detroit has struggled to score consistently, the penalty kill has been a problem, and the power play hasn’t done enough to cover for either issue.
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Interim general manager Shawn Horcoff is also working through a broader roster picture on the blue line, but the club is reportedly in no rush to make major changes. Detroit is waiting for clarity on Dylan Larkins trade request and Simon Edvinssons contract status before moving forward, which leaves Sandin-Pellikkas immediate future in a holding pattern as the team weighs whether he keeps getting NHL chances or heads back to the AHL. [Read more 🡒]