The Red Wings don’t have to look far to find a possible answer to their early scoring problem. Todd McLellan may already have one sitting in his own lineup.
Detroit has opened the season with just one goal per game over its first two contests, and that shortage was hard to miss after a shutout against the New York Rangers followed by a 2-3 loss in which the offense finally showed a pulse. Viktor Arvidsson scored his first goal of the season in unusual fashion, and Emmitt Finnie added his first of the year by charging down the ice. Still, the bigger picture is clear: this team needs more finish.
The front office doesn’t appear close to solving that from the outside, which leaves McLellan with the job of squeezing more production out of what he already has. One possible fix showed up in a small sample Tuesday night: a line of Alex DeBrincat, Finnie and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard. The trio was on the ice for just 4:04, but it still produced Finnie’s goal.
It’s an unconventional combination, but Detroit may need a little weird right now.
DeBrincat is the obvious centerpiece. He led the Red Wings in goals and points last season, and through two games he has only one assist, which came on Finnie’s goal.
He also finished Tuesday with four shots, and the expectation remains that the goals will start coming. For now, though, Detroit’s best bet is to put him with players who can help unlock him.
That’s where Finnie and Brandsegg-Nygard come in.
Finnie was drafted as a center, though most of last season was spent on the wing. Even in his limited time trying out the middle, he made enough of an impression to draw a comment from McLellan after the game.
"Finnie's real valuable," McLellan began. "We're a little short through the center ice position...that's where he was drafted, that's likely where he'll end up playing for us for a long time."
Brandsegg-Nygard also earned praise after logging 19:33 and finishing with an assist and six shots on goal. McLellan didn’t hide his enthusiasm.
"Tonight I thought was his best game as a Red Wing," McLellan said. "He's a bully, he sticks his nose in, really looks like he's enjoying the game...fantastic."
That kind of endorsement matters. It suggests Brandsegg-Nygard has already gained trust, and it makes it easy to imagine him sticking in the top six. Put that together with McLellan’s confidence in Finnie at center, and the DeBrincat-Finnie-Brandsegg-Nygard line starts to look less like a one-off experiment and more like a real option for a team searching for offense.
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