Red Wings look to solve funk against Bruins
Detroit — There’s a lot to be thankful for when you’re the Red Wings, but the opponent on Thanksgiving Eve might be another matter.
Few teams have given the Red Wings as much difficulty in recent times as the Boston Bruins, who’ll visit Joe Louis Arena on Wednesday.
The Bruins have owned this series lately, winning five consecutive games in the regular season. If you count the 2014 playoffs, they’ve won nine of the last 10.
Boston won the only game thus far this season, Nov. 14, 3-1.
Rebuilding was supposed to be part of the equation for the Bruins, who made some big changes in the off-season.
But considering the Bruins are only one point from the Red Wings in the standings, and on a three-game winning streak, it looks mainly like the same old Bruins.
“Everything comes down to good leadership and the structure they have,†defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. “They have a coach (Claude Julien) who wants them to play a certain way and they know if they play that way, they’ll be successful with it.
“And they have players like (Patrice) Bergeron, (David) Krejci, and (Brad) Marchand, and big (Zdeno) Chara, and (Tuukka) Rask, it’s not like they’ve lost all their pieces.â€
Red Wings getting healthier, balanced scoring recently
That scoring depth Jeff Blashill spoke about at season's start is beginning to show.
The Detroit Red Wings came out of weekend games against big, physical opponents with four points and seven goals. For a team that has gone through some dry spells, seeing six different players score was gratifying.
"I felt it was a strength," Blashill said after Monday's afternoon practice. "It didn't play out that way the first 18 games, but I still think it can be a strength, that we can have depth of scoring throughout the lineup."
Practice was optional, but Blashill said the Wings, "came out of the weekend healthy."
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