Red Wings Power Play is a Chemistry Experiment

Numbers don’t lie. But sometimes Red Wings numbers don’t make sense.

“We’re averaging five and a half chances a game on the power play,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. “We’ll take that all year. The expected goals were almost one and a half averaging. That means the puck will go in if we continue doing the right things.”

But the puck isn’t going in now on Detroit’s power plays. The Red Wings are one-for-11 (9.1%) with a manpower advantage. That ranks 26th in the NHL. While it’s early to be sure, everyone understands the importance of the power play in league standings. Last season, 12 of the top 15 power play teams made the playoffs. And no team in the bottom 10 qualified for the postseason.

“I think we probably all thought we’d be coming in and having a lot of success on the power play this year, so a little disappointing not to have much through the first three games,” Red Wings right wing Patrick Kane said. “I feel like we’ve had some good looks. We’ve had some chances right around the net, some back door plays, so gotta capitalize on those and maybe get a little bit lucky on some of them.”

The Red Wings ranked ninth overall last season with a 23.1% power play efficiency. But David Perron, Robby Fabbri, Daniel Spring, Shayne Gostisbehere and Jake Walman combined for 18 power play goals. Plus, Gostisbehere put up 27 power play assist, while Perron boasted 10 and Daniel Sprong nine. But all of those players are gone this season.

That’s plenty of lost firepower. Finding a new chemistry with the group may be part of the issue.

“I’m happy with the fact that we’ve produced looks, but it’s got to go in the back of the net again,” Lalonde said. “Our two losses, if we could have cashed in some of those opportunities, maybe look at some different outcomes.”

Gustafsson Replaces Ghost on PP

Erik Gustafsson was brought in to replace Gostisbehere’s minutes on the point of the power play. But he didn’t play well in the opening game, and was scratched for the second and third games against Nashville and the New York Rangers.

“I think tomorrow will be a good day to get Goose back in, especially with the power play and still working with power play,” Lalonde said. “Obviously it’s frustrating. We only have the one goal and we’ve needed it. I think a couple of those games could look a little different with finishing on the power play.”

The Red Wings want a better all-around game from Gustafsson who played for the Rangers last season.

“I think he wanted more out of his five on five game in Game 1,” Lalonde said. “And in reality, we talked about Justin getting an opportunity and Albert Johansson an opportunity, and we put together two really good defensive games, team games, when he was out. So it’s a little bit of this. A little bit of that. “

The Red Wings recalled Holl from Grand Rapids, suggesting he will play even if the injured Jeff Petry is ready to play.