Healthy Wings Locked And Reloaded
Consider the Red Wings of last season.
They exited the playoffs in the second round, even though they led entering the third periods in two of the four games they lost to San Jose. They finished the regular season seeded fifth in the Western Conference, even though a month earlier, before a spectacular 16-3-2 run, they were ninth.
A blizzard of injuries compounded the loss of four free agents, who had made considerable contributions to the team that was one victory away from a consecutive Stanley Cup the previous year. The diminished manpower forced the Wings to alter their style of play and use essentially three lines for long stretches, sharply reducing offensive production.
