The return of Pavel Datsyuk has, predictably, led to a better Corsi rating for the Detroit Red Wings.
On Friday, the Wings dominated the Sharks in terms of possession, but fell 3-2 on the scoreboard. They had a little tougher time the next day in Boston, but overall played the Bruins reasonably close in a 3-1 loss.
What the Wings didn’t do very well against the B’s was hit the net. As a result, they were outshot, 31-21.
“The biggest thing here, especially in the last game, is we have to hit the net more,” coach Jeff Blashill told NHL.com. “We had 18 missed nets and that’s not counting blocks. If you turn half of those into shots, you’ve got 32 shots.”
In contrast, the Bruins only missed the net seven times.
The Red Wings will get a good chance to pad their shots stats tonight in Ottawa. The Senators have surrendered an NHL-high 34.6 shots per game.
As far as the top two lines go, Datysuk will center Dylan Larkin and Tomas Tatar, while Henrik Zetterberg will skate between Justin Abdelkader and Gustav Nyquist.