Detroit Red Wings accomplish offensive feat not since since 1995-96
It's a new day for the Detroit Red Wings under coach Todd McLellan, and they've accomplished a team feat that they've not had since the mid 1990s.
The Detroit Red Wings have completely turned around their fortunes under new head coach Todd McLellan, who was hired on December 26 to replace the vastly underperforming Derek Lalonde.
The Red Wings have vaulted themselves back within striking distance of a postseason spot, only a pair of points behind the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference ahead of tonight's game against the Edmonton Oilers (9:00 PM, FanDuel Sports Detroit, Sportsnet, 97.1 The Ticket).
The Red Wings' offense has taken off since the coaching change was made; Patrick Kane and Lucas Raymond were among the NHL leaders in total points scored since late December, while captain Dylan Larkin's offensive numbers took off.
Thanks to their sudden offensive explosion, the Red Wings now boast 3-players on their team that have already reached the 20-goal mark.
Both Dylan Larkin and Alex DeBrincat have scored 21 goals so far, while Lucas Raymond has scored 20 and is on pace for a career-best in points.
This marks the 1st time since 1995-96 that the Red Wings have a trio of 20+ goal scorers on January 30.
Steve Yzerman, Slava Kozlov and Sergei Fedorov were the last 3 Red Wings players to have reached the 20-goal plateau by the end of January in a season; they eventually combined for a total of 8 Stanley Cup wins between them.
Detroit's sudden surge has fans excited about the prospects of finally breaking their lengthy postseason drought, which dates back to 2016.
Theirs is the 2nd-longest streak in the NHL without a postseason appearance; the only longer drought is that of their divisional foe Buffalo Sabres, who haven't qualified for the playoffs since 2011.
