Have The Wings Found Their Checking Line?
During the Wings’ 7-2-1 stretch this month, one thing that has caught my eye is the play of the Michael Rasmussen-Andrew-Copp-Christian Fischer line. Put together at the end of the West Coast trip, the trio has yet to give up a goal in 90 minutes of 5v5 action. It’s also worth noting that this hasn’t exactly been a cupcake run of teams. More impressively, they’ve been successful by minimizing the quality of chances against, ranking 8th in the league in 5v5 expected goals against per 60 minutes (forward lines with minimum 90 minutes played at 5v5, Evolving-Hockey)
Digging in to the matchups a bit more, we see that Lalonde has primary utilized them against the opposition’s 3rd line, which against the caliber of teams the Wings’ have been playing, is still top notch competition
Primary matchup by game (via NaturalStatTrick):
1/11/24 vs. EDM: Evander Kane - Derek Ryan - Connor Brown
1/13/24 vs. LAK: Alex Laferriere - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Jaret Anderson-Dolan
1/14/24 @ TOR: Nick Robertson - John Tavares - Calle Jarnkrok
1/17/24 @ FLA: Evan Rodrigues - Kevin Stenlund - Ryan Lomberg
1/19/24 @ CAR: Stefan Noesen - Jack Drury - Martin Necas
1/21/24 vs. TB: Conor Sheary - Tyler Motte - Michael Eyssimont
1/23/24 vs. DAL: Jamie Benn - Sam Steel - Joe Pavelski
Additionally, they’ve been utilized more often in defensive zone faceoff situations and when trailing.
Ultimately, they’ve been able to hold their own. It may be worth Lalonde hunting easier matchups for Larkin’s line to allow them to play more offense and challenging the Copp line with tougher opponents to see if they can sustain their defensive prowess.
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