Little Caesars Arena has been more than pleasant for the Red Wings, as home games normally should be for teams.
Going on the road and having success, though, that’s been something the Wings haven’t been able to do very often thus far.
But there’s opportunity these next three road games this week to change that. An amazing opportunity, actually, the way this schedule sets up.
The Wings visit Anaheim on Tuesday, then play in San Jose on Thursday and Columbus on Friday. As scheduling quirks go, this could be a profitable one for the Wings. Anaheim had the NHL’s worst (32nd) win percentage as of Monday morning (.300, 4-10-1), while San Jose ranked 27th (.382, 5-9-3) and Columbus 31st (.321, 4-9-1).
Bottom line: These are the three of the weakest teams currently in the NHL. All three likely are to contend to have the best odds of drafting first overall next summer. These are games the Red Wings should be able to win, and need to, if they have hopes of playoff-contending deep into this regular season.
“We haven’t been good enough on the road,” captain Dylan Larkin said before the start of this trip. “We have a long trip, so we have to find something. Hopefully, we get some bodies back (forward Tyler Bertuzzi and defenseman Jake Walman could return to the lineup Tuesday), and we need to jell.
“There are points available on this trip. We have to find some excitement for the opportunity we have on this road trip.”
The Wings own a 5-2-2 record at LCA, again establishing in the early going of this season a decided home-ice advantage. They’ve played with confidence on home ice.
Crowds have been good, loud and given the Wings an extra jump when needed, with the victories over Washington and the New York Islanders this month during the 25th anniversary celebration of the 1997-98 Stanley Cup teams a particular highlight. The crowds were passionate, and the Wings played some of their best hockey.
But the road has been a different matter.
Heading into Tuesday’s game in Anaheim the Wings own a 2-3-1 road record, which has included some of the Wings’ more notable losses.
▶ The Wings let a two-goal third period lead get away Oct. 21 in Chicago, ultimately losing in overtime.
▶ Let NHL-leading Boston score three times in the third period Oct. 27 while losing 5-1 to the Bruins.
▶ And saw Buffalo explode for four late third-period goals Oct. 31 as the Sabres defeated the Wings, 8-3.
Coach Derek Lalonde felt opponents were able to exploit some matchups, and the Wings have struggled on special teams.
The loss to the Sabres served as a particular wake up call, and the Wings rebounded with three consecutive victories after the collapse in Buffalo. There was hope of lessons being learned after that defeat.
But maybe not entirely so. The Wings are currently on a three-game winless streak (after an ugly home loss to the New York Rangers), capped by Saturday’s 4-3 loss in Los Angeles to open this four-game road trip.
The Wings began rather alarmingly. They allowed a goal to the Kings only nine seconds into Saturday’s game.
A terrific third period wasn’t good enough to save the Wings, who struggled on the penalty kill and saw key mistakes turn into goals-against, as some of the key factors that led to the Wings’ previous road defeats again came to the forefront.
But if the Wings can fix those issues, these next three games should be valuable points earned in the standings. Anaheim is young and playing with little confidence, San Jose has only won two regulation-time games all season, and Columbus is injury-decimated and has goaltending issues.
There are no sure things in professional sports. But these three games will be as close as it gets, in that regard, for the Wings.
“If you’re going to be a successful team, you got to be above .500 on every trip,” forward David Perron said after Saturday’s loss. “That puts us needing at least two out of three for sure and points in all the games.”
Red Wings at Ducks
▶ Faceoff: 10 p.m. Tuesday, Honda Center, Anaheim
▶ TV/radio: Bally Sports Detroit/97.1 FM
▶ Outlook: The Ducks (4-10-1) are struggling, having lost four of their last five games…No team has allowed more goals than Anaheim’s 67 goals allowed. They have the NHL’s worst goals-against average (4.47) and rank 31st in both the penalty kill (64.3 percent) and power play (9.8 percent) … RW Troy Terry (six goals, 19 points) and C Trevor Zegras (seven goals, 13 points) highlight a formidable first line.
ted.kulfan@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @tkulfan