Red Wings’ young stars Danielson, Finnie, Sandin-Pellikka fuel successful trip
Detroit – The goal was eye-opening in the way the Red Wings scored it and who contributed on it.
Late in the second period of Monday’s 4-0 victory in Vancouver, Axel Sandin-Pellikka drove a shot from the point that Nate Danielson expertly tipped, sending the puck over Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen.
The goal was Danielson’s second of the season, while Sandin-Pellikka earned his second assist in the game, arguably one of the best Sandin-Pellikka played this season. Also, Marco Kasper drew a secondary assist – the first assist Kasper has earned this season. And Elmer Soderblom, Danielson and Kasper’s linemate, was a key factor in the goal, controlling the puck down low and getting the puck up to Danielson.
All those Red Wings are first- or second-year players. Then, you have Emmitt Finnie, who played over 17 minutes on the Wings’ top line, and defenseman Albert Johansson playing 14 minutes and blocking two shots, and it was an indication of how the Wings’ young players continue to make an impact.
If the Wings are to end their nine-year playoff drought, the continued development and improvement of the young players on the roster is going to be critical.
“We’re constantly encouraging them to expand their game a little bit but we’re also pushing them,” coach Todd McLellan said recently of the Wings’ young players, but focusing on Danielson, Finnie and Sandin-Pellikka, the NHL rookies.
And it’s those three, in particular, that have shown intriguing growth during this Wings’ road trip. They’re getting on the scoresheet, utilizing their ice time, and getting comfortable at the NHL level.
“You need that youth to come in nowadays, especially with the salary cap,” forward Patrick Kane said. “They come in, they produce and they bring energy. There’s going to be ups and downs throughout the season, but for the most part they’ve been very consistent.
“It seems like there’s some great players up here that are pretty young that are going to be able to produce for a long time.”
Here’s a quick look at what the three rookies have done recently:
▶ Nate Danielson: Saturday in Seattle, it was Danielson making a nifty pass through the slot feeding Finnie for a power-play goal. Monday in Vancouver, Danielson had the tip of Sandin-Pellikka’s shot for his own goal.
Danielson, 21, gradually, is making key plays on a nightly basis and earning the trust of McLellan and the coaching staff with his dependable, responsible play at both ends of the rink.
“He’s a trusting player,” McLellan said. “He wants to score like everybody else, but he’s approaching it methodically and the right way. I don’t hesitate to put him on the ice at all. I believe he can take care of himself and his teammates.”
Wednesday’s game in Calgary would be the 16th for Danielson at the NHL (he has two goals, four assists). Danielson mentioned last week about how the game is slowing down for him at this level, and he is adapting to the speed and quickness.
“With the play, you just have a certain amount of time and space, and everything just happens a split second faster,” Danielson said. “Which, obviously, out there makes a big difference. So, you just have to kind of process and read the game a little bit quicker.”
▶ Emmitt Finnie: For a bit, it felt like Finnie’s play might slip, and McLellan put Finnie, 20, in a bottom-six role and off the line with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond. For a spell, Finnie’s impact wasn’t as noticeable, as he went through a 10-game point drought.
But McLellan was quick to signal how the impact Finnie has goes beyond simply points.
“If we said that we’d have a seventh-round draft pick that hadn’t really played any pro hockey playing for us (30) games in and playing a prominent role, we would all be happy,” McLellan said. “He does so much extra work for a lot of guys. He cleans up messes on the way back because he skates so well. He loosens up pucks on the forecheck, goes to the net. He stirs things up a little bit, draws some penalties.
“There’s a lot of assets there. The confidence in him hasn’t diminished at all.”
▶ Axel Sandin-Pellikka: Monday’s game in Vancouver was possibly Sandin-Pellikka’s best in the NHL. Two nice assists, a plus-three rating with defensive partner Ben Chiarot, skating and moving the puck with confidence and quickness.
Monday’s game stretched Sandin-Pellikka’s point streak to the first three games of this road trip.
“For a 20-year-old kid, the minutes he’s playing against good players, it’s really impressive,” Chiarot said. “His play with the puck, very calm, makes the right play more times than not. He is using his feet, and his stick is how he’s going to defend for his whole career. The quicker he gets, the better he’ll be defensively.”
Red Wings at Oilers
▶ Faceoff: 9 p.m. Thursday, Rogers Place, Edmonton
▶ TV/radio: FDSN/97.1
▶ Notable: The Wings skate into Edmonton (13-11-6) for the fifth stop on a six-game road trip. … The Wings defeated Edmonton 4-2 on Oct. 19 in the first game between the teams. … Edmonton is 4-4-2 in its last 10 games. … Centers Connor McDavid (28 assists, 44 points) and Leon Draisaitl (17 goals, 38 points) continue to drive the Oilers.
@tkulfan
