Red Wings January 2026 Game Threads

[gehringer_2]

Wings are kind of fun right now because we don't really know how good they are: Are they going to fall back at some point and be the same old thing, or have they turned a corner as a team and can sustain making the playoffs or even 1st place?

It's contrast to when the situation with the Wings was that we knew they had more than enough talent to win but they might not be hungry enough or tough enough to match the talent.

[lordstanley]

2 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

Wings are kind of fun right now because we don't really know how good they are: Are they going to fall back at some point and be the same old thing, or have they turned a corner as a team and can sustain making the playoffs or even 1st place?

It's contrast to when the situation with the Wings was that we knew they had more than enough talent to win but they might not be hungry enough or tough enough to match the talent.

Biggest question for me is whether Gibson can sustain his good play. If the Wings get decent or good goaltending, a playoff spot should be theirs unless they get hit by injuries. A graphic on TV last night showed that Gibson's Save % was around 30th in the league in October-November but 3rd in the league in January-December.

[buddha]

2 hours ago, lordstanley said:

Biggest question for me is whether Gibson can sustain his good play. If the Wings get decent or good goaltending, a playoff spot should be theirs unless they get hit by injuries. A graphic on TV last night showed that Gibson's Save % was around 30th in the league in October-November but 3rd in the league in January-December.

from max:

"he’s picked it up even further. After a 27-save shutout in Montreal, Gibson has stopped 111 out of 117 shots in January — a .949 save percentage through his first four starts this month."

the atlantic division is crazy right now.  two losses in a row for detroit would likely out them out of the pkayoffs.  two wins and they'd be the #1 seed.

nobody is losing.  not even **** teams like the leafs.

[sagnam]

So who is losing? Someone has to be. This is super weird.

[gehringer_2]

3 hours ago, lordstanley said:

Biggest question for me is whether Gibson can sustain his good play. If the Wings get decent or good goaltending, a playoff spot should be theirs unless they get hit by injuries. A graphic on TV last night showed that Gibson's Save % was around 30th in the league in October-November but 3rd in the league in January-December.

It's been so long since the Wings had great goaltending that I don't feel I have a good frame of reference for whether Gibson is playing at a level he going to have to come down from or if he's just being as good as a good goalie should be.  😉

 

[lordstanley]

1 hour ago, sagnam said:

So who is losing? Someone has to be. This is super weird.

Teams 13-16 in the Eastern Conference - NJ Devils, Rangers, Senators, Jackets - have sagged and are now 12-15 points back of the Wings. The bottom teams in the NHL - 25 to 32 overall - are all in the West. 

If the Wings at least play a point per game the rest of the way (28 of 32 teams are doing so in the season to date) they'd reach 94 points, which virtually always is enough for a spot. 

[buddha]

5 hours ago, sagnam said:

So who is losing? Someone has to be. This is super weird.

seems like there have been a lot more ties and loser points.  so teams are "losing" but still getting a point.

[gehringer_2]

26 minutes ago, buddha said:

seems like there have been a lot more ties and loser points.  so teams are "losing" but still getting a point.

More than seems. In mid-Dec the OT rate was reported to be 27%, which would have been a record pace. It's fallen a bit in the last couple of weeks. By my quick calculation 185 of 715 games have gone to OT as of the current standings, which is a 25.9% rate, so down a little from the peak a couple of weeks ago but still. high.

Edited yesterday at 06:41 AM by gehringer_2

[sagnam]

On 1/10/2026 at 10:34 PM, lordstanley said:

Wth?

 

Holy crap, it happened before in December.

 

Edited 22 hours ago by sagnam

[buddha]

14 hours ago, lordstanley said:

Teams 13-16 in the Eastern Conference - NJ Devils, Rangers, Senators, Jackets - have sagged and are now 12-15 points back of the Wings. The bottom teams in the NHL - 25 to 32 overall - are all in the West. 

If the Wings at least play a point per game the rest of the way (28 of 32 teams are doing so in the season to date) they'd reach 94 points, which virtually always is enough for a spot. 

i dont know if 94 gets you in this year.

[lordstanley]

5 hours ago, sagnam said:

Holy crap, it happened before in December.

 

I know the response online has been largely positive, "best thing ever", "hilarious", "so cute", "sign them up" but I had to be the wet blanket. To me they were playing with fire and it was irresponsible of the coaches to allow this - or probably even plan this in advance - with 7 year olds. And with something similar happening a month area in the same rink, that makes it even more egregious, as it suggests this weekend was staged.  Skates to the throat are a thing. I almost lost an eye to a skate to the face in the mid'70s. Our team won the championship, flung our helmets off and mobbed the goalie, I fell in the scrum and a kid rushing in stepped on my face. The blood immediately gushed from the goalline to the blue line. I can still remember the screams of my mom from the stands. There was one point in the weekend's video when a kid was on the ice and people were stepping all around him and another time when a goalie came jumping into the pile with skates raised. 

[gehringer_2]

51 minutes ago, lordstanley said:

I know the response online has been largely positive, "best thing ever", "hilarious", "so cute", "sign them up" but I had to be the wet blanket. To me they were playing with fire and it was irresponsible of the coaches to allow this - or probably even plan this in advance - with 7 year olds. And with something similar happening a month area in the same rink, that makes it even more egregious, as it suggests this weekend was staged.  Skates to the throat are a thing. I almost lost an eye to a skate to the face in the mid'70s. Our team won the championship, flung our helmets off and mobbed the goalie, I fell in the scrum and a kid rushing in stepped on my face. The blood immediately gushed from the goalline to the blue line. I can still remember the screams of my mom from the stands. There was one point in the weekend's video when a kid was on the ice and people were stepping all around him and another time when a goalie came jumping into the pile with skates raised. 

when I first saw this I thought it staged, but then it became pretty clear it was not all an act, or if it was initially the kids lost control of it. Any Adult in proximity this needs to be fired from their gig - not funny at all.

Edited 15 hours ago by gehringer_2

[slothfacekilla]

JVR makes it 1-0 Wings on Fedorov night!!!

[lordstanley]

3-0 with 2nd period goals by DeBrincat and Johansson (!). Back to back measuring stick games and so far the Wings are measuring up well. 

 

Edited 7 hours ago by lordstanley

[Mr.TaterSalad]

We've gotten lucky and Carolina a bit unlucky that a few bounces didn't break for goals. Carolina is one of the better forechecking teams in the league too and we've handled it fairly well tonight, even if puck luck and bounces have gone our way. Gibson having a nice game too. He's turned it on this last month compared to where he started the season. 

[buddha]

gibson continues to play well.  carolina has gotten unlucky on offense, however, goalie is their achilles heel and it shows tonight again.

[buddha]

carolina turns it on and the wings cant keep up.

3-2 now.

should be even more but gibson has been really good.

[lordstanley]

Tampa and Montreal are winning (of course), so a win or loss tonight is the difference between 1st and 4th in the conference.

[buddha]

sheesh.  carolina is embarassing them right now.

[gehringer_2]

3 minutes ago, buddha said:

carolina turns it on

this has been the challenge for Wing teams for at least a half dozen years now. Too often they can't match another team's push. 

[buddha]

gibson is the only reason this game isnt 5-3.

[Mr.TaterSalad]

Gibson is keeping us from blowing this lead. He's had three big saves in last minute and a half of play. We've gotten zero sustained offensive pressure in the last period and a half worth of play. I think we have two shots on goal this entire 3rd period. 

[Mr.TaterSalad]

That was a ****ing rotten call for a slash on Raymond there.

[buddha]

bad pinch by simon leads to a 2 on 1 and then a complete **** call on raymond.  horrible call.

but carolina goes to the pp.  even though its seemed like they were on a pp for most of the 3rd period.

[buddha]

and now a 5-3...