This Detroit Red Wings line has been 'really beneficial' against top-end teams
RALEIGH, N.C. — Among the positives for the Detroit Red Wings as they roll into their next game with six wins (and at least one point) in their past seven games has been the play of their third line.
Head coach Derek Lalonde has spoken numerous times about how the team isn't built to be a low-scoring, tight-checking group, but the Wings appear to have found a compromise in putting Andrew Copp with Michael Rasmussen and Christian Fischer.
"We’re playing pretty simple right now," Copp said Thursday. "Get pucks in, get pucks to the net, get people to the net. We’ve been able to produce the last six, seven games. It’s going well."
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The Wings (23-16-5) visit the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday. Alex Lyon is slated to get the start in net, and the only change among the skaters could be on defense, if Jake Walman is able to rejoin the lineup after practicing Thursday for the first time since a bout with illness.
Copp's line has been among the keys to winning the first two games on the trip. On Sunday in Toronto, the line contributed the decisive goal in the 4-2 victory against the Maple Leafs. In Wednesday's 3-2 overtime victory over the Panthers in Florida, the line had a hand in both regulation goals. Copp's assist extended his point streak to five games, and Rasmussen scored his 10th goal of the season and earned an assist when he outmuscled a defender to win a puck battle.
"You can see the way we’re built," Lalonde said. "I don’t know if we have enough of that throughout our lineup, which is fine, there are some guys that are dangerous on the rush. It’s been really, really beneficial for us, especially on the road for us against these really top-end teams."
Copp and Rasmussen were clicking last year when Rasmussen suffered a season-ending leg injury in mid-February, so it's no surprise how well they're jelling.
"I think we read off each other well," Copp said. "Our strengths are different, but I know what he is thinking, and I think he knows what I like to do. And Fisch is playing good, too. Fisch is getting in on the forecheck, making little plays that are huge and kind of creating space."
Fischer, who joined the team last summer as a free agent, brings energy and grit to any line.
"I think (Copp and Rasmussen) both get to their identity — just simple, north, work off the forecheck, spend some time in the o-zone," Lalonde said. "Both at times will get out of that game, and I think when they both concentrate on it and they do it together, it’s really effective. And you add Fisch in there, add to that identity, it’s been a really good line for us.”
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings getting boost from Andrew Copp's line
