Detroit - There's another aspect of the Red Wings' improvement that is noticeable, and has been quite important recently
The Red Wings, especially recently, have avoided those long, disastrous losing streaks that can severely dent a team's chance of making the playoffs.
The last four times the Wings have lost a game? They've won a game each of the next four games, snuffing out a losing streak quickly, and continuing to flirt with the .500 record they've generally been at the entire season (currently 23-22-6).
This last example was losing Monday in Minnesota, a 7-4 loss to the Wild that looked worse on the scoreboard than on the ice — but coming back Thursday and defeating the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden, 3-2 in a shootout, and instilling confidence for the rest of this rugged seven-game stretch against top teams in the NHL standings.