Lucas Raymond Says Red Wings Must Establish Who They Are

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The Detroit Red Wings are in the mist of a four-game losing skid , during which the kind of defensive miscues that have plagued them in recent years have bubbled back to the surface.

Detroit's recent inability to keep the puck out of the back of their own net has been compounded by multiple errors in their own end, the exact opposite of the kind of defensive awareness they've demonstrated at several points this season.

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Head coach Todd McLellan recently stated that he feels the Red Wings are still searching for an established identity amidst their inconsistency.

Forward Lucas Raymond, who is in the midst of a five-game point streak, knows that the Red Wings have what it takes to be successful and it's a matter of simply returning to the good habits that enabled them to get off to a strong 5-1 start.

"Both yes and no," Raymond answered when asked if the team was still searching for an identity. "I think whatever our identity is, we haven't been playing up to it lately. I think for us, we're a really good hockey team when we play fast and get after teams on the forecheck and shoot a lot of pucks, retrieve it and create chances. That's when we play our best hockey and create the most.

"We've been doing it for periods this year, and it's about getting back to that."

The Red Wings have shown that they're more than capable of looking like a top-tier team in the NHL under McLellan. Upon his hiring last season, they rattled off two separate seven-game winning streaks and were in prime position for a stretch run toward the postseason.

But as they've done the last two seasons, Detroit returned to old poor habits in the month of March and fell too far outside of the race, assuring them another year on the outside looking in on the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Detroit has their sights trained on breaking their postseason drought in their centennial campaign, and they have the tools to do so as they've demonstrated.

But it goes without saying that they can't afford to fall into the kind of lulls that cost them valuable points in the standings. In order to avoid them, the Red Wings must more consistently play to their strengths.

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