Red Wings fans will like the latest from Derek Lalonde

The Detroit Red Wings have been playing better hockey of late after having dropped four straight games thanks to an offensive explosion against the San Jose Sharks and Columbus Blue Jackets. And thank to their efforts, they'd be in the 1st wild cart postseason spot if the annual tournament began today. 

And while plenty of teams are used to collecting a full measure of where their team stands around the date of US Thanksgiving, don't expect Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde to be among them. According to him, there's still a ways to go. 

“I did with a couple of my Tampa teams because I knew how talented they were, and that was probably real,” Lalonde said. “Not with this team. We’ve got a long ways to go. We’re there right now with sheer will and commitment. It’s a huge credit to our guys, but those underlying numbers, there’s some truth to them, too. We’re willing our way to where we are right now. How sustainable is that? We’ll find out from this group.”

“We’re (10th) in points in the league – but we’re not that from underlying numbers,” Lalonde said. “I think we all know that. But it’s skewed a little bit because we’ve had three or four games where we’ve given up 18-20 goals and that’s going to skew those (defensive) numbers.

“But that’s what we are. We’ve had those (bad) moments. It’s not an accident. But for the most part, not only does our team defense feel much-improved, it’s our commitment to defense which has led us to a good start so far.”

The likes of the Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres, whom were expected to take major steps forward, haven't done so. Meanwhile, the Boston Bruins and the New Jersey Devils are shocking everyone with their current standings in 1st and 2nd place in the NHL Standings. There's certainly plenty more to go in Detroit's schedule, but is their current play sustainable? 

They're back in action tomorrow night against the Nashville Predators at Little Caesars Arena.