The Detroit Red Wings’ 2026-27 season couldn’t have started any worse, dropping their first two games to kick things off.
Detroit hasn’t surrendered a 5-on-5 goal with the goaltender in the crease in those two contests. But they haven’t found a way to win.
That leads to one glaring issue that has plagued the Wings over the past two seasons. And given the way 2026-27 has started, that trend looks like it will continue.
Detroit’s penalty kill unit has crushed this team. It started in Game 1 vs. the New York Rangers, and continued through Game 2 vs. the Winnipeg Jets. Detroit’s penalty kill is 4-for-8, meaning opponents have scored 50 percent of the time when on the man advantage against the Wings.
In Sunday’s loss to the Jets, all three goals Detroit allowed came with Winnipeg on the power play. Cole Perfetti opened up the scoring when he deflected the puck in at the 13:04 mark of the first period. Then Kyle Connor swooped in at 14:36 to score on a backhand. Connor scored again on a snapshot at the 5:41 mark of the second period, giving him three goals on the year.
Detroit Red Wings Penalty Kill Continues To Be Historically Bad
The silver lining is obvious: Detroit is still two games into an 84-game season. The penalty kill has plenty of time to turn things around. But recent history is not on Detroit’s side.
In 2024-25, Detroit killed off 70.1 percent of its opponents’ penalties, which is the fourth-worst in NHL history. It ranks in front of the 1978-79 Washington Capitals (69.7), the 1982-83 Los Angeles Kings (68.6), and the 1979-80 Kings (68.2).
Keeping track, the 2024-25 Red Wings had the worst penalty kill the NHL has seen since 1982-83. Fast-forward to 2025-26, and the Wings at least climbed outside the bottom 25 in league history. Still, they ranked 23rd in the NHL with a 77.14 penalty-kill percentage.
Red Wings Must Minimize Penalties In 2026-27
At least until they learn how to consistently stop opposing power-play units, the Wings can’t let opponents draw them into committing penalties. If it keeps happening, they will let winnable games like they saw on Friday and Sunday slip away.
In that first game against the Rangers, Detroit allowed a power-play goal and an empty-netter. On Sunday, it was three power-play goals. Defensively, they have proven to be tough at 5-on-5, and that was something they showed last season.
While the Red Wings had a hard time scoring at 5-on-5, their 0.913 save percentage hovered around the NHL average. Detroit also had a respectable 174.0 expected goals allowed, just 0.2 below the league average. Even better, they allowed 169, so five fewer than expected. That number was just one goal below the NHL average of 168.
The bad news? Detroit’s penalty kill will look historically bad again if they don’t figure out ways to improve it. The good? They have kicked off 2026-27 as one of the better 5-on-5 units defensively, and that gives them a blueprint that they can work with as they steamroll deeper into October.
Detroit will have its home crowd in its corner when they give it another go. The Ottawa Senators and Seattle Kraken are coming to town before the Red Wings go on the road against Montreal.
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