Here's how the Red Wings have avoided complete disaster and started winning

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings have own four of their past five games. 

Here are those games: 

• Oct. 28 -- 4-2 win over Dallas Stars
• Oct. 30 -- 5-3 win over Columbus Blue Jackets
• Nov. 1 -- 4-3 win over New Jersey Devils
• Nov. 3 -- 4-3 loss to Edmonton Oilers
• Nov. 6 -- 3-2 shootout win over Vancouver Canucks 

This brings Detroit's record to 5-8-2, putting them 7 points out of a playoff spot. That's quite remarkable considering their ridiculously bad start to the season when they went winless through seven games. Yeah, things were looking really, really glum for a couple weeks there. 

But how and why are they winning now?

The Red Wings' recent success is largely due to strong play from Dylan Larkin, who continues to be a relentless force each game, and the resurgence of veteran goalie Jimmy Howard. 

Larkin tallied 7 points over the past five games. He scored the shootout winner against Vancouver. He is a faceoff machine -- another 16 wins this past game. He covers the entire sheet of ice, showing no signs of fatigue when most players would drop dead skating full speed for 20 minutes a night. He now has 15 points in 15 games, putting him on pace for an 80-point season.

Larkin has a top-50 Corsi For (even strength) rating of 285. That means when Larkin is on the ice the Red Wings are spending more time in the offensive zone with better chances to score. In comparison, Connor McDavid has a 294 rating. The strength of these players may be obvious to anyone watching on a nightly basis, but the Corsi numbers ...

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_{This hockey newsletter is authored by Dave Bartkowiak Jr. He can be contacted at dbartkowiak@wdiv.com or on Twitter @DaveBartko.} 

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