Only six points separates the Detroit Red Wings from a playoff spot at the halfway point of their 2017-18 season.
The Eastern Conference has been a jumbled mess with teams constantly jumping over each other in the standings.
The Red Wings have had that same up and down flow. They now hold a .500 record and 41 points.
Dylan Larkin has already surpassed his point total from last season and Jimmy Howard has been steady in net.
Point production has been spread throughout the whole lineup making every line on the ice a threat.
The one downfall to a team rolling all of their forward lines throughout a game typically can be seen in the goal differential stat. All but two players on the roster have a negative plus-minus rating, those players being Jonathan Ericsson and Luke Witkowski.
The team, as a whole, has a goal differential of -15.
At this point in the season, the playoff race normally starts to take shape. With the close standings in the East it might be a fight to the finish.
The only exception to this is the Tampa Bay Lightning who sit at the top of the East with 65 points. Tampa has been on fire all season and do not look to be slowing up as they enter the second half of their season.
The Wings are currently in the middle of their league mandated 5-day break. The second half of their season will start on January 13 against the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins.
