close
close

Mondor Festival

News with a Local Lens

    • Detroit Red Wings show weaknesses in loss to Winnipeg Jets
    minsta

    Detroit Red Wings show weaknesses in loss to Winnipeg Jets

    Pabio Posted on

    play

    THE Detroit Red Wings closed the first month with an ugly defeat punctuated by a goal that made their coach cringe.

    Ten seconds into the third period Wednesday at Little Caesars Arena, While the Wings were feeling better about themselves after a strong second period, they gave up a goal that undid all their good work. The Winnipeg Jets won the draw and kicked the puck into the Detroit zone. Jeff Petry appeared to skate too much on the puck as he couldn’t get to it, instead allowing Jets forward Nino Niederreiter to take control. Niederreiter, with only one hand on his stick, maneuvered the puck to the Detroit net, where it went in off the skate of Ben Chiarot.

    “It was tough to look back on,” coach Derek Lalonde said after the 6-2 loss. “It was because of their identity — they hit a lot of pucks and get there on a forecheck. It was just the way it broke — it went through two of our sticks, it went through the goalie’s stick goal, deep in the blue paint and off a skate.

    “It was hard to watch.”

    BECOMING YOUNG: Detroit Red Wings on Olli Määttä trade: ‘Hard to see a good teammate leave’

    All the more difficult because the final score essentially rendered moot the Wings’ hard work in the second period, when they turned a three-goal deficit into just one. Here’s to ending a skid: the Wings are now winless in their last three games as they host the Buffalo Sabers on Saturday night.

    “We just didn’t help ourselves for a lot of this game,” Dylan Larkin said after scoring the Wings’ second goal on the power play. “The power play has been good, but we can’t show up at home and score three goals in the first period and then we can’t start periods like that.

    “The general rule in hockey is to be detailed on faceoffs. They scored a goal on faceoffs and we didn’t have our man, then the first minute of a period, especially when you’re chasing a lead and lose by a goal – the attitude coming out of the room was good, but we gave up a goal in the first 5 seconds of the third period, and it was a killer.

    When asked how sloppy the Wings were and how sloppy the Jets (9-1-0), JT Compher said it was “a mix of both.” We definitely weren’t as sharp as we should be. to win games against top teams, that’s what happens and their talent takes over.

    Goalie Alex Lyon ended up being scored six on 29 shots, but it was his teammates who blew the covers and were caught off guard.

    “It’s a very frustrating game in that the three goals scored in the first period were just duels where we were beaten at the net,” Lalonde said. “Two drives where we identified the right guy and the guy just outplayed our guy to the net for an easy goal. Then a faceoff goal, same thing. It’s just unfortunate.

    “Then the first goal of the third was a backbreaker.”

    The loss left the Wings 4-5-1 for October.

    “We can’t have games like that,” Larkin said. “Most of the forwards were passengers. We didn’t help ourselves get the puck out. We can’t be dominated 5-0 (five-on-five) at home, even against a good team, with very talented players. We let them do what they wanted in the O zone and we kind of really exposed ourselves.

    “We need to find out what we are as a team and start gaining ground and playing for an identity.”

    Contact Hélène St. James at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.

    Learn more about the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings Newsletter. His latest book, “The Franchise: Detroit Red WingsA Curated History of the Red Wings,” was released in October 2024. His books, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft” and “The Big 50: The Men and Moments that made the Red Detroit Wings’ are available from Amazon, Barnes & Nobles and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via email.

    Pabio
    View all posts

    You Might Also Like