Mantha’s late goal not enough as Red Wings lose 3-2

The Detroit Red Wings started out well. In fact, it was probably the best period of the season so far. From there, it didn’t go how they would have liked. Add in the news from Fox Sports Detroit’s Trevor Thompson that Moritz Seider will be out for quite some time, and well, it wasn’t a great day for the organization.

The Florida Panthers knocked off the Red Wings 3-2, sending Detroit (2-6-2) to its sixth consecutive loss. Givani Smith had a great setup to Dylan Larkin who sped through the zone and backhanded in the first goal for Detroit.

Anthony Mantha roofed one with 1:48 left when the puck ended up on his stick on an attempted clear.  The Red Wings had decent pressure for those final two minutes but it was just too little, too late.

Patric Hornqvist, Aaron Ekblad and Carter Verhaeghe scored for Florida.

A few final thoughts

The winless streak hits six, and there’s not much else to say. Thomas Greiss just can’t catch a break as he’s still winless as a Red Wing. Smith and Taro Hirose again looked like they belong on a nightly basis. Hopefully that does continue.

It’s obvious that this team just cannot matchup with many teams in the league. Heck, they were blown out by a Blackhawks team who is on also scrambling to put guys into the lineup. There’s plenty of theories as to why this is–from coaching–to talent level–to even just bad breaks.

It’s encouraging to see Mantha score in back to back games. It’s also great to see guys like Troy Stecher stand out. Not enough has been said about how steady he has been as well as making little plays that go unnoticed. I can’t even count how many times he’s disrupted an opposing scoring chance with positioning.

The Red Wings take on Tampa Bay Wednesday.