Not much went right for the Detroit Red Wings in their first game of their road trip out west, as they fell to the Los Angeles Kings 4-0.
The first period was not only the worst of the season, it was the worst in recent memory. The Red Wings only notched one shot on goal through the first twenty minutes, while the Kings shellacked Alex Nedeljkovic in net with well over 20 shots on goal. Dylan Larkin took a bad penalty, the team looked out of sorts and the Kings were skating circles around them. However, the Wings escaped the period with only a two goal deficit.
While the Red Wings pushed back in the second period, they still couldn’t find the back of the net. The Kings tacked on another goal in the second, scoring shorthanded and extending the lead to three.
The Kings added an empty netter to make it 4-0 with just over two minutes left in the period.
#1: It was not Alex Nedeljkovic’s fault. Glancing at the score, one might think that the goaltender shouldered part of the blame for letting four goals into the net, This was not the case. Nedeljkovic was the only reason Detroit wasn’t down 4-0 after just twenty minutes. As defensive lapses, turnovers and opposing shots on goals kept coming, Nedeljkovic was the only thing stopping this game from turning into a complete blowout.
#2: The offense is starting to get troubling. When the offense is hot, it looks electric. The top line can score with the best of them, the second line can add some goals and the bottom-six stifles opposing offenses. But when the offense goes cold, the team looks like a bottom-feeder. Tonight was one of those nights. Even the best forwards on the team couldn’t generate any chances (Lucas Raymond had a pretty brutal night).
#3: The power play is also terrible. The Red Wings had two opportunities to cash in on the power play. They failed on both. They also gave up a shorthanded goal.
#4: Well, the penalty kill was solid. Some silver lining to the stormy cloud that was this game: the penalty kill unit stopped all three of the Kings attempts on the man advantage.
#5: Michael Rasmussen has been playing decent in the new year. Rasmussen hasn’t really shown up on the stat sheet often in 2022, but he’s playing much better hockey. He’s slowly started to win one-on-one puck battles.
The road trip continues tonight, as the Red Wings take on the Anaheim Ducks at 8 p.m..