Alright, Red Wings fans, it’s time for me to ask you, the audience, what the team’s first two games back from the 4 Nations Face-Off have in common. Can anyone tell me? Yes? No? Do you need me to tell you? Alright, then.
In the last two games, at home, might I add, the Wings have blown two multi-goal leads. That’s the last thing they need as we steamroll into the final week of February and the first of March (and warmer weather) rolls around.
No, the Red Wings didn’t lose on Sunday, but wow, could you have asked for another meltdown just over 24 hours after the Wings lost to the Minnesota Wild after they held a two-goal lead in the third period? Seriously, if any team needs to have a sit-down with one another, it’s Detroit, or else this is about to become a problem.
Red Wings couldn’t have deceived their fans in a more alarming way
In yesterday’s game, Marco Kasper, Alex DeBrincat, and Patrick Kane all scored within the game’s first five minutes and six seconds. Yeah, that’s all it took to beat down one of the league’s most dormant franchises, and you’d think the Wings would’ve looked to run up the score at that point, or at least until they had a good five or six-goal lead.
Sounds extreme to some, but even four-goal leads aren’t entirely safe these days, something the Red Wings might start learning the hard way. Anyway, they went up 4-1 when Michael Rasmussen scored early in the second period, before Cutter Gauthier cut the lead to two.
Still, a two-goal lead in the third period was something you’d think the Wings would protect a little better, considering the meltdown they suffered from the day prior. But it wasn’t to be, and the Wings ended up handing the game back to the Ducks. Luckily for them, Patrick Kane scored in overtime and denied the Ducks any type of a comeback.
Red Wings cannot start making a habit out of this
Yeah, the Red Wings are in pretty bad shape if they continue to build multi-goal leads, only to put it in cruise control. For one, they need to start getting more physical. In Sunday’s contest, the Ducks outmuscled them with 37 hits to 28, and on Saturday, the Wings recorded just one more hit than the Wild, edging them out 22 to 21.
Hey, at this point, the Wings need to start playing playoff hockey if they want to reach the real postseason this time around. Players like Dylan Larkin need to hold this group accountable and right now, it’s something that I personally haven’t seen from him, Patrick Kane, Vladimir Tarasenko, or Cam Talbot - all of whom know a thing or two of what it takes to be a successful team.
Until something changes, the Red Wings will have a tough time breaking their eight-season playoff drought, and it’s up to their seasoned veterans to make a statement right here and now while they can still control their own playoff destiny.