There needs to be something, anything, to get the Detroit Red Wings up and moving again before they fall too far in the Eastern Conference standings. Right now, the Wings are 2-8-0 in their last 10 and they’ve officially fallen from the conference’s hottest team before the 4 Nations Face-Off to the coldest.
And last night, fans were treated once more to an embarrassing performance. Yeah, I get it, they were playing the mighty Washington Capitals, but where’s the sense of urgency when it’s needed the most? Okay, maybe I’m being a little too tough here, as the Caps only outshot Detroit 26-24.
The Red Wings also crushed the Caps in the faceoff circle, delivered more hits, and even seemed to know where their opponents were going with the puck, given their 18 blocks. Oh, and Washington also gifted Detroit the puck another 18 times, so it’s not like the Wings didn’t put forth any effort.
The Detroit Red Wings may have looked okay on paper, but…
Still, it’s clear the team got lazy at times, and it’s something head coach Todd McLellan let them know about after the game. From Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press’ postgame piece, McLellan said, “Give your teammates a chance to use the six minutes, to pull the goaltender. We’re going to overtime at 2-2 or we’re losing 3-1. We look up with three minutes left and it’s 4-1. That can’t happen. You still have to check for chances, you can’t open up.
"You can’t pout and get lazy, and perhaps we did that. Maybe that’s the lesson we’re learning."
Lazy. Now that’s a harsh word in the English language. But it fit the way this team reacted late in the game. And in so many ways, McLellan’s right. After going down 1-0 thanks to Dylan Strome, Dylan Larkin tied the game in the first period. It was all the scoring you would see until nearly halfway through the third frame when Pierre Luc-Dubois made it 2-1.
Okay, so that’s still simple enough to bounce back from, right? Well, not if you’re Tom Wilson, who put the Capitals up 3-1 at the 14:21 mark before Connor McMichael iced the game at 15:27. And that’s where the problem, once again, lies; the Red Wings decided to get lazy once again. Maybe McLellan struck a chord with his word usage this time?
And if so, give credit to him for again calling the Wings out, and hope that he doesn’t sugarcoat his messages. This was, and in some cases, still is, a playoff-caliber team. But one that doesn’t want to help itself, as their primarily uninspiring play just won’t stop.
Red Wings still need to learn a basic fundamental to hockey
It’s hard to believe we’re still talking about this, but until the Red Wings remember that a hockey game will always, always, always last for 60 minutes, they won’t find consistency. Or at the absolute least, play through the whistle, and maybe you’ll string together a few much-needed wins again.
Perhaps miraculously, the Wings are just three points out of retaking the wild card spot, but with 14 games to go on the year, they’re running out of chances. The moment of truth has arrived for Detroit, and they’re either going to skate into at least a respectable finish or keep slipping up as they try to put this playoff drought into the rearview.