The centennial celebration for the Detroit Red Wings, who are in their 100th season of NHL hockey, didn't go anywhere near as planned during their Home Opener on Thursday evening.
Despite taking an early 1-0 lead courtesy of a power-play goal from team captain Dylan Larkin, the Red Wings allowed five unanswered goals by the Canadiens, who won by a 5-1 final score.
Multiple Canadiens goals were the direct result of defensive breakdowns by Detroit, who allowed several odd-man rushes against. Goaltender John Gibson had a rough debut, as he was pulled for Cam Talbot after allowing five goals on 13 shots against.
To be fair to Gibson, the Red Wings didn't give him much help. Both Larkin and Moritz Seider said following the game that it wouldn't be right to lay the loss at Gibson's feet, while McLellan simply answered "Yes" when asked if he believes Gibson was hung out to dry.
Following an intense practice at the BELFOR Training Center inside of Little Caesars Arena on early Friday afternoon, McLellan discussed the importance of proper game management while also saying video review of Thursday's game yielded far too much evidence that every player on the team played a role in the disappointing setback.
"A lot (of evidence), too much evidence," said McLellan of the team's video review. "They're all guilty."
"It's much easier when you need to fix one player or one line, but this was team-wide," McLellan said. "We dealt with it (Friday at practice) and we talked about managing the game much better."
McLellan has already begun to switch things up, confirming that Talbot will start for the Red Wings on Saturday evening against the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs.
Additionally, newcomers Jacob Bernard-Docker and James van Riemsdyk, neither of whom played on Thursday, were taking rushes during practice.
While McLellan did not confirm whether either player would be in the lineup on Saturday night, he emphasized that their struggles against Montreal were not the fault of any one player, but of the team as a whole.
"It's much easier when you need to fix one player or one line, but this was team-wide," McLellan said. "We dealt with it (Friday at practice) and we talked about managing the game much better."
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