Defensive Lapses Make for a Tough Detroit Comeback against Canadiens
The Red Wings got the two points they needed with a 5-4 overtime win against Montreal, but early defensive lapses made for a difficult three-goal comeback to get there
Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports - Defensive Lapses Make for a Tough Detroit Comeback against CanadiensIt’s almost like the Red Wings jinxed themselves.
At a morning skate availability before a do-or-die game against the Montreal Canadiens, Detroit coach Derek Lalonde focused on what his team had to do to reach victory:
Don’t allow easy goals.
But as Detroit stared at a 4-1 deficit halfway through the game, it was that easy offense it had to blame. All four of Montreal’s goals came from far-too-easy chances that the Red Wings surrendered. They ended up making the comeback for a key 5-4 overtime win, but they didn’t make it easy on themselves.
“We just gave them too much easy offense around the scoring area,” Lalonde said. “Not a lot, but just enough. I didn’t hate our first, didn’t hate our second — it’s just (that) everything went in. And some of it was self-inflicted, but I give the guys credit to hang in there throughout and I think we got what we deserved tonight and that was the two points.”
Lalonde’s assessment largely rings true. Detroit came out of the gate with jump, weaving through a porous Canadiens structure through the neutral zone and earning some quality chances. But those Habs also found their own chances, and they cashed them in. With 4:25 elapsed in the game, Montreal defenseman Lane Hutson walked the blue line in his rookie debut and laid in a puck to the net that a screening Brendan Gallagher whacked in on his backhand. Meeting the play with a block or a corralled rebound would’ve prevented the chance, but instead the puck met twine and the Red Wings were down 1-0.
Just a couple minutes later, defenseman Justin Barron rushed in alongside forward Joey Anderson, who fed him a pass. Red Wings defenseman Olli Maatta tried to tip the pass, but the puck bobbled up toward Barron. With a collected mid-air grab that he played to himself, Barron sniped the far left corner on goaltender Alex Lyon, making the deficit 2-0.
“Shot attempts were almost three to one after the first, we had the puck it felt like a ton of the first,” Lalonde said, “but we gave up two chances in the slot that ended up in the back of our net.”
Both of these chances were some of the slim pickings that the Red Wings surrendered, but the Habs converted what little opportunity they could find. That’s “the fear of playing this team,” according to Lalonde. “They don't need a lot for offense.”
If that’s the case, then the Red Wings must’ve been frightened when they saw Montreal forward Rafael Harvey-Pinard — riding a 27-game goalless streak — slip through a confused Detroit neutral zone and bury a well-placed pass five minutes into the second period. After much of the same Detroit control of the game, the goal again bucked the run of play with successful conversion. Then, after another 10 minutes of mostly Red Wings control, defenseman Simon Edvinsson saw an attempted reversal get tipped to the front of the net where Gallagher rifled it home. It marked the Habs' fourth goal on 13 shots — an abysmal outing, but one you could hardly pin on goaltender Alex Lyon alone. The goal also came after a respectable push by the Red Wings on the power play and then with a first-line shift. Everything needed to go right, and yet to that point, it was all going wrong.
“We're gonna get out of that period (with) maybe two chances against — both go in,” Lalonde said. “Five chances over two periods — four go in.”
Not only was the scoring efficiency scary, but the jeopardy it put the season in was also frightening. Detroit couldn’t lose this game and still make the playoffs. Montreal — a team looking forward to the draft lottery right now — was primed to play spoiler.
But the Red Wings dug deep and battled back. Forward J.T. Compher scored a key 4-2 goal on the ensuing response shift, the first of four unanswered goals to win the game. Detroit didn’t play a pretty game giving up that easy offense, but an ugly win was still the win they needed.
“Obviously we don’t want to put ourselves in those positions,” Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond said. “But we ended up (with a win) and I think we handled it pretty good.”
“We still believed in each other, in the group, and never gave up,” Compher assessed. “I mean, even that last shift in regulation when it felt like the puck might never go in for us, those guys stuck with it.”
Perhaps a cleaner defensive effort would’ve taken some pressure off the finish, and that’s an area Lalonde wants to address. It’s that easy offense that bugs him heading to Montreal’s casa for the last game of the season. This game, too, is a must-win for a playoff spot, and the Red Wings might not be so lucky to allow easy goals and still win.
Accordingly, the message from Lalonde hasn’t changed for tomorrow's rematch: don’t give up easy offense. This time around, Detroit has to make good on its charge.