In Dylan Larkin's return from injury, an early 4-0 deficit proves too much for the Red Wings to overcome against visiting Anaheim
In Dylan Larkin's return from injury, an early 4-0 deficit proves too much for the Red Wings to overcome against visiting Anaheim
For a team that entered the night's game having lost five of six, there was a reasonable sense of optimism surrounding the Detroit Red Wings as they prepared to host the Anaheim Ducks. Captain Dylan Larkin was set to make his return after a four-game absence, and it seemed the Red Wings' injury woes had subsided or at least ameliorated.
Instead, the Ducks—who sit one spot from the bottom in the Pacific Division—raced to a 4-0 lead and survived a late Detroit rally to hold onto a 4-3 road victory, leaving the Red Wings to ponder the problems they'd hoped to escape: More injuries, more breakdowns in defensive zone coverage, and a toothless attack at five-on-five.
"Obviously, we weren't really ready to play," said a blunt Alex DeBrincat from the post-game podium. "You're not gonna win many games when you go down four-nothing. We tried to battle back, but it's too late. We gotta be ready to play. Those are two points we give up that we shouldn't."
Coach Derek Lalonde was even more candid in his assessment of the performance, turning his analysis to his team's psyche. "We're fragile right now," he said. "It's just the reality. You come off two tight games; it was 2-1, 1-0, still had some pretty good things in our game, but you get a little fragile. Two of the first three chances went in, and we're chasing it."
On just the second shot of the game, Radko Gudas—wide open at the point—capped off a brief cycle sequence by firing the game's first goal past Ville Husso.
Five minutes and 56 seconds later, Pavel Mintyukov scored on another uncontested point shot. Mintyukov had some traffic to thread the puck through, but his effort bore a clear resemblance to Gudas', and with the game a bit more than eight minutes of hockey played, Detroit looked listless and trailed 2-0.
Despite that deficit, the first period's nadir wouldn't come until after a Klim Kostin goalie interference minor with 4:27 to play in the frame. With Kostin in the box, Jake Walman got in front of a Frank Vatrano one-timed blast. Walman blocked the shot but lost his stick and came up hobbled.
He fought his way to his feet and remained in the play, even helping kick the puck to safety, but while he was able to make it to the bench for a chance, Husso had come up lame in the crease with a lower body injury. Fortunately, Walman would return, but Husso had to be replaced by James Reimer.
Not two minutes after Reimer entered the game, he conceded a goal to Adam Henrique with Justin Holl in the box for holding that left the Red Wings at a 3-0 disadvantage. Whatever optimism Larkin's return generated had been drained before the first intermission. Then, within two minutes of the second commencing, Troy Terry tucked a rebound chance past Reimer to make it 4-0, and Detroit appeared in for a long and painful night.
However, Jeff Petry interruped the Ducks' momentum with a well-placed clapper from along the wall less than a minute after Terry's marker; it was the Ann Arbor native's first goal as a Red Wing.
Petry's goal ended the scoring for the second period, but the injuries didn't stop for Detroit. Not long after the frame's midpoint, Klim Kostin absorbed a heavy hit at the offensive blue line from Gudas in a collision of two massive bodies. He needed help from the training staff and his teammates to make it down the tunnel and wouldn't return.
In the third, DeBrincat—who entered the night having scored just once in eight games in the month of December—notched a pair of power play goals to restore the game to a competitive state.
For the first (his 400th career NHL point), he found a pocket of unguarded ice just below the face-off dot, slipping away from the Anaheim penalty kill and guiding a Patrick Kane pass through the slot home. With more than 12 minutes to play in the third, Detroit was alive, which is more than could have been said at any point throughout the first.
DeBrincat's second was even simpler: A quick feed from Shayne Gostisbehere at the point that he one-timed home with ease from a stationary position at the same dot.
Unfortunately for the Red Wings, the goal came a second too late for Detroit to remain on the power play after Mintyukov's double minor for slashing Christian Fischer. At six-on-five, the Red Wings couldn't find the goal they needed to complete the comeback, with the final horn making Detroit's third straight loss official.
Getting DeBrincat going is a small boost for a team starving for offense, but in the end, the third period rally only served to obscure another underwhelming performance. It was Anaheim—who, unlike the Red Wings, had played the night prior—that dashed out of the gate to an early lead, looking the hungrier, quicker team in doing so. Thanks to the rally, Detroit could have salvaged a point, but you'd hardly say it was a deserved one even if they had.
Now, it's time for Lalonde and his staff to rebuild the confidence of a "fragile" team. When asked what that process would look like, he paused for a beat then offered, "Well, just score, just concentrating on a good start."
The Red Wings, now 15-12-4, will have a chance to get that good start Wednesday night in Winnipeg against the Jets.
Also from THN Detroit
Injury Update: Larkin Progressing, Kostin Back, Compher Likely, Fischer Takes a Maintenance Day
Carolina Dominates as Husso Helps Detroit Hang Around: Red Wings-Hurricanes Statistical Review
Red Wings 1, Hurricanes 2: Carolina Smothers Larkin-less Red Wings
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