Against Charlie Lindgren, Red Wings ‘Grip the Sticks too Tight’ in Crunch Time
The Red Wings earned a handful of wide-open chances against Washington on Tuesday, but they missed the net or were otherwise stopped by an impressive Charlie Lindgren performance to cost crucial points.
Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-USA TODAY Sports - Against Charlie Lindgren, Red Wings ‘Grip the Sticks too Tight’ in Crunch TimeBy all means, the Detroit Red Wings should’ve won Tuesday night’s game against the Washington Capitals. They defended well for the majority of three periods. They earned high-danger shots, including a couple flurries around the net. They even found Washington goaltender Charlie Lindgren out of position multiple times.
What they couldn’t do, though, is put those chances on the scoreboard.
For whatever reason, the Red Wings either failed to beat Lindgren’s desperation saves, or they didn’t pull the trigger at all. In a game that came down to overtime, any goal could have changed fate, and with it the complexion of the playoff race. Instead, Detroit leaves Washington with a wasted opportunity because of its hesitations.
“We made plays in other situations throughout, so we gave ourselves a chance on the road, won the special teams battle,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said postgame. “You can see why this (Washington) team is where they’re at. The goaltender, no one’s playing better in the league right now. They feed off the confidence he brings to that group. You can tell.”
Watching their teammate rob the Red Wings multiple times certainly gave some swagger to the Capitals, but it also had a draining effect on Detroit. Lindgren was entirely beatable at multiple times this game, whether he shifted across the crease too slow or just couldn’t possibly stop a third or fourth flurry attempt. Yet each time, they didn’t convert.
The first of these moments came just three minutes in. With the puck down low at the goal mouth, Robby Fabbri could have backhanded a shot past Lindgren from a tight angle. Maybe Lindgren would have saved it, but a high enough angled shot would have roofed into the net.
Instead, Fabbri overthought it. He tried to scoot around Lindgren, who skated up in his crease and took away Fabbri’s space. The puck met a pad instead of netting, and the Red Wings had nothing to show for Fabbri’s good effort. Whether or not Fabbri hesitated because of Lindgren’s recent clout or because it was the best shot he could think of, it didn’t work either way.
These plays happen often in a game, but the issue is that Fabbri’s mistake was just the first chapter of a long anthology. Shake, bake or hesitate, the Red Wings made a habit of the latter.
Lindgren robbed Fabbri twice more, and he did the same to Larkin, too. Shots in tight, entries with speed, one-timers — you name the attempt. Larkin had one of the most frustrating foiled opportunities midway through the second period when his shot beat Lindgren in tight and trickled behind him. With a last-ditch reach of his stick, he scooped it back into his pads with his stick before the Red Wings could score. Most times, that shot is a goal, but Tuesday wasn’t one of them.
“You get your chances — I’m guilty of it as well, squeezing the stick,” captain Dylan Larkin said. “You just gotta bear down and put it in.”
Maybe that stick-squeezing explains why Jeff Petry didn’t shoot the puck, either.
With five minutes left in the game. Petry had a wide open net with Lindgren’s back completely turned to him, yet he passed the puck for a different shot as the wide-open net started him down. Trailing 3-2, there was no reason for Detroit to be hesitant around the net.
“Obviously Petry had the wide open net, he probably scores that nine out of 10 times,” Lalonde said. “I don’t know what, I think he maybe got surprised with how much room and space and net he had, and it just kinda blew up on him. I mean we had some looks. So again, the totality of it, it’s a good road point, just not with the circumstances.”
The Red Wings’ circumstances got far worse after the loss Tuesday. They’re two points back from the Capitals, who have a game in hand. Essentially, Detroit needs to win two more games than Washington in its final 11 game stretch. Tuesday’s effort showed a lot of positives, especially the looks that Fabbri, Larkin and Petry all earned. But they have to bury them to make them count.
Larkin assessed these woes as nerves catching them at a bad time.
“We shot the puck, shot scramble, we talked about that a lot. We transitioned well, the second period we were all over ‘em,” Larkin said. “It’s just the first five minutes of the third and it’s not — maybe gripping our sticks a little too tight, thinking about the moment too much.”
Stick-squeezing spans further than just shots — it’s turnovers, stray passes and the like. But most of all, it affected Detroit’s ability to finish its scoring chances. The Red Wings played a better game than Washington, but that doesn’t matter if they can’t convert the chances that play earns. The time for indecision has long run out.
If they don’t loosen their grip on their sticks, they’re bound to lose their grip on their playoff hopes.
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