"Gutsy Effort": Todd McLellan Appreciates Red Wings' Defensive Effort Despite S/O Loss

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While the Detroit Red Wings got a solid performance from goaltender Daniil Tarasov in his first start with the team, their offense ultimately wasn't able to get the job done.

Despite Tarasov making 30 saves, the Red Wings fell 1-0 to the divisional rival Montreal Canadiens in a shootout at Bell Centre on Saturday evening, dropping their record to 1-3-1 through five games of the 2026-27 campaign.

It marked the second time this season the Red Wings have been shut out. While holding Montreal off the scoresheet through regulation and overtime is a positive, Detroit needs to find ways to generate more offense.

"I thought we played really solid defensively; our PK was really good," said forward Lucas Raymond. "We just gotta - I don't want to say create more, but be more efficient on offense." 

The Red Wings had four chances with the man-advantage, but they went for naught. 

"I thought we played pretty good honestly; we had a ton of looks," Raymond said of Detroit's power play opportunities. "We had chances; we just have to find ways to put it into the back of the net.

It was the Red Wings' second game in just over 24 hours, after they were defeated 6-3 by the Seattle Kraken in Detroit on Friday evening; they immediately traveled to Montreal afterward. 

“I thought it was a really gutsy effort on our behalf; back to backs aren’t easy, especially early in the year," said head coach Todd McLellan. "That team came out really hungry; we had to weather a storm early."

We played even after that. It would have been nice to find a way to get one in the shootout, but, not a lot of complaints.”

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During Friday's game, the Red Wings were done in, allowing three goals in as many minutes against the Kraken during a nightmarish second-period stretch. 

For McLellan, he liked seeing his club tighten up defensively against a Habs team with plenty of offensive prowess. 

"It was very important for us to rebound," McLellan said. "Last night's game was a 10-minute debacle that cost us the night. The other 50 minutes, we were in the game and played well. We addressed it and focused on a couple of things we thought we had to clean up.

I thought we did that tonight." 

The Red Wings return to Little Caesars Arena for a three-game homestand beginning on Tuesday evening against the New Jersey Devils. 

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