In Loss to Rangers, Red Wings Lack Control Despite Close Finish
Despite the close 4-3 final score, the Red Wings didn't establish control against the Rangers in a game they only led for 25 seconds
Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports - In Loss to Rangers, Red Wings Lack Control Despite Close FinishA 4-3 loss to the New York Rangers on Friday looks like a close game for the Detroit Red Wings, and it largely was as they stayed in striking distance of the President’s Trophy candidate Rangers. But as much as the Red Wings stayed in the fight, the overall control of Friday’s game was rarely in their favor.
For just 25 seconds of the game, Detroit held a lead. For the other 59:35 of the game, they were either tied in a back-and-forth battle or on their heels trying to play catch-up. Neither situation suggested control over the game, especially as response shifts swung the momentum in New York’s favor.
“We played hard, we played good enough to get a point, two points tonight,” Dylan Larkin said after the game. “I think when you get to this time of year, every time you drop a game it feels like an opportunity missed. It’s been hard, the hockey’s been hard and tight and we’ve been talking about every play and making sure you make every play, and we left a couple out there tonight which makes it hurt more.”
The goals the Red Wings left on the ice happened all throughout the game; converting on those chances could have given them greater control of the game. But in order to take that control, they needed better response shifts after goals.
At some of the key junctures of the game, the Red Wings’ response shifts didn’t play up to par. The most glaring of these lacking responses was a fourth-line shift that ended in a goal by Rangers forward Barclay Goodrow. This ended Detroit's 25-second lead time in the second period, as the fourth line got beat in transition and Goodrow mopped up a rebound.
The definitive nature of a goal scored makes that response shift stand out, but the Red Wings also failed to seize control after New York took its 4-3 lead in the third period. Larkin’s line went out to set a tone, and it started off strong by getting into the offensive zone. However, the Rangers clapped back. They defended and transitioned, and that same Goodrow fourth line fired off three straight shots including a rebound attempt. This put the Red Wings on their back foot, instead of the cutting edge they needed to be on.
As much as Detroit stayed within an arm's reach of New York all game, that didn't mean the Red Wings were in the driver's seat. In order to beat a team of the Rangers' caliber, they needed to establish control.
Detroit’s night wasn't a fruitless effort. After the Rangers' first goal, Larkin’s line effectively captured the momentum with a string of offensive threats. Larkin made a near-miss shot that hit a post, and his line put New York on the defensive. This set the table for Andrew Copp to score off a faceoff play on the next shift.
This is the kind of result that has to happen after any goal scored — a tone set, momentum continued. It's part of why Larkin's line took the response shift three out of the four times the Rangers scored. Even if goals might be hard to come by, what stood out more was the way that Larkin’s line immediately took the initiative and momentum out of the Rangers’ hands. It didn’t allow New York to further establish control over the game.
The problem was the rarity of that play's outcome for Detroit on Friday
Hockey is a game of organized chaos, and controlling the opening moments after a resetting event like a goal is important to creating a winning effort. For too many of the response shifts in Friday’s game, the Red Wings didn’t seize control through their response shifts.
The Red Wings could pull even with their goals, but they couldn’t stack successive, successful shifts immediately after. On the contrary, the Rangers came out with noticeable vigor after they scored, building on their momentum and taking greater control of the game, like Goodrow’s goal showed.
It’s easier to point to missed goals and untapped scoring threats because they would have such a definitive impact on the scoreboard. However, these response shifts also have a major impact on the game’s rhythm early on.
Whether it’s unburied shot attempts or poor response shifts, the intensity of late-season hockey draws even more emphasis to the plays that go wrong. With how tight the playoff race is, every play can be put under a microscope.
“Kinda like Larks said, it’s not really just the end,” Copp said of the unfinished chances. “It’s tight the whole way. It’s plays that are happening in the first period. … It’s not just the push at the end. It’s that time of year where everything gets magnified and I think tonight’s no different.”
To make Friday night different, the Red Wings needed to bury their chances and came out with a more consistently strong effort after goals. Instead, they failed to assert themselves and suffered a hard loss.
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