The Red Wings finally found some offense, but were let down by their penalty killing during their 3-2 loss to the Jets on Sunday afternoon.
While the Detroit Red Wings finally found the back of the net, it was their penalty kill that let them down Sunday afternoon.
The Winnipeg Jets jumped out to a 3-0 lead, with all three goals coming on the power play, before holding off a late rally attempt to secure a 3-2 regulation win at Little Caesars Arena.
With the loss, the shorthanded Red Wings are now 0-2 to begin the 2026-27 campaign after being shut out by the New York Rangers on Friday.
They've played both games without Dylan Larkin, who could potentially return on Tuesday, and Simon Edvinsson, who is in his native Sweden admist his contract stalemate.
The Red Wings were also without Marco Kasper, who suffered an upper-body injury during Friday's game.
Winnipeg struck first on the power play, with Cole Perfetti credited with the goal after the puck deflected into the air and past goaltender John Gibson.
Michigan native Kyle Connor extended Winnipeg's lead to 2-0 shortly afterward, maneuvering through Detroit's defense before beating Gibson with a backhand shot that found the glove side.
Connor then scored his second power-play goal of the game at 5:41 of the second period, burying a rebound of Josh Morrissey's shot past Gibson.
At that point, the crowd at Little Caesars Arena was growing restless.
The Red Wings finally gave them something to cheer about late in the period when newcomer Viktor Arvidsson deflected a centering pass from Andrew Copp off his skate and past Jets goaltender Stuart Skinner.
The goal was Arvidsson's first as a Red Wing and Detroit's first of the season.
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At the 4:56 mark of the third period, Detroit pulled within one after Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, who nearly scored his first NHL tally a moment earlier, fed Emmitt Finnie from behind the net. Finnie tapped the puck over the line, picking up his first goal of the season.
The Red Wings then began pressing for the tying goal, generating multiple prime scoring chances with Gibson on the bench for an extra attacker as time wound down in regulation.
Unfortunately for Detroit, the Jets withstood the late rally, sending the Red Wings to their second straight regulation loss.
Gibson made several key saves, including a breakaway stop on former Red Wings forward Vladislav Namestnikov, and finished with 24 saves.
Stuart Skinner, who is Winnipeg's starter amid Michigan native Connor Hellebuyck's contract holdout, picked up his first win as a Jet with 33 saves.
Forward Keegan Kolesar dropped the gloves for the first time as a Red Wing, though he took several punches to the face from Tyrel Bauer and briefly left the game before eventually returning.
The Red Wings will continue their homestand Tuesday evening when they host the divisional rival Ottawa Senators in search of their first win of the season.
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