Red Wings Still Wanting for Five-on-Five Offense
After five straight one-goal losses, the Red Wings search for offense grows more desperate by the day
Last night, the Detroit Red Wings lost a 2-1 decision on home ice to the Colorado Avalanche. It was Detroit's fifth straight loss—all of them by one goal—dropping the Red Wings to 10-13-4. They are second to last in the Eastern Conference.
As Moritz Seider pointed out last night, the mood in the Detroit locker room is exactly as you'd expect considering the circumstances: "I think no one is happy in the locker room. Why should we [be]? We're losing games that are winnable, and we just can't find ways to get it done. Obviously that's really frustrating, and we shouldn't be lying to ourselves. We need to be better."
One acute manifestation of that frustration emerges from a glaring lack of offense. With 67 goals for the season, the Red Wings are dead last in the Eastern Conference in scoring. Last night, Detroit was utterly unable to break down Colorado's defense.
"People own the middle of the ice," pointed out Lalonde. "You gotta break them down. A lotta times you gotta break 'em down by just getting pucks to the net. I think that's one are of our game that can be a little better." He would go on to re-state this point, saying "People defend so well in today's NHL: video, repetition, owning the middle. Just getting pucks to the net and getting in some foot races, we gotta do more of it. I know it's not in the DNA of some of our guys, but it's gotta be."
In the video above, I discussed the frustration emerging from the Red Wings' dearth of offense.