Detroit Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan discussed what the club's identity needs to be over their crucial 11 final games of the regular season, which will determine their ultimate fate.
In a scene that has become all too familiar for the Detroit Red Wings over the past two seasons, March has been a struggle, marked by costly losses to divisional opponents and the evaporation of a once-comfortable postseason cushion.
The most recent setback was a 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday evening, a club that had not only played the previous night but was also missing its top two defensemen.
For large stretches of the game, the Red Wings were sluggish and turnover-prone, and while they managed to cut the deficit to one, they struggled to even gain the zone during a critical power-play chance with five minutes left.
Afterward, team captain Dylan Larkin said that the entire dressing room was "mad" about the result, and that they needed to channel that emotion toward the equally critical stretch of play that will ultimately determine whether or not they return to the postseason for the first time since 2016.
Following practice Thursday afternoon, head coach Todd McLellan discussed what he believes the team’s identity must be, beginning with the importance of playing with pace.
“During the year, and throughout the year, we talked about our pace,” McLellan explained. “When we play with pace, which I thought we did against Boston — not always with the puck, but sometimes without it when we get in and forecheck and create turnovers and play with some type of pace, we’re a better team."
The Red Wings had no problem putting pucks on net during their 4-2 loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday evening, finishing with 43 shots but getting stymied by the dynamic play of goaltender Jeremy Swayman.
But among the mistakes that have caused problems for the Red Wings in recent losses to the Senators and Florida Panthers were failing to clear the puck out of their own zone, resulting in goals against along with power-play opportunities that went for naught.
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“Obviously, special teams come into play, but the big thing — and we talked about it today — but some of the moments in the game, it either goes for or against you, and at the end of the night, we tally," he said. "We’ve got to get individuals ending up on the plus side rather than the negative side. A little over 50, not to 100, but just a little over 50. Right now, we may be at 48. It’s such a fine line."
“You can go back to Ottawa - we cleared a puck, got it outside the blue line, we took the puck back into our own end carelessly, and it’s in our net," he continued. "There’s a moment. The night before against Boston, we’re penalty killing, and we shoot a puck from one end of the rink to the other.
We can clean those moments up, turning them from negatives to positives. Just flip those moments into a positive one, and it will go a long way for all of us.”
The Red Wings head onto the road to face the playoff-bound Buffalo Sabres, who have been the hottest team in the NHL since mid-December.
It’s not official yet, but the Sabres are on the verge of ending their lengthy postseason drought, which dates back to 2011. If that happens, the Red Wings will inherit the NHL’s longest active drought, which is already the longest in franchise history.
The next 11 games will determine whether that fate befalls them and will also go a long way in defining Detroit’s identity.
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