"In the Third, We Come Out and Play a Bit Scared on Our Heels": Red Wings React to a Disappointing Global Series Loss to the Maple Leafs
Lucas Raymond, David Perron, and Derek Lalonde react to the Red Wings' disappointing 3-2 loss to Toronto in Stockholm at the NHL Global Series
"We played really good the first two periods, and then in the third, we come out and play a bit scared on our heels, and that's when their offense started to take over," said Lucas Raymond after the Detroit Red Wings fell 3-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs in Stockholm yesterday, having led 2-0 entering the final period. "It's tough to analyze it all right after, but that's the feeling."
It's a blunt and harsh assessment of the Red Wings' final 20 minutes in Sweden, but its a difficult one to disagree with. After controlling play throughout the first two periods, Detroit was outshot 15-10 in the game's final frame. That five-shot margin is probably flattering to the Red Wings, whose only meaningful forays into the offensive zone in the third seem to come in their desperate 6-on-5 attempt to return to level terms in the final minute.
Raymond—the team's lone Swede—scored two goals in the Red Wings' two games at Stockholm's Avicii Arena, but he was in no mood to relish in his individual success, nor the experience of the trip as a whole by the end of the game Friday. "It's tough to really think about that right now, so close after that game," he said. "Obviously, it's been a special experience being in my home country [surrounded by] family and friends, but at the end of the day, we came here to win two games, and we win none of them."
In the assessment of veteran forward David Perron, "Little mistakes for sure that end up costing us, and it's very disappointing."
"You always want to play the winning way, and I think that's what we got away a little bit from," Perron added. "Mistakes are gonna happen, but you try to minimize them, especially when you're up."
Coach Derek Lalonde didn't agree with Raymond's assessment that the team was "scared" in the third, instead pointing to puck management as the source of his team's collapse.
"I don't feel so much scared," Lalonde said, when asked about Raymond's comments. "A couple puck plays in there that you want back. I didn't mind our start of our period. We actually had some zone time. It kinda looked like the first two periods...I felt like we gave them that first one."
"Most disappointing was the first goal against," he added. "I think that was preventable. It starts with a turnover from below our offensive goal line, and then we had a blow up in the D zone at the back of our net. And then [they] got a little bit of a push out of it. Probably a little fatigue was setting in...the five D [with Jake Walman injured in the second] created an issue for us."
Lalonde did point to goaltender Alex Lyon, making his first start of the season, as a bright spot in the defeat, saying, "Alex was excellent...Just looked confident too. I think that's a big part of his performance tonight, just looking confident and giving our guys confidence."
When asked whether there were any positives to be taken from the trip, Lalonde replied, "We're gonna look back at our five-on-five game over six periods, and it's gonna look fairly good. Our underlying numbers five-on-five are gonna say we were probably better for the most part."
However, Detroit lost the special teams battle in both of its games in Stockholm, with Lalonde noting that "the power play has kinda gone stale on us" and that "there's a lot of momentum that goes with that." He also observed that "there's moments in our game where we've gotta take a step with our maturity," with respect to penalties and puck management.
The Red Wings will not return to action until Wednesday, when the face off with the New Jersey Devils at home at Little Caesars Arena.
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