Red Wings 2, Canadiens 3 (OT): "It Doesn't Feel Good Enough Right Now"
The Red Wings fall 3-2 in OT at the hands of Montreal in a sluggish performance on home ice
Detroit, MI—On Thursday night at Little Caesars Arena, the Detroit Red Wings fell 3-2 in overtime at the hands of the visiting Montreal Canadiens, their record dropping to 7-5-2 through 14 games. It wasn't a poor game from the hosts, but it was a performance lacking in verve.
Though they paced Montreal in shots over the course of the night, the Red Wings did little to consistently apply serious threat to Cayden Primeau's crease, and another 0-for night on the power play (this time 0-4) zapped the team of whatever momentum it might have garnered at even strength. It was a solid defensive effort overall, but the penalty kill conceded twice. When you put it all together, Detroit lost to an opponent that did not qualify for the 2023 postseason for the first time all season.
"It wasn't all negative, we battled back, but that's a game we really wanted and didn't get the extra point," offered captain Dylan Larkin at his post-game press conference. "We got one point, but it doesn't feel good enough right now...It's on us, and we know in the room we have what it takes to be good."
The Red Wings got out to a solid start in the game's opening minutes, but they failed to create clear scoring opportunities on Primeau, so they didn't convert. Instead, seven minutes and two seconds into the game, Montreal defenseman Mike Matheson found the game's first goal, capping off a quicksilver bit of counter-attacking hockey and benefitting from Moritz Seider being tripped behind the play, which allowed Alex Newhook room to gain the offensive zone and eventually set up Matheson's bar-down shot.
By period's end, Detroit trailed 1-0 on the scoreboard and 10-8 on the shot chart. Head coach Derek Lalonde referred to the opening 20 minutes as "very frustrating" for his team. "I thought we had a really good start, and then we probably lost some momentum on the power play, and then they scored their goal," he said. In their last seven first periods, the Red Wings have now been outscored 8-1.
In the late stages of the second, Detroit's fourth line provided a pathway back from another early deficit.
Klim Kostin barreled into Canadiens defenseman Jordan Harris, making room for Michael Rasmussen to grab a loose puck off the wall and carry it to the net. Rasmussen then banked a backhand off the glove of Christian Fischer for the equalizer, Fischer's first goal as a Red Wing.
Both Larkin and Lalonde lauded the fourth line's performance, citing them as an exemplar of the sort of hockey the rest of the team needs to play to return to its winning ways.
"Our fourth line has been the best line for us the last week, and they're playing simple, they're getting pucks behind, they're forechecking hard and winning it back and then attacking the net," said Larkin. "It's something we all have to look to. We all have to play like that."
"Simple, north, to the net, forecheck. Their goal that got us back in the game was just a classic forecheck goal. Fischer's standing in the blue paint...he's just standing in the hard area, so good on them. And they've given us a lift," added Lalonde of the fourth line.
It was an ugly goal, befitting a methodical, defensive evening of hockey, and it was enough to get Detroit back on even terms heading into the third. However, a Larkin tripping minor (assessed with 1:31 to play in the second) carried into the third and allowed Montreal to reclaim the lead quickly.
Just 26 seconds into the final frame of regulation, Habs captain Nick Suzuki beat James Reimer low and short-side to give the Canadiens a 2-1 lead just before Larkin's minor was set to expire.
The Red Wings drew back level just under six minutes later, when J.T. Compher intercepted an attempted clearance from Johnathan Kovacevic and wired a wrister over Primeau's shoulder from what seemed an impossible angle.
The 2-2 score would hold for the remainder of regulation, securing a point each way and setting up an overtime to determine a winner.
Larkin and Alex DeBrincat combined to create three different prime opportunities for a winner over the course of two shifts together (one for Larkin, two for DeBrincat), but neither player managed to convert.
Instead, three minutes and 27 seconds into the extra session, Reimer made the confounding decision to hold onto Cole Caufield's stick after the two players came together as the goaltender moved the puck to avoid a face-off in his zone. Reimer was assessed a minor for his infraction. It was not the first needless Red Wing penalty of the evening, but it would prove the last.
Suzuki hit the bar straight away, but the puck deflected into the netting and out of harm's way. However, off the ensuing draw, Montreal worked the puck in high ice before Caufield found a slight seam to cut in and wire a wrist shot past Reimer for the OT winner.
When asked about the call on Reimer, Lalonde said he wasn't worried about that play and instead was "concerned about the player safety of Austin Czarnik. With five minutes left, he gets barreled into the boards, the classic push on the hip, and he's out for the rest of the game. Coulda broke his leg. And [referee] Brandon [Blandina] decides not to call that. I'm just disappointed in that one, because [Jordan] Harris coulda hurt him seriously. And I'm glad it sounds like he might be okay."
Officiating aside, the result leaves the Red Wings with some soul-searching to do before Saturday's game against Columbus.
When asked what was missing tonight, Lalonde said, "All in all, just didn't feel like we had a lot of jump tonight. Felt like we were chasing it the whole time. Probably fortunate or happy to get a point just the way it played out. Really wanted the two points."
In more specific terms, he cited a lack of "net presence" as the primary source of his team's downfall. "Their power play goal, it's a guy right on top of the goalie, he gets a piece of the stick but outside the blue [paint], and it goes in," he said. "And we just didn't have that...We had looks, we had plenty of zone time, but when you make it that easy on the goalie, it's just not gonna be effective."
"It looked like we just came out with a ton of confidence the first five games, six games," added Ben Chiarot, when asked what had changed for Detroit since the team's hot start. "Everything was going in the net for us, everyone's feeling good, and then we lose that feeling. As an individual, when you have confidence, everything feels easy, and then you lose it, and then you're thinking about how to get it back and thinking about what you're doing out there instead of just playing. So I think we've just got to get some of that swagger back."
For now, there's nothing left to be done but turn attention toward Saturday's matinee with the Blue Jackets, a final opportunity to make a positive impression before next week's European vacation.
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