Lackadaisical defense dooms Detroit in Sweden, despite a valiant four-goal comeback bid

On Thursday night in Sweden, the Detroit Red Wings overturned an 0-4 deficit only to fall 5-4 in overtime to the Ottawa Senators.

In the build-up to their NHL Global Series clash with division rival Ottawa, the Red Wings preached the need for intensity and pace from puck drop to see their way past the Senators.  This mindset was best encapsulated by Andrew Copp, who said simply, "When we're skating and we're moving and playing on our toes is when we're at our best."

Through about five minutes of hockey at Avicii Arena in Stockholm, Detroit played to that style—asserting a territorial advantage with a forecheck-heavy, aggressive game that kept them on top of the Senators.  However, when Michael Rasmussen went off for holding at the 5:31 mark of the first (a needless offensive zone penalty), the Red Wings' European vacation took a turn toward disaster.

Within thirty seconds of the power play commencing, Brady Tkachuk re-directed a Drake Batherson shot past James Reimer, and Ottawa owned a 1-0 lead that would soon swell.

Exactly four minutes later, Tkachuk added a second, this time tapping home a cross-ice pass from Tim Stutzle, who had appeared to stickhandle his way into and then out of a dangerous scoring area only to send a spinning backhand pass for Tkachuk.

The common thread on the two goals?  An apathetic approach to defensive zone coverage from Detroit.  

On the first, Batherson's shot and Tkachuk's tip were the follow-up to a thoroughly uncontested Stutzle chance in the slot.  Granted, the Red Wings were short-handed, but nonetheless, all four penalty killers swarmed to the wall, leaving Stutzle in an ocean of space in prime slot real estate.  On the second, Ben Chiarot appeared unaware or uninterested as Stutzle's centering feed went straight past him to Tkachuk, lurking back-door.

Three minutes and 12 seconds after Tkachuk's 2-0, Jake Sanderson deepened the Red Wings' hole with a four-on-four goal, where, once again, Detroit's coverage in its own third of the rink was far too generous to Ottawa.  It was an impressive spell of passing and movement to create the chance for the Senators, but Sanderson delivered the lethal blow from the slot, where he should never have found so much room.

The Red Wings trailed 3-0 at the conclusion of the first, and, just 78 seconds into the second, the deficit grew worse, with Josh Norris depositing a rush goal to stretch Ottawa's lead to four.

However, just as it appeared Detroit's trip to Stockholm was doomed to an accursed start, the Red Wings' lone Swede set up dragging his team back into the fight.  Lucas Raymond picked up a loose puck at the red line for a half-ice two-on-one, with Alex DeBrincat rushing with him and Tkachuk (a forward) the only Senator back.

Raymond called his own number and beat Joonas Korpisalo to the glove side, making the score 4-1.

In the aftermath of Raymond's goal, the Red Wings managed to return to the forechecking and cycle game that lent them an edge in field position during the game's opening minutes.  In further testament to hockey's ultimate cliché that goals are scored by getting bodies to the net, an Olli Maatta point shot deflected off David Perron's body and past Korpisalo to make it 4-2, the game not long past the midpoint of regulation.

Three minutes and 13 seconds after Perron's strike, DeBrincat capped a glorious passing sequence—starring Shayne Gostisbehere and J.T. Compher—by beating Korpisalo with a goalscorer's finish to cut the deficit to one.

With just under three minutes to play, Detroit benefited from a fortuitous bounce as a Gostisbehere centering feed deflected past Korpisalo, and the Senators' lead was history.

The game went to the third period tied at four.  The Senators had four power play opportunities, including an early five-on-three, to re-claim the lead in regulation but failed to convert on any of those chances.  Meanwhile, the frequent trips to the penalty box precluded the Red Wings from mounting much offense of their own.

Overtime passed mostly without incident, but just as the game appeared destined for a shootout, Tim Stutzle batted home an improbably baseball-style goal past a befuddled Reimer, after Gostisbehere batted a Batherson centering pass up into the air only for Stutzle to knock it home.

There can be confidence taking from Detroit's comeback, and taking one of two possible points isn't a terrible result for the Red Wings, but the warts in the defensive zone (from the skaters and the goaltender) continue to grow harder to ignore.  If Detroit wants to realize its ambitions by season's end, it will need to discover greater consistency, and right now, that has to start with the Red Wings' play in their own zone.

Also from THN Detroit

Report: Red Wings A Candidate for Potential Winter Classic at Ohio Stadium in Columbus

From the Archive: Illitch's Purchase Signals "Motor City Turnaround"

Lucas Raymond's Star Turn Proves Value of NHL's Global Series

From The Silky Mitten State: How Can Robby Fabbri Help the Red Wings?

Carter Mazur Making an Impact in Griffins Return

Mike Vernon Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame

The Red Wings Prioritizing Sports Science as They Arrive in Sweden

Statistical Review: Red Wings 5, Blue Jackets 4

Red Wings 5, Blue Jackets 4: Resilient Red Wings Earn Gritty, Cathartic Win

The Silky Mitten State Episode 3