On Tuesday night, the Dallas Stars reminded the Red Wings that—despite a strong start to the month—defensive vulnerabilities persist
On Tuesday night, the Dallas Stars reminded the Red Wings that—despite a strong start to the month—defensive vulnerabilities persist
Detroit, MI—After a stingy start to the new year, the Detroit Red Wings received a harsh reminder Tuesday night that their defensive vulnerabilities have not evaporated with an uptick in practice time and strong form from Alex Lyon.
That reminder came courtesy of the Dallas Stars over the course of a disastrous second period in which Detroit yielded four goals and 25 shots in what would become a 5-4 victory for the visitors at Little Caesars Arena.
"We gotta be better," said a solemn Alex DeBrincat after the game. "Starts with the first shift in the second period. I lose my guy going in, and then it snowballs from there." And indeed the Stars' first goal came from Mason Marchment just 22 seconds into the period. The goal tied the score at two, but it wouldn't remain there long.
Throughout that decisive frame, the Red Wings struggled to exit their own zone cleanly and allowed Dallas to gain its offensive blue line far too easily and far too often.
Four minutes after Marchment's goal, Roope Hintz would put the Stars ahead 3-2, taking a puck straight from the stick of Klim Kostin in the slot and banging it past Lyon.
Seven minutes after that, Esa Lindell snuck a rebound chance through Lyon to make it 4-2, before Hintz grabbed another to make it 5-2 with just under five minutes to play in the second. Hintz' second was the direct byproduct of Detroit's inability to successfully get the puck out of its own end.
"It was on us," assessed Derek Lalonde. "Some missed tracks, a couple of turnovers, some of those things we've been kind of eliminating out of our game kind of all came back to us against the second against a team that's just simply too good."
It was far from Lyon's sharpest period as a Red Wing (several of the Stars' goals seeming to find a way through him), but he was more a victim of the defense in front of him than he was to blame for Dallas' volley.
To start the third, Lalonde spelled Lyon with backup James Reimer, and he explained at his post-game press conference that the move was simply to provide Lyon (who was making his ninth start of the month) with a touch of extra rest on a night that hadn't broken his way.
After Christian Fischer put the puck in the back of the net a bit more than five minutes into the third only to have the goal ruled out for offside, Detroit did threaten a comeback in the back half of the third. With the clock showing 9:32 to play, Dylan Larkin netted the Red Wings' third power play goal of the night to cut the score to 5-3.
Five minutes later, with Reimer on the bench in favor of an extra attacker, Detroit struck again with J.T. Compher burying the rebound from a DeBrincat stuff attempt. With 3:14 still to play, a miraculous turnaround was within reach.
Those hopes intensified when Dallas defenseman Joel Hanley was sent to the box for delay of game with 39 seconds to play, but the Red Wings were unable to find a fourth power play goal for the night. Instead, the final horn sounded on a 5-4 defeat that dropped Detroit to 24-18-5.
The evening's defeat does not negate the progress the Red Wings have made in the month of January, nor does it suggest that the team's surge was a fleeting mirage. However, Tuesday's game—more specifically Tuesday's second period—does serve as a reminder that as good as Detroit's start to the new year has been, it doesn't mean the flaws laid bare by a brutal December are merely an ugly relic of a bygone past either.
The Red Wings have—by necessity—made bouncing back from poor patches of form a habit this season. To continue their push up the Atlantic standings, they will be best served to avoid allowing tonight's game to fester into Thursday night, when Detroit will host the Philadelphia Flyers at LCA.
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