"Sometimes You Go Through Adversity, and Right Now, We're Going Through It": Kane, Reimer, Lalonde React to Red Wings' Loss in Minnesota
Patrick Kane, James Reimer, and Derek Lalonde react to the Red Wings' 6-3 defeat in St. Paul against the Wild
Last night, the Detroit Red Wings fell 6-3 in St. Paul at the hands of the surging Minnesota Wild. Here's what Patrick Kane, James Reimer, and Derek Lalonde had to say after the loss.
Patrick Kane
On what went awry in the third period:
"Obviously not a good effort from the outset tonight. Disappointing. We gave ourselves a chance making it 2-2 on the power play, and then obviously them getting three quick ones kinda puts us out of the game."
On defensive struggles of late:
"The coaches kinda talked about it at the intermission between the second and third. Just too many turnovers, giving them too many easy chances off the rush. A lot of guys in this league can make a lot of plays, and when you give them easy offense, they get momentum off that, and obviously that was the case tonight."
On whether this is an important moment in the year:
"You don't wanna say they're must win games at this point in the season, but it's [a] pretty important stretch if you think about what we got going from here until the All-Star break or bye week or whatever you want to call it. That'll big stretch for us, and we'll obviously have to put together a good record."
On individual performance:
"Body feels good, and playing with those two guys [Dylan Larkin and Alex DeBrincat], you're gonna find yourself either with the puck with a lot of space or you're gonna find yourself getting chances. I think I've been the beneficiary of a couple for sure. Just try to work hard with them, work hard on the forecheck. Could probably protect the puck a little more. Larks and Alex are playing at such a high level, that if I can get to that level with them, we can be one of the most dangerous lines in the league."
James Reimer
On three goals in two minutes in the third:
"It's unfortunate, but we battled there and got a big power play goal, and get it tied 2-2. You wanna be able to close out those games. It's anybody's game at that point."
On sources of recent slide:
"I think it's probably multiple things. I don't think you can really pinpoint one thing. It's something where every single guy needs to be better. That's what it comes down to. We have a good group of guys. A group that cares, a group that works, and a group that wants to be there for each other. Sometimes you just go through adversity, and right now, we're going through it. What you have to be careful not to do is to get too down on yourself. Within this team, we know what we're capable of...There's no easy way out of it, just like there's no easy way to win...A beautiful thing about this league is that there's another game here in less than 48 hours, and we can get back on the horse."
Derek Lalonde
On what went wrong:
"Just the inability to manage our game. It's unbelievable. We were very fortunate to come out of the second at 2-1. They had six Grade As in the second, and they were all off egregious turnovers. Came back with a little pop to start the [third] period. Thought we earned the power play, got the power play goal, and then we went right back to mis-managing our game. Ill-advised odd-man and then puck play again. The difference in the third is that it went in the back of our net off the turnovers, where it did not in the second...This was not us our first 25 games. We worked off the forecheck. We were a simple, predictable team. Now blue line turnovers, high O zone turnovers. It's gotta come out of our game."
On the team's start:
"After our first shift—a turnover and a bad change and two guys collided—we had a pretty good first period. What was disappointing was...how we handled our second period. We were probably fortunate for it to be only 2-1 after two periods."
On Reimer's performance:
"He did his job over the first 40 minutes. He gave us a chance. We got to 2-2 because of Reims, and then obviously things fell apart in the third."
On frustration level at the moment:
"It's high, but I think it's self-inflicted. Sometimes you go through these stretches, and you can't pinpoint this; there are things you can't control. This is easily controllable. I think the guys see it, and it's a matter of having some discipline to execute it. We'll have practice tomorrow. We'll work on some things, but we gotta manage our game must better."
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