MLive’s Ansar Khan filed a 7 AM-posted article which discusses the Red Wings’ unwillingness to make goaltender Zach Fucale’s life difficult during last night’s 2-0 loss to the Washington Capitals:
“We didn’t make it hard enough on him,” Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin said.
Fucale, 26, needed to make only 21 saves to become the first goalie ever to shut out the Red Wings in his NHL debut. Detroit (7-6-2), trying to win four in a row for the first time since March 2019, instead was shut out for the third time this season.
“I didn’t think we had enough chaos at the net,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “I thought we had guys at the net. I thought when we shot, a number of them got fronted or blocked in front and we didn’t do a good enough job of winning those puck battles that were laying there in front.”
The Red Wings started strong, controlling the play and outshooting Washington 7-1 at one point. But the game turned after the Capitals (7-2-4) scored twice in a 10-second span in the first period on goals by Dmitry Orlov (12:43) and Lars Eller (12:53).
“A shot from the point where our wing (Tyler Bertuzzi) probably got too buried and we didn’t get a block,” Blashill said. “And then you’re out for the next face-off and you win the face-off and it’s in your net within (10) seconds. That’s not good enough. We didn’t win a battle at the red line (by Givani Smith). We got on the wrong side of people, and we gave up a two-on-one that really shouldn’t happen out of nowhere. Nonsensical.”
