The Detroit Red Wings will play the Montreal Canadiens for the third and final time this evening, and after the morning skate, MLive’s Ansar Khan has posted a game-day notebook which discusses Detroit’s desire to end their series vs. the Canadiens on a high note:
“The last game, they crushed us. I don’t care who we were missing, they were way better than us,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “I didn’t necessarily feel that way totally in parts of the first game, but when I look back on it, we didn’t have many chances. So, they’ve kind of put a beating on us for two games, regardless of who we had or didn’t have.
“In the NHL you’re always going to be in situations where you’re missing guys. You got to find a way to be successful. We’ve seen Montreal play great hockey and I thought in the last game they were outstanding against us. They won every loose puck, every battle. They were faster than us, they made us look poor defensively.”
The Red Wings (7-6-2) wrap up a four-game homestand. The Canadiens (4-10-1) have gained points in back-to-back games (overtime loss to Kings, victory over Flames) for the first time this season. The Red Wings are coming off a 2-0 loss to Washington on Thursday, the third time they have been shut out this season.
“The key for us to creating offense is that we’re playing on our toes, playing aggressive but playing smart,” Blashill said. “I thought (on Thursday) we started really aggressive and playing well and then we gave up some easy outnumbered rushes because we weren’t playing smart, we lost our body position a little bit too much. We just got to make sure we’re playing our game, we’re playing with confidence, we’re good with the puck.”
