MLive’s Ansar Khan posted a notebook which sets up tonight’s game vs. the Montreal Canadiens (7 PM EST start on Bally Sports Detroit Plus/City TV/Sportsnet East/TVA Sports/97.1 FM), and the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan picked the same topic to cover in his game-day notebook:
The Wings have their last chance to earn two points against the Canadiens on Saturday — the teams only meet three times this season. The Wings will have to play a more complete game than the previous two times.
“They were probably a little bit different games,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “The first game (Oct. 23, a 6-1 loss), we started fine. We got into penalty trouble, and then we weren’t able to create enough after that. The last game (Nov. 2, a 3-0 loss), we played poorly. It was the worst game, I think, we’ve played all season in terms of how we actually played, in terms of our energy. We were a step behind the whole night. It was an egg for us, just one of those nights.”
One noticeable difference in Saturday’s game will be the presence of forwards Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi for the Wings.
Bertuzzi hasn’t been available for the Wings in either game in Montreal because of his vaccination status. The fact Bertuzzi has decided to dec a shot, makes him unable to go into Canada. The Wings also didn’t have Larkin in the last game, as he returned home to deal with a family emergency.
Larkin and Bertuzzi are two of the Wings’ best offensive players. But teams will miss players at certain points of the schedule for injuries, or any other number of reasons, Blashill said. It’s important to overcome the absences.
“In the NHL you’re always going to be in situations where you’re missing guys, and you have to find a way to be successful,” Blashill said. “We’ve seen Montreal play great hockey and in the last game they were outstanding against us. They won every loose puck, every battle, they made us look poor defensively.”
Just pretend Patrick Roy is in the NET. Rout the Goalie as before.
Come out with your Hockey Brain turned on.
If Wings lose especially by a lot, I have no idea what curse is in French!