The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a subscriber-only column which discusses the ways in which the Red Wings must shore up their defensive games to snap their 2-game road losing streak:
[Wings coach Jeff] Blashill was more expansive on what the Wings (8-8-2) need to do to get themselves back above .500.
“We’ve got to get better defensively,” he said. “That’s just the reality of it. We’re a pretty good team when we have the puck. We’re a pretty good team when we’re hounding. We’re a pretty good team when we’re playing offense.
“We’re not a good enough team defensively right now and I spoke of that the other night. It’s not because guys don’t want to, but we’ve got to get better defensively. We have to. So that’s, to me, the No. 1 priority. I think we do a pretty good job when we’re on the attack. We do a pretty good job in the O-zone, stuff like that. We just have to get better defensively.”
Blashill described Monday’s 5-3 loss to the Blue Jackets as a slap in the face, one he deemed the Wings were due for because they had been winning despite not being playing tight defensively. But the deficiencies were on display in the 5-2 loss at Dallas, too.
“It’s definitely something we’re going to need to continue to work on as the season goes on and try to get better at it each night,” defenseman Danny DeKeyser said. “For us, it’s going to be a process of trying to get better every night in the D-zone and try to bear down when we get chances.”
Continued (paywall)
