As the Red Wings return home from an 0-3-and-1 road trip, MLive’s Ansar Khan discusses the Red Wings’ inability to close out games, as illustrated by both their road and home records of late:
“You got to find ways to grind out those games like that to a win,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “We played good enough to win the hockey game, so it’s unfortunate to walk out and not have won. We created enough scoring chances to win. I thought overall we defended much better.”
The Red Wings (8-9-2) continue to be streaky. In the past three weeks, they have gone 0-3-1, followed by a 4-1-0 run and now another 0-3-1 skid.
They squandered an opportunity to pick up two points against the team with the worst record in the NHL (3-13-2).
The Red Wings started the trip with a 5-3 loss in Columbus Monday, a game they led 3-2 with less than five minutes remaining in regulation.
“I thought the biggest thing that hurt us tonight was we got to continue to learn how to play real smart, how to not give them much in the third but sustain pressure and score the next goal,” Blashill said. “They had more pressure than we did in the third. They double-shifted that line with Keller and (Phil) Kessel and they sustained a ton of pressure. So, it’s a learning process for our group and it’s something that at times I think we’ve done well. This is a hard league and you got to continue to find ways to grow as a group.”
