The Red Wings’ special teams were pretty mediocre over the course of Monday night’s 5-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, with the Wings going 1-for-6 on the PP, surrendering a power play goal against and a shorthanded goal against.
As such, MLive’s Ansar Khan discusses the special teams issue this morning, suggesting that repetition will probably solve what ails the power play:
“(The power play) needs its reps,” Derek Lalonde, who coached in the home game, said. “Their penalty kill played a little more pace than our power play. I didn’t hate our five-on-five. Again, talk about reps. Our inability to hit the net. A little credit to them to block shots, but it’s exactly why you have exhibition games. They need reps for the guys.”
A team consisting mainly of prospects and AHL players will play at Pittsburgh on Tuesday (7 p.m., Bally Sports Detroit), before the Red Wings close out the preseason with three games in three nights Thursday through Saturday.
Lucas Raymond’s power-play goal, on his team’s fifth opportunity, cut Pittsburgh’s lead to 2-1 at 9:31 of the second. It was his second goal in as many preseason games.
The Red Wings lost some key contributors on a power play that ranked ninth last season – point man Shayne Gostisbehere and forwards David Perron, Robby Fabbri and Daniel Sprong. Two of their replacements, winger Vladimir Tarasenko and point man Erik Gustafsson, played on Monday.
“I think we have a lot of skillful players who make good plays and can finish as well,” Raymond said. “I think it’s about getting on the same page, moving the puck well and taking the shots and create opportunities from there. I think when we got the best chances tonight is from retrieval. It’s not always the prettiest, but retrieve the puck well in a quick attack, and I think that leads to a lot of good stuff.”
Continued; the Red Wings need to simplify their power plays a bit. Less passing on the perimeter, more shots on goal from high-danger areas, and better rebound retrieval–the fundamentals of good power play habits–will solve the issues pretty quick, regardless of personnel.
