The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a notebook article which discusses the fact that the Red Wings only scored 3 goals over the course of their 0-2-and-1 streak, with the team needing very badly to increase its efficiency in terms of scoring 5-on-5. Coach Todd McLellan told Kulfan the following:
“(The) start in Florida and play against that team and weather their storm, that was our real good win. Tampa a little bit disappointing because we got tricked with the volume of shots, but not the intensity around the net. Dallas, after falling behind 3-0, we settled in but the game really does change for both teams at that point. Then we finished strong and hard (in Philadelphia). You never head out for 50-50; you always want more and we came up a little short. An average trip for our group.”
During the seven-game win streak earlier in the month, the Wings had got to the net and converted chances that were there. On the three final games of this trip, that wasn’t happening.
“We’re getting pucks to the net, (but) we’re not getting sticks on the secondary ones (opportunities),” McLellan said. “When we were playing against Seattle (a 6-2 victory during the win streak) and having that swarm mentality, if it got to the net we found a way to get a stick on the secondary one. Right now, if we do get it, we’re kind of off in the corner. We’re just not quick enough. But we’ve probably earned some respect, too, of some of the other teams now, and they may take us a little more serious, and that’s a great thing.”
Therein lies the rub. The Red Wings need to get to rebounds, screen goaltenders, and generate secondary scoring opportunities. They’ve got to stop at the net and bang pucks into the net.
With the three losses, the Wings are again beginning to drift further away from an Eastern Conference playoff spot, as they did just before the holiday break, which led to the head-coaching change. The inability to gain much positive traction much of the first half of the season put the Wings in a hole that won’t be easy from which to dig out.
Even with a seven-game win streak, the Wings never were able to pull themselves into the top eight of the conference.
“We’ve been in this position (before); we were here last year,” captain Dylan Larkin said. “So was Philly and Pittsburgh and other teams, and teams have been in this position. You have to capitalize on your opportunities, and when you’re feeling good you have to accumulate points. A night like (Tuesday), we didn’t have our legs and it was a sloppy game, but we found a way to get a point. It would have been nice to get two, and especially with the way things have been going.”
Continued (paywall)