MLive’s Ansar Khan posted a morning-after-the-game recap of the Detroit Red Wings’ 5-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night’s Stadium Series game, and we’re not going to ignore the obvious here:
The Red Wings felt they deserved a better fate with a 46-21 edge in shots and a dominant third period that included goals by Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat (his second of the game with 3:24 to play) to erase a 3-1 deficit.
“I thought we played a hell of a game,” [Red Wings coach Todd] McLellan said. “When you think of the type of game we played two nights ago in Detroit (5-2 loss) and the response that we got … we were aggressive. But at the end of the day, we have to learn how to win those games and not lose them.”
[Blue Jackets forward Justin] Danforth’s goal was a bit controversial as he high-sticked Simon Edvinsson while entering the zone, taking the defenseman out of the play. Officials discussed the play but opted not to call a penalty which would have negated the goal.
“I got a stick up in my face. I won’t comment anything more on that,” Edvinsson told reporters. “To lose on that, it sucks. It’s very frustrating.”
Dylan Larkin said of the explanation from officials: “They said Simon was falling down and going into the stick. It’s a stick in the face and we still have two guys who’d like to make the play, but we didn’t, and they scored, so we didn’t even get a point. That’s a tough one, especially clawing our way back in that game.”
McLellan did not harp on it.
“We should never be in that situation, not with the two D-men back there,” McLellan said.
Continued; I’ve been watching hockey for 34 years now, and last night’s goal by Danforth was the first goal I’ve ever seen that included a combination high-stick-and-take-down-trip ahead of the player scoring the actual goal.
I’m starting to wonder whether the NHL is so hellbent upon making sure that the call of “goal” on the ice stands that almost nothing can overturn said call, even if it’s common sense to take the cautious route.
The Free Press’s Helene St. James’ customary 6 AM recap discusses the goal against as well…
“I thought we played a hell of a game,” coach Todd McLellan said. “When you think of the type of game we played two nights ago in Detroit, the response that we got — we were aggressive. But at the end of the day, we have to learn how to win those games, not lose them. So our team has work to do. Sometimes we just play the game. We have to manage the game a little bit, we’ve got to learn to win games in those situations.”
That’s what the Blue Jackets did, to the dismay of Wings players. Justin Danforth won a battle for a loose puck, using his stick to battle for positioning and in doing so, swinging it right across the face of Simon Edvinsson. Wings players didn’t like that there was no high-sticking penalty called, even as it happened right in front of an official.
“They said that Simon was falling down and falling into the stick,” Larkin said. “That’s the explanation I got. I think it’s a crazy call, a penalty right in front of him. They score the game-winner. That’s a tough one. That’s tough for us.”
Edvinsson said, “It’s a contact sport and I heard you need to keep control over your stick. I got a stick up in my face. I won’t comment anything more on that.”
McLellan took the bigger picture approach: “We should never be in that situation, not with the two D-men back there.”
The Wings should be more upset at their own sloppy stretch in the final minutes of the second period, when a penalty and a missed assignment turned a 1-1 score into a 3-1 deficit. But that also led to what they felt good about: Their resilience.
Good lady, there’s room to be both pissed off about the Wings giving up 10 goals over the course of 2 games to Columbus and to be pissed off about the way that the Stadium Series ended laughably on a national stage.
And what did the Columbus Dispatch’s Brian Hedger think about it?
He thought that Edvinsson faked it:
[Danforth] also got away with a high stick against Simon Edvinsson seconds before scoring the winning goal off the rebound of his own shot.
Should it have been called? Did Edvinsson embellish it while throwing his head back when Danforth’s stick rode high? The answer might be yes to both, but it doesn’t matter now. Danforth’s goal counted, the Blue Jackets won, and he was handed the Jackets’ postgame donkey hat award that honors the memory of Johnny Gaudreau and his dry sense of humor.
“Johnny’s here with us in spirit and he’s been with us all year, so to get the ‘Donkey’ on a night like tonight … I know he’s laughing up there and calling me a donkey, because he liked to joke around with me a lot. He’s such a big part of our group, so it was big for us to get win for him and his family.”
It does effing matter. and, “Oh well, Columbus won” is a cop-out. It was a historically bad call, again, on a national stage, and if you don’t want to call a power play, fine, call Edvinsson for embellishment and call Danforth for the high stick/interference on the play.
Now it wasn’t as if “one bad call” is the only reason that the Red Wings lost.
As I said in my recap last night, the Red Wings had EIGHTY-FOUR shot attempts on Elvis Merzlikins, who was great, but wasn’t that great, and when you’re putting that many pucks on the goal, you should be scoring 6 or 7 goals, not 3.
The Wings’ special teams were fine, goal against on the PK included (shit happens 8 seconds into a PK), and no, Cam Talbot did not have his best night giving up 4 goals on 20 shots against…
Nor did Simon Edvinsson or Albert Johansson, who were regularly victimized by the Blue Jackets’ forecheck and offensive machine…
But that stuff adds up to, as McLellan suggested, earning at least a point out of Saturday night’s game.
The Wings were robbed of at least a point on Saturday night, and the Eastern Conference’s Wild Card race changed because of it.
That’s not acceptable.
Now the Wings will play 3 games in 4 nights this week, hosting Carolina on Tuesday, Utah HC on Thursday, and heading to Washington to play the Capitals on Friday, and Detroit may need to win 2 of those 3 games to just keep up with the Wild Card standings…
So if this game mattered for anything for the Red Wings–and it mattered quite a bit–then the referees should have gotten the call right just as much as Albert Johansson and Simon Edvinsson shouldn’t have been beaten to the puck and then the net by a 5’8″ fireplug.
Now the Red Wings have to worry about the Senators, Bruins, Canadiens, Rangers, Flyers and even the Islanders down the stretch.
Not acceptable, Bob.
Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen put things this way in “The Daily“:
The Ottawa Senators (vs. San Jose) and Boston Bruins (vs. Pittsburgh) both won Saturday, and they are now only two points behind Detroit. The Montreal Canadiens are now three points behind Detroit and the New York Rangers.
More importantly, the Red Wings seem to have lost their way defensively. They have given up four or more goals in six of their last seven games. As coach Todd McLellan points out, those games were all different in terms of cause what occurred in them.
But the bottom line is the Red Wings are making more mistakes than they did earlier in McLellan’s tenure.
“We’ve gone on two, seven-game winning streaks. Kind of seen it all in 26, 27 games,” McLellan said. “But I do believe we have work to do in understanding the ebbs and flows of a game, the ups and downs, the situations that when we should swing for the fences and sometimes we should just punt and defend a little bit and we’re caught in between a few times.”
I get that. The team has to reclaim the form they displayed before the Four Nations break, from Dylan Larkin on down.
The Danforth goal isn’t an excuse for middling play. But it is an explanation as to why the Red Wings were forced to give up a point with 2:17 left in regulation time.
There’s nothing wrong with acknowledging all of the above-listed topics here. You can walk and chew gum at the same time.
Update: For completeness’ sake, here’s Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff:
The Detroit Red Wings were convinced that Columbus Blue Jackets forward Justin Danforth was guilty of a high stick on Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson en route to scoring the winning goal in Saturday’s Stadium Series game.
Watching the replay over and over again, they certainly seem to have a point. A dejected Edvinsson didn’t have much to say about the play. But in saying so little, he sure seemed to say a lot.
“Yeah, well, I got a stick up in my face,” Edvinsson said. “I won’t comment anything more on that. Just to lose on that, it sucks. It’s very frustrating. But, yeah, you can’t do anything about it now.”
Following Detroit’s 5-3 loss, Detroit coach Todd McLellan had more to say.
“I know I’m going to get asked about the missed call and all that type of stuff,” McLellan said. “Yes. But we should never be in that situation, not with the two D-men back there.”
He also has a point. Edvinsson and Johansson, who’ve been so solid since being paired by the new Detroit coach, were sub par in the two games against the Blue Jackets. There were on for two goals against in Saturday’s loss. The pair was minus-two in Thursday’s 5-2 setback to Columbus.
The good thing and the bad thing about having a ton of young players is that they’re going to contribute to the outcome of games. Sometimes they’re going to contribute in positive ways, and sometimes they’re going to have to learn the hard way to not do certain things, and “learning” in today’s NHL usually means making mistakes. Some of them end up in the back of your net.
So yeah, it’s great that Edvinsson, Johansson, Kasper, Soderblom, and slightly older guys like Berggren and Veleno are playing important roles. But it’s also a little uncomfortable when they mess up because they don’t have the kind of playing experience that the Wings’ vets have.
George some good points. But refs are not why they lost. I grew up with the principle if u are dependent on the refs calls u did not do enough to win. Two the mistakes that were common under Lalonde are creeping into their play. It makes me think that while the coaching change was needed it was not all Lalonde . Tom in Bev Hills,MI.