The Detroit Red Wings ended their schedule before the NHL’s Olympic break with a 4-1 loss to the Utah Mammoth at Delta Center on Wednesday night. The team gave up two goals in the first period and was unable to recover.
“We had a disappointing start,” Detroit head coach Todd McLellan said. “I don’t think we want to cough a goal up like that right off the bat. Then to go down 5-on-3, now we’re chasing it the whole night. I thought we created enough opportunities to get ourselves back in. We couldn’t beat a real hot goaltender and that was probably the difference, when it was all said and done.”
Goaltender John Gibson made 21 saves for Detroit, while Utah’s Karel Vejmelka stopped 29 shots.
“Their goalie played really well and seems to play well against us,” said captain Dylan Larkin, who scored Detroit’s only goal during a power play. “We just didn’t really get the puck past them at crucial times. Had looks on the power play, but we’re just missing that finishing touch around the net.”
Utah took an early lead less than one minute into the game after Sean Durzi scored from near the right face-off circle. The Mammoth added another goal at 8:11, capitalizing on a two-man advantage when Nick Schmaltz finished Barrett Hayton’s pass from close range.
“First one, an unlucky bounce,” Lucas Raymond said. “And then a 5-on-3…it’s not an ideal way to start a game, so kind of playing catch-up from there.”
In the second period, Travis Hamonic responded physically after taking a hard check from Brandon Tanev by engaging in a fight. Later in the frame, Raymond nearly scored his 20th goal of the season but was denied by Vejmelka during Detroit’s second power play.
Larkin noted that consecutive power plays helped generate some momentum for Detroit despite not scoring.
“I don’t think the team dipped when we came off the ice, so that’s a positive,” Larkin said. “When we get back from the break, it’s going to be imperative that, down the stretch, the power play is continuing to build momentum but also scoring.”
Utah extended its lead in the third period with Dylan Guenther making it 3-0 at 4:40. Detroit broke through late in regulation with Larkin scoring his 26th goal after Moritz Seider’s shot deflected off James van Riemsdyk.
An empty-net goal by Utah captain Clayton Keller sealed their win at 17:42.
“The third was our best period by far,” Larkin said. “We pushed and the desperation was there that wasn’t there in the first period. We just didn’t score. The third goal for them was maybe a goal that if you take away the first two, it’s a goal that they earned but was a dagger for us.”
Detroit will return from its Olympic break on February 26 with an away game against Ottawa Senators as part of a three-game road trip.
McLellan commented on what needs improvement offensively: “We got to look at the quality of chances that we’re getting 5-on-5 and then we got to look at what we’re doing around the net to finish. Sometimes, the individual, it’s just up to him to beat the goaltender…And then what type of traffic or chance are we getting on a rebound? And then finally, we had 42 or 45 shots that were blocked or missed the net. If the goaltender doesn’t have to work at all, it makes for a long night.”
On handling Utah’s speed he added: “The first goal wasn’t an overwhelming forecheck or anything. It was maybe a misfortunate read in the crease area, so I thought we handled their speed okay. In fact, I thought as the game wore on, we got our legs going a little bit better and played a little more in their end, but when the score is 2-0 or 3-0 teams tend to try and defend a little bit more, and maybe that was the case.”
Raymond spoke about Detroit’s recent performance on special teams: “I think tonight was the best game in a long time on our power play. Obviously, scoring 6-on-4, it’s always nice to get a goal on the power play but I think we created a lot. I think we got to give a lot of credit to their goalie tonight.”
The Red Wings are one of six original franchises in NHL history and represent Detroit both historically and currently as Michigan’s NHL team since being established in 1926 (source). They have won eleven Stanley Cup championships (source)—the most among American-based NHL clubs—and host home games downtown (source).
