The Detroit Red Wings were unable to score in their final home game before the Olympic break, falling 5-0 to the Colorado Avalanche at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday afternoon. The loss extended Detroit’s winless streak to three games.
Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan addressed the team’s performance, stating, “Disappointing. A lack of energy, drive and execution. You can’t have all those things disappear at one point and expect to have success. I don’t think we skated well at all. I don’t think we passed real well at all, which affects your skating. And then when it was time to do some of the harder or heavier things – battles, 50/50s, loose stuff, the 4-foot races – they were much better than we were. So, we got to fix something.”
Goaltenders John Gibson and Cam Talbot combined for 16 saves for Detroit (32-18-6; 70 points). Mackenzie Blackwood stopped all 28 shots he faced for Colorado (36-8-9; 81 points).
Detroit captain Dylan Larkin commented on the game: “We were just kind of watching. It’s an early game. You got to find a way to get something going. I thought it was a great crowd. We just didn’t have a response to their offense. I wouldn’t say they dominated us, but a lot of what they got was kind of easy offense.”
Colorado took control early with goals from Brent Burns and Nathan MacKinnon in the first period and added another from Ross Colton in the second period before MacKinnon scored again later in that frame.
McLellan reflected on missed opportunities: “I thought we had the two best scoring chances of the game to begin with,” he said. “We had one early, then DeBrincat came down on a 2-on-1 — just missed. And six minutes later, we were down 2-0. The start isn’t always the score.”
MacKinnon became the first NHL player this season to reach 40 goals after converting Arrturi Lehkonen’s pass in the second period.
“With MacKinnon, we watched before the game what he likes to do,” Larkin said postgame. “He got to do a lot of what he likes to do.”
Parker Kelley finished off Colorado’s scoring in the third period.
Looking ahead, Larkin expects his team will respond during their upcoming road trip: “We’ve been kind of chugging along and things get a little bump in the road, and we just pick ourselves back up and keep going,” he said.
“If we’re going to win, it’s going to be a team win,” Larkin added about Monday’s rematch against Colorado.
Coach McLellan addressed areas needing improvement: “We have to figure out why we’re flat, and there’s different reasons for that. One is lack of focus, and if there’s lack of focus then that’s on all of us to get it back and make sure we’re executing. It could be you get stale with linemates and it’s not working. It could be complacency that slips in and you’re okay with what’s going on, and that’s wrong so we have to fix that.”
Larkin also emphasized starting strong: “That’s a good hockey team over there. You show up to a game, you know you have a game and you’re going to play… Some really good players over there.”
J.T Compher described how Detroit struggled against his former club: “I feel like we never really got to our game. We played right into their game… Probably the bets transition team in the League…and we fed right into it.”
The Red Wings will face Colorado again Monday night at Ball Arena as part of their two-game road trip before entering an Olympic break.
The Red Wings are one of hockey’s Original Six teams representing Detroit since beginning operations in 1926 official website. They play home games downtown official website as part of their legacy as one of North America’s most successful franchises official website, having won eleven Stanley Cup championships official website.
