Detroit City Wire

The Detroit Red Wings concluded their road trip with a 5-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena on Tuesday night. Despite playing their third road game in four nights, the Red Wings showed effort but were unable to overcome the home team's advantage.

Detroit head coach Todd McLellan acknowledged the challenges of a tough schedule but refused to blame it for the loss. "Sometimes you get the crappy end of a schedule, but I’m not going to stand here and say, ‘Hey, that’s why we lost.’ We made some mistakes and their good players capitalized," he stated.

Alex Lyon started in goal for Detroit, making 23 saves after stepping in for Petr Mrazek during Monday's game. Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 21 shots for Colorado.

J.T. Compher highlighted some positives from the game despite Detroit's defeat. "I think, honestly, we did a lot of good stuff tonight," he said. Compher contributed a power-play goal and an assist but emphasized that doing good things is not enough at this stage of the season.

Compher scored early in the first period with assistance from Michael Rasmussen and Vladimir Tarasenko. However, Colorado responded quickly with goals from Cale Makar and Valeri Nichushkin, taking a lead they maintained throughout the match.

Moritz Seider reflected on handling pressure well initially but acknowledged mistakes that led to an unfavorable scoreline. Devon Toews extended Colorado's lead with a power-play goal in the second period.

Nathan MacKinnon added another goal for Colorado in the third period before Austin Watson cut into their lead with his second goal in consecutive games for Detroit. Logan O’Connor sealed Colorado’s victory with an empty-netter late in the game.

Despite recent struggles, Moritz Seider emphasized belief within the team as they continue their pursuit of an Eastern Conference Wild-Card spot: "We know we can be a good team... Every game is almost a do-or-die."

The Red Wings will return home to face Ottawa Senators on Thursday night at Little Caesars Arena as they continue fighting for playoff contention.

Postgame comments also included insights from McLellan on goaltender Alex Lyon's performance: "He got tested by a real good hockey club tonight and made some good saves." Compher spoke about Detroit's determined mentality: "We’re fighting... That’s every guy in this room."

Seider addressed areas needing improvement while recognizing efforts made against challenging opponents like Colorado: "I thought we did the little things well today... That has to be better."