Detroit City Wire

The Detroit Red Wings' three-game winning streak ended Friday night with a 5-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center. The game included a special tribute video for goaltender John Gibson, who made 27 saves for Detroit. Despite their efforts, the Red Wings struggled on special teams, converting only one of seven power-play opportunities and allowing two goals while short-handed.

“We got to come up with a better game plan, especially for such a meaningful game, first and foremost, for Gibby,” said defenseman Moritz Seider. “Unacceptable to let him hang in there a couple times, then obviously frustration takes over and you kind of get away from your game a little bit.”

Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan pointed to mental mistakes as a key factor in the defeat. “This is going to sound strange, but I thought our bodies wanted to go but our brains didn’t,” McLellan said. “At the end of the night, that probably cost us. Some of our problems in the past reared their heads again in the first period – a few outnumbered rushes on real poor decisions, including the power play. Then suddenly, you’re chasing the game. That’s tough to do when you’re on the road and you’re playing back-to-back, but I still think we gave ourselves a chance. The power play didn’t get us what we needed it to and we couldn’t get the kill at the end, so special teams probably sealed it for them.”

Anaheim took an early lead with Troy Terry scoring short-handed at 4:53 in the first period. Detroit responded when Lucas Raymond scored his third goal of the season after receiving a pass from Dylan Larkin at 8:19.

“There’s been some poor and good starts,” McLellan said about his team's performance lately. “It’s all over the map right now. The start in L.A. last night, sometimes you get out here and you need to get skating. I’ve seen it. I’ve been out here for so long, back-to-back, you got to get your legs again. While you’re doing that, you have to play smart hockey. I don’t think we did that tonight in any case.”

Anaheim regained control when Leo Carlsson finished off a cross-slot pass from Terry midway through the first period and Mason McTavish extended their lead early in the second.

A potential tying goal by Seider was overturned due to a kicking motion after review following a coach's challenge by Anaheim coaches early in the second period.

Detroit narrowed Anaheim's lead late in the second period when Alex DeBrincat scored his fourth goal in as many games during a power play opportunity set up by Raymond and Seider.

This marks DeBrincat's longest goal streak since joining Detroit; previously he had achieved four consecutive goals between March 23-28, 2022 while playing for Chicago.

Anaheim restored its two-goal advantage less than one minute into third period with Chris Kreider scoring on rebound during another power play opportunity.

“You want to stay out of the box, but at the same time we had plenty of looks on the power play to get one,” Raymond acknowledged.

Terry secured Anaheim's win with an empty-net goal late in regulation.

“We gave ourselves a lot of trouble out there tonight,” Raymond said postgame.“I think it was more so self-inflicted stuff for us."

Coach McLellan assessed his team after one month into season: "We’re going to have some good days and some bad stretches," he said."We’re going need practice time.We're going need rest.Last time I checked,we're just really trying work hard getting into playoffs...We're mixed bag this point,but we've got lot opportunity growth looking forward getting better."

The Red Wings will face San Jose Sharks next Sunday night following an off-day Saturday.