DETROIT – Just as the Red Wings appeared to be finding their rhythm, they hit a roadblock Wednesday with a 4-1 loss to the Utah Mammoth.
Both teams played on Tuesday night, the Wings secured a home win against the New York Islanders (3-2), while the Mammoth fell to the Boston Bruins (4-1).
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The only lineup change for Detroit was in goal, with Cam Talbot starting instead of John Gibson.
For the second consecutive game, the Red Wings failed to score through two periods and found themselves down by two goals entering the third.
Coach Todd McLellan was clear about what went wrong -- generating five-on-five offense particulary at five-on-five.
Despite the setback, McLellan stands by his earlier comments that the team might be “starting to get it.”
“Well, after last night, I wouldn’t take those words back at all,” he said. “The team did a real good job Tuesday. For me, the difference [last night] was obvious. It was play around our net, and it wasn’t just the goals we gave up. It was some chances they had even earlier in the game. They were much better around their blue paint. And I’m not talking about goaltending. I’m talking about clearing and batting pucks away, making sure sticks were on plays made toward that scoring slot area.”
Rookie Emmitt Finnie scored Detroit’s lone goal on a third-period power-play shot that briefly sparked hope, but the team couldn’t create enough quality chances to seriously challenge Utah.
“We had looks, we had zone time, we just didn’t get it done,” captain Dylan Larkin said. “We didn’t get pucks through. Credit to them, they played a tight diamond.“
The loss brought Detroit’s record in the second game of back-to-back matchups this season to 1-5 -- meaning the team has struggled to perform well when playing on consecutive nights.
Larkin acknowledged the team must improve in these situations, especially with more back-to-backs looming.
“I’m not worried at all,” Larkin said. “You’re going to have games like this on back-to-backs. We’ll have to be a little better moving forward, especially with some tough matchups coming up.”
Detroit will play three more back-to-back sets in the next two weeks -- including a home series against the Washington Capitals, games against the Carolina Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs, and matchups with the Winnipeg Jets and Pittsburgh Penguins around New Year’s.
With the playoff race tightening, every point matters, especially against Eastern Conference rivals.
The Red Wings are 6-2-2 in their last 10 games, but just three points separate them, atop the Atlantic Division with 41 points, from the second wild-card spot held by the Montreal Canadiens with 38 points.