The Detroit Red Wings power play wasn’t able to convert in Saturday’s loss.
After an early season surge, the Detroit Red Wings have fallen back down to earth a little bit after having dropped their third straight game. Last night, they were unable to get any momentum going against the division rival Boston Bruins, who still have yet to lose in regulation this season. Joe Velno scored Detroit’s lone goal in what would ultimately be a 4-1 loss, dropping Detroit’s record to 5-3-1 through eight games.
The Detroit Red Wings power play failed to convert
Detroit’s power play is now 0-for-6 in the last two games after having started the season at nearly 50% efficiency.
“It was a special teams game, they outscored us 1-0 on the power play,” head coach Derek Lalonde said. “They generated nine chances on our power play, we generated one…..but it was a night where our special teams, especially our power play, let us down.“
“We just didn’t execute. It’s one night where we didn’t execute and got squeezing a little bit, we were forcing some plays and got away from simple habits.”
The Red Wings struggled to mount an offensive attack during the first two periods of tonight’s game, but a surge of energy occurred when Joe Veleno scored his fifth goal of the season, beating goaltender Jeremy Swayman. Detroit continued to press but couldn’t find the breakthrough they needed. Shortly after, the sharpshooter David Pastrnak was awarded a penalty shot and successfully converted, extending the score to 3-1. Boston later added an empty-net goal to conclude the scoring.
“The first two periods were similar to what we saw (on Thursday),” Lalonde said. “I don’t know if it was fatigue or emotional fatigue, but it was Joe’s goal who got us going. We had some pop after that. Unfortuantely, we made the poor play on the four on four, they got the penalty shot and that was the difference.“
TL;DR (too long didn’t read)
- The Detroit Red Wings power play failed to come through in last night’s 4-1 setback against the Boston Bruins.
- Head coach Derek Lalonde said afterward that the special teams let the Red Wings down
- The Red Wings have now dropped three straight after having started the season red-hot
Bottom Line: Time to bounce back
The Red Wings are currently confronted with adversity, having begun the season with a scorching power play efficiency. This challenging period will serve as a valuable gauge for how they decide to respond.
Their opportunity to return to the winning side of things comes on Monday as they face the New York Islanders at UBS Arena.
