The Detroit Red Wings suffered an embarrassing setback on Thursday night to the Nashville Predators, dropping a 7-1 decision that saw goaltender Thomas Greiss lifted in the first period, while Predators forward Rocco Grimaldi feasted on their porous defense by tallying three goals in less than 10 minutes.
Naturally, nobody on the team is exactly happy right now with the effort that was shown on the ice.
“Absolutely we are better than what we showed,” captain Dylan Larkin said. “We have to believe that.”
“No one is feeling good about themselves. We have to find a way to come out of it together.”
Head coach Jeff Blashill summed up the performance in rather simple terms.
“It’s obviously totally unacceptable,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “You can’t have nights where you give away easy goals like we did. I thought we had too many no-shows, too many guys that didn’t bring their A or B or C game. When you have that many no-shows, it’s hard.
“I don’t know if it’s puck management, or maybe a better term is puck execution — like, we’d have the puck on our stick and we’re on a 3-on-2 rush and we get nothing out of it. And then panic sets in; then you start throwing the puck away all the time and then you never have it. Any way you shake it, it’s totally unacceptable.”
Forward Bobby Ryan has scored Detroit’s only goal the past three games, tallying late in the first period after Greiss had been lifted in favor of Calvin Pickard. Penalty trouble immediately put Detroit on their heels, and Nashville immediately made them pay.
“We didn’t execute,” Larkin said. “Right away we were behind the eight ball. It wasn’t fair to Greisser. We didn’t manage the puck. We didn’t manage it coming out of our zone and going into their zone. A team that traps like they do, you can’t just give them the puck. It plays right into their hand.”
On deck are two straight matchups against the Columbus Blue Jackets. For Larkin, the team must get back to basics and playing for one another.
“It doesn’t feel good,” Larkin said. “It’s not where we want to be. We were proud of our game. We were a team that showed up every night and worked and competed and we got away from that the last two games, three games. We have to get back to that. We have to stick to our identity of working and competing and doing it the right way.
“That’s what we have to get ready for here. We have to play for each other.”
– – Quotes via Helene St. James of The Detroit Free Press Link – –
