The Red Wings handed the Vegas Golden Knights the first loss in the history of their franchise when the teams met for the first time earlier this season, a 6-3 early season decision in Vegas. Last night, the Golden Knights exacted their revenge on the Red Wings, in a 4-0 shellacking in Detroit.
For the Red Wings, this was business as usual of late. The team had just come off of a five-game road trip that saw them pick up three of a possible 10 points. Last night’s game was the team’s only home game before starting a new five-game road trip, which starts tonight in Columbus, then takes them to the west coast.
Head coach Jeff Blashill was far from impressed with the team’s effort last night. “We’ve worked our butts off a lot this year and haven’t had the results to show for it all the time,” he told the Detroit News. “I’ve applauded these guys’ competitiveness and ability to get back up. Tonight was no good. Tonight was unacceptable. When you do that you better walk out with your head down because that’s a joke.”
In rare form, captain Henrik Zetterberg indirectly called out some of his teammates, as well.
“You want to be a solid player in this league, you want to win something, you have to learn to play the right way,” he said. “Poke and hope might get you 25 or 30 goals but you’re never going to win anything. You have to play defense first. If you do that, we have guys who have enough skill to create chances and get enough chances. You can’t force on a gamble. You have to do it right and eventually you get chances.”
Since the beginning of the road trip, the team has struggled in numerous areas, special teams included. Over the past six games, the team’s power play has converted on just two of its 16 chances (12.5%). The penalty kill hasn’t been very effective either, killing off only 13 of its 17 opportunities (76.5%).
“We’re a team that, for us to be successful and win on a nightly basis, we have to go out and outwork the other team,” forward Justin Abdelkader said. “If we don’t, it’s going to be tough for us to win. We just came out and weren’t competing hard enough to win in this league. We have to win more puck battles. It’s a disappointing effort here at home.”
