| Detroit Free Press
Dylan Larkin frustrated as Detroit Red Wings lose at Florida
Dylan Larkin interview, Feb. 9, 2021.
Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press
The frustration is tangible as the Detroit Red Wings once again play competitively but fail to get a win.
Their brief respite from losing lasted only one game, as they fell, 2-1, to the Florida Panthers Tuesday at BB&T Center.
“We need results and we need them now, with the hole we dug ourselves into the past couple weeks,” captain Dylan Larkin said. “But the process of our game is almost where it needs to be, consistently, here in the last three games. I feel like it is building. We had chances, we had looks on the power play, we had zone time. It could have gone either way. Yeah, we made mistakes, but we made up for them by work ethic and our compete level and that was the main message the past three games.
“You are going to make mistakes, just make up for them with compete and work ethic.”
STOCK WATCH: Hronek up, Staal down
MISERY INDEX: Wings goalies stop, collaborate and listen
BUILDER OF LCA: How Tom Wilson went from failed actor to sports exec savant
The Wings (3-9-2) broke an eight-game winless skid Sunday against the Panthers, but Tuesday brought more of the previous misery, despite an individual highlight: Larkin set up Filip Zadina’s goal Tuesday, which was Zadina’s second point in three games after missing two weeks battling COVID-19.
“I think we were playing pretty good,” Zadina said. “We started good, we put the puck behind their D. We won the battles. We scored a goal and we were feeling pretty good.
“Just couldn’t make it even. I think we feel good as a team, but we have to find ways to score more than one goal in a game. I feel like we were pretty close to get a point at least, but it is what it is.”
The Wings were without top-line winger Tyler Bertuzzi and alternate captain Luke Glendening, both of whom are sidelined with upper-body injuries.
It’s been a frustrating month for the Wings, who came into the season confident they were deeper and better than the squad that finished last in 2020. But losing five players to COVID-19 protocols in the opening week dashed hopes early, and led to going eight games without a victory before heading into a Sunday-Tuesday series at Florida.
Zadina made it 1-0 less than four minutes into Tuesday’s game, and the Wings held the lead for a little over 12 minutes in the first period before the Panthers tied it at 1.
“I was pleased with parts of the game,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “I think we were competitive. We did a good job battling. We hurt ourselves the second half of the first and the first half of the second by turning pucks over.
“I thought overall we did a good job defending, we didn’t give them a whole bunch of chances. These are the types of games we need to put ourselves in and we need to find a way to win. We have to find a way to score.”
The Wings entered Tuesday averaging just two goals a game, 30th out of 31 teams this season. (Only the Anaheim Ducks have been worse, entering Tuesday averaging 1.85 goals per game.) Perhaps Thursday’s opponent will provide some relief, though.
The Wings head to Nashville for a two-game set to complete a 6-game trip. The Predators entered the day allowing 3.33 goals per game — ninth-worst in the league — and then gave up six goals to Central Division leader Tampa Bay on Tuesday night.
Filip Zadina voices frustration as Detroit Red Wings fall at Florida
Filip Zadina interview, Feb. 9, 2021
Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her book, The Big 50: The Detroit Red Wings is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.