| Detroit Free Press
Sam Gagner: Detroit Red Wings have to find a way to buckle up
Detroit Red Wings forward Sam Gagner, Feb. 28, 2021.
Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press
The Detroit Red Wings head onto their next road game smarting after blowing their nascent winning streak.
They face the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday after back-to-back games in Chicago that showed how well the Wings can play when they are at their best — and how they can fall apart when they are at their worst. Their lineup was depleted of regulars, and Thomas Greiss’ numbers were especially ugly. The Wings were only down by a goal going into the third period Sunday at United Center, but they came out of with a 7-2 loss.
“We don’t have any room for error,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “We have to be close to great every night. And when you are not great, you can’t give up easy chances. That just has to continue to be something we understand as a hockey team.
“If that thing stays 2-1 for a lot longer, you’re sitting there and you have a good chance to tie and win. We created enough chances in the third, I think we could have potentially tied the game.”
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That’s the theoretical analysis. What happened in reality is that Patrick Kane was allowed time and space to set up Pius Suter early in the third period, and at its midpoint, Kane celebrated his 400th career goal. Just like that, 2-1 became 5-1.
Evgeny Svechnikov scored on a power play to pull the Wings within three goals, but only for a couple minutes. Svechnikov was a bright spot, tallying his second goal in two games after finally being granted a spot in the lineup; Sam Gagner was the other one. He scored his fourth goal in three games and led his team with seven shots on net.
Both Gagner and Blashill questioned the 46 shots on net the Wings were given on the scoresheet, with Gagner calling the number misleading.
“I don’t know if we had 40 shots worth of pressure,” Gagner said. “But it’s good to have that mindset of putting pucks on the cage and then getting guys there.”
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Dylan Larkin, Tyler Bertuzzi and Robby Fabbri all missed the game with upper-body injuries, and Patrik Nemeth was in COVID-19 protocol. Blashill didn’t have much in the way of updates on the injured guys, but it sounded like Fabbri could be back soon — he landed on his back Saturday, and was close to being available Sunday.
The Wings topped the Blackhawks, 5-3, Saturday, winning consecutive games for the first time this season. For 40 minutes Sunday, it looked like they might extend the streak. Then they gave up five goals in a span of 10 shots.
“For a large stretch of the game we played fine except for our sort issues,” Blashill said. “I thought we pushed back even after they scored a couple of the goals, we had moments of push-back. You just can’t give up easy chances. You have to be able to push without giving up easy chances. Unfortunately, that’s not what happened. It wasn’t large stretches of getting outplayed, it was just when we gave up a chance, it was way too easy.”
The Wings (7–14–3) were feeling pretty good about themselves this past month, having won five games and seemingly finding an identity after struggling in January, while five regulars were sidelined for two weeks in the league’s pandemic protocol. There were hiccups, such as the blowout loss at Tampa Bay at the start of the month and a 7-2 loss at home to Florida, but there were also well-played, close games. To end the month on a downer such as Sunday’s frustrated the team.
“We get down a couple and were pressing for offense,” Gagner said. “We can’t give up odd-man rushes and leave our goalie out to dry. We have to find a way to buckle up defensively there. The only way we are going to be able to come back is making sure we are solid defensively. Certainly have to learn from (it).
“It’s disappointing. For the most part, we’ve been happy with our game. We just can’t have lapses like that. We have to make sure we are finding consistency. We have to come back better on Tuesday.”
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.