After a short stretch of good play, the Detroit Red Wings looked ice cold in their 4-1 loss to the Nashville Predators.
Let’s take some observations from Saturday’s game.
#1: Losing streak coming? It seems like this Red Wings team wins and loses in chunks. After a four game losing streak, they didn’t lose in regulation for three straight (they lost in overtime against the Stars) heading into the matchup against the Predators. With a resounding loss, it might be time for another cold stretch for the Wings.
#2: Adam Erne hot streak incoming? After a solid campaign with Detroit last season, Erne has been relatively quiet this year (he currently has four goals and six assists on the season). Could this goal give him some confidence heading into the latter half of the season?
#3: Second line experiment finally failed. For a couple of games, it seems as though Tyler Bertuzzi’s shift to the second line was working wonders, lighting a fire under Pius Suter and Robby Fabbri. However, the trio was mostly silent against Nashville (Bertuzzi tallied an assist). There’s a good chance after Bertuzzi will slot back into the top line Wednesday night.
#4: The offense was stagnant. This was by no means Detroit’s worst offensive showing of the year, but it wasn’t pretty. The forwards just couldn’t convert on their given chances, and there weren’t a whole lot of quality scoring chances throughout.
#5: Nedeljkovic has had a rough couple of games. The rookie goaltender has been fantastic for the Red Wings all season, but he’s had a short stretch of uncharacteristically bad play. Now, a good bit of the blame rests on the rest of his team, but after his play earlier in the year, expectations are pretty high on a nightly basis. It probably won’t last long, but for now, Neddy seems to have regressed a bit.
#6: The top line looked good. Shocker here: Detroit’s top line still looked above average. Even in a loss, Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond managed to earn some shots on goal and provide a bit of hope offensively.
#7: Michael Rasmussen is getting more involved on the offense. Rasmussen nabbed four shots on goals Saturday night. While that isn’t a lot, it’s reflective of the fact that big ‘Ras is getting more confident on offense. After a terrible start to the year, Rasmussen has looked a lot better – still not anything special, though.
#8: Zadina’s struggles continue. At this point, this observation should be included on every 8 observations article. Filip Zadina still can’t finish any scoring chances, and as a result, Jeff Blashill has slashed his playing time. This situation just seems to get worse as the season progresses.