Coach Jeff Blashill and general manager Steve Yzerman chatted before a quiet Detroit Red Wings group went to work on redeeming themselves.
Their next game comes Thursday against the Minnesota Wild, a team that last month pounded pucks behind the Wings in what has become an alarming trend. The enthusiasm that permeated a month ago has nosedived as losses — and embarrasing ones, at that — have come one after another. The latest was a 9-2 loss to the Coyotes on Tuesday. It’s imperative the Wings (24-27-6) rediscover joy and pride in their work and at least show they are competitive.
“I don’t know that my job in situations like this is to necessarily give the players the avenue for joy as opposed to making sure that we understand that this isn’t good enough,” Blashill said. “Certainly, you want guys to want to come to the rink, and I get that, and enjoy the job they do, but part of that comes with responsibility. You kind of earn that joy by working and competing and being proud of the performance that you had.”
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After losing 7-4 at Minnesota on Feb. 14, the Wings went to New York and beat the Rangers. After losing 10-7 to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Feb. 26, the Wings beat the Carolina Hurricanes, tops in the Metropolitan Division. They got into penalty trouble in the next game, at the Lightning, but largely held their own against the defending champions. But the last two games have been indefensible: A 6-2 loss at Florida on Saturday night, and Tuesday’s lopsided loss that left fans booing at Little Caesars Arena.
“When we left Tampa, we were disappointed we didn’t win, but I don’t think everybody was proud of the effort they gave and the performance we had,” Blashill said. “We were in position against one of the best teams in the league to win a hockey game on the road and didn’t win. When you play the way we did last night, it’s hard to have any kind of joy because we’re in this to win, and when you don’t win and you don’t do it right, there’s very little to hang your head on.”
Tyler Bertuzzi didn’t practice Wednesday because of a non-COVID illness, but he could be available Thursday.
Yzerman watched practice, as is his habit. Blashill said the two “talked last night and talked this morning. I’m not going to go into our conversation, but we talked. Last night was pretty evident what anybody would have thought watching that game.”
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Blashill has stressed numerous times how the Wings must work and compete at a high level to give themselves a chance to be in games. That wasn’t there in Florida, it wasn’t there Tuesday, and it made for a pretty sober Wednesday.
“Coming to the rink after a loss like that, it’s more quiet, there’s less joking around,” alternate captain Marc Staal said. “We had a hard practice and the guys competed hard.
“I think the last two games have been extremely disappointing and frustrating and it’s just hard on your team mentally. It’s an easy solution — you come here and work and compete and get it back on track that way.”
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.