Detroit — The Red Wings haven’t faced adversity well at all in the last two games, both ugly defeats.
At some point they’re likely to face a tough patch Thursday when they host the Minnesota Wild. It’s going to be vital the Wings handle it better than they have.
“To think that things just go smooth and everything will happen right, we’ll score and not get scored on and win the hockey game is unrealistic,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “There will be ups and downs, and we’ll have to handle it. We’ve wilted the last two games. We’ve gotten down and you can’t wilt when you get down.
“That’s probably the biggest message.”
Tuesday’s embarrassing 9-2 loss to Arizona was fresh on everyone’s mind when the Red Wings arrived to practice.
After not skating hard in the game, the Wings had a robust practice Wednesday you’d expect, arriving for work wasn’t as fun as it usually is.
“We don’t want to be in those types of games and come to the rink feeling like we were feeling today,” defenseman Marc Staal said. “Coming to the rink after a loss like that, it’s just more quiet and there’s less joking around and you just get back to work. We had a hard practice and the guys competed hard and we need that to translate (against Minnesota).”
Staal echoed the sentiments of Blashill and captain Dylan Larkin after the Arizona game — the Wings simply were simply slow and indecisive against the Coyotes and it cost them on the defensive end.
“The last two games have been disappointing and frustrating and just hard mentally,” Staal said. “The easy solution is to come here (Thursday) and work and compete and we’ll get it back on track that way.
“We’ve been slow in our end. Everybody is slow to close on players and when you’re not decisive in your own end it just causes confusion. We have to get back to basics at this point. Playing the game and reacting and it becomes a lot easier when each guy is making decisions.”
Blashill gathered his team at the conclusion of Wednesday’s practice and appeared to be a bit more emphatic in his brief talk to the team than usual. The message of these last two games not being remotely acceptable has been delivered in the locker room and on the ice.
“It’s compete and effort,” Blashill said. “Once we got down, we wilted and again, you can’t do that. You have to grind your way through and find a way to be mentally tough and keep grinding and keep yourself in a position to come back.”
Home-ice advantage?
The Wings have lost five of their last eight games at Little Caesars Arena — including several that were one-sided — which is the complete reversal of early season success the Wings had on home ice.
That has to change, with a difficult upcoming road schedule.
“It’s disappointing, especially the last few (games) we haven’t been good enough at home,” Blashill said. “You’re going to lose some games, but you can’t lose them in the fashion we lost the Toronto game (10-7) or (Tuesday against Arizona). We’ve wasted some good home crowds in the last little bit.”
Goaltending riddle
Goaltenders Alex Nedeljkovic and Thomas Greiss have struggled along with the rest of the Wings’ lineup, but in their position everything is magnified.
Greiss started Saturday in Florida, but was replaced by Nedeljkovic, only to see Nedeljkovic be replaced by Greiss in the second period of Tuesday’s loss — then going back to Nedeljkovic quickly after Greiss allowed two goals on three shots against the Coyotes.
The goaltending hasn’t been great, but the team defense in front of them, Blashill said, needs to be better.
“It’s hard to judge the goaltender a whole bunch when you give up so many chances,” Blashill said. “Certainly they are a factor in things but we have to do a better job of putting them in position to be successful with our play.”
Staal’s decision
Staal is a potential an unrestricted free agent and could be a desirable rental for several playoff teams, including Carolina, where his brother Jordan Staal is the Hurricanes’ captain.
Staal sounds as if he’d like to remain with the Wings, everything being equal. But Staal left the door open for other options if they present themselves before the March 21 trade deadline.
Staal has a no-move clause, which gives him leverage to where he could wind up.
“I like it here (but) obviously in the next couple of weeks, we’ll see what happens,” Staal said. “If something comes along that’s a great fit and (general manager) Steve (Yzerman) wants to do it, I’ll look at it. Other than that, I enjoy playing here and look forward to that.
“You never know what’s going to happen before the deadline. It’s been like that every year since I’ve been in the league and every player is in the same situation. So, I’m just going to try to keep on playing my best and if something comes across, make a decision on that when the time comes.”
Bertuzzi update
Forward Tyler Bertuzzi didn’t practice Wednesday because of what Blashill said was a non-COVID illness.
Blashill didn’t rule out Bertuzzi for the game against the Wild.
We’re offering a great rate on digital subscriptions. Click here.
Wild at Red Wings
► Faceoff: 7 p.m. Thursday, Little Caesars Arena, Detroit
► TV/radio: ESPN+/Hulu/97.1
► Outlook: The Wild (33-19-3) are coming off a badly-needed 5-2 victory Tuesday against the New York Rangers. … The Wild have lost seven of their last 10 games and their playoff positioning has become less secure. … LW Kirill Kaprizov is developing into an NHL star (28 goals, 43 assists, 71 points).
ted.kulfan@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @tkulfan