(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
This was a tough week for the Detroit Red Wings, with two losses and a win. Finishing the week with a 4-2-2 record is a solid start to the season.
There were a lot of challenges to overcome as injuries to the forward lines are mounting, and Rasmussen served the first of a two-game suspension. The 2 to 1 win over the Wild on Saturday night is one of the best performances from the blue line in a long time, and finished the week on a positive note.
A Look at the Detroit Red Wings’ Sixth Game of the Season: New Jersey Devils
New Jersey was all over the Red Wings from the outset. Their speed and offensive skills resulted in a dominating game. This is the first game where the Wings were overmatched throughout. Consistently losing important face-offs made the game even more challenging.
To make matters worse, only Larkin and Perron appeared engaged in the game. Bad games happen, and this was undoubtedly one of those tough games.
Detroit Red Wings: Game Six Individual Reports
Moritz Seider – Grade C. Seider’s issues were mostly about pressing offensive play too much. He was uncharacteristically making poor decisions during this game and had a series of giveaways. In the second period, a backhand pass in his own zone across the middle led to a quick scoring chance and was indicative of the poor play of the whole team.
Ben Chiarot – Grade C. As Chariot became frustrated and the game wore down, he became aggressive and was looking for trouble. This was a tough game, and Chairot was also not blameless in poor passing and struggled across the board. The game was not there, but the attitude is not bad. Angry is a good thing sometimes.
Olli Määttä – Grade C. Määttä did not do much to control the game. Like the rest of the team, he was reacting, covering up for teammates’ miscues and missing passes.
Filip Hronek – Grade D. Hronek has been strong in his play over the last two games, but this was a game to forget. He struggled in the face of the forecheck throughout the game.
Robert Hägg – Grade C. Hägg had adventures. There was his second horrible delay of the game penalty of the year—this time without pressure. However, Lindstrom did not get into a position to receive a pass. No one was in a position to receive a pass.
Hägg decided to make the right play off the glass and out of the zone, but he missed and sailed the puck into the crowd. Immediately New Jersey scored the first power-play goal of the year against the Detroit Red Wings, and the game was over at that point.
Yet, Hägg made an aggressive play to take the puck deep and around the net, where he found Kubalik for the goal. A creative and brave play after a tough two-and-a-half periods. He crashed the net with an opportunity to score later in the period.
Hägg pinched up to push the play in the last five minutes and was beaten on the fifth goal. It was a risky play that did not work out. At another time in the game, that would have been unwise. But pushing for a goal in the third period was a calculated risk. The aggressive effort to keep fighting against the onslaught showed a positive attitude.
Gustav Lindstrom – Grade D. Lindstrom is not often in the wrong place and does not make especially poor decisions, but he is beaten regularly. Coaches do not change winning lineups, but after a bad loss, now is the time for a change.