As Losses Continue to Mount, Red Wings Arrive at Hour of Desperation

After last night's lifeless 4-1 loss in Los Angeles, the Detroit Red Wings fall to 7-9-1, a .441 points percentage with just three wins in their last 10 tries.  The Red Wings rank 25th in the NHL by points percentage, 28th by goals for, 22nd by goals against, 31st on the penalty kill, 31st by shots for, and 29th by shots against.  If not for a rhythmic power play and moments of exceptional goaltending from Cam Talbot and Alex Lyon, Detroit would already be spending the rest of its season gauging its lottery fortunes.  Instead, the Red Wings have arrived at their hour of desperation.

With a win Monday night in San Jose, Detroit can salvage a 2-2 record on its four-game road swing and head back home with some modicum of pride and momentum.  If they cannot beat the lowly Sharks...well, for now, it's better not to consider that hypothetical.

"It's all about our breakouts, right?," asked Andrew Copp rhetorically in the post-game dressing room, pointing to one potential cause for the all-too-familiar pattern of Detroit spending long stretches in the defensive zone. "If we can break the puck out with some speed and enter with some speed—whether it's a soft chip or with possession—we gotta find a way to get more out of that. We're doing okay breaking the puck out...It's cyclical one way or the other, and we just gotta find a way to build up a little more speed."

"We knew we probably had to be opportunistic tonight...maybe a bend not break, and at times, we got that. Unfortunately, we give up two quick ones at the end of the first. Unfortunately both goals started on our sticks," said coach Derek Lalonde.  Opportunistic, the Red Wings weren't.  Instead, Saturday was another night of allowing more pressure than Detroit could possibly ward off.

The good news—such that it is—is that the season isn't over yet, far from it, and the Red Wings do maintain the agency to reverse their fortunes, beginning Monday night against the Sharks.

"It goes fast, right? One shift can turn the whole ship around," Copp pointed out.  "We're gonna put some pressure on ourselves Monday night and treat it as a very, very big game for us, just in terms of mentality, and salvage a 2-2 road trip and then go from there...There's always a way to get out of a tough stretch."

"Obviously it was a tough 24 hours here," said a pragmatic Lalonde.  "We're taking a third-period lead in Anaheim, and we're talking about 2-0 start to the road trip, and in 24 hours, we don't get points in back-to-back games.  But I've been in this league long enough, you get these extended road trips, if you can get the amount of points and games, four points and games, it's not winning the road trip, but it gets you a chance."

That's what the Red Wings will be fighting for on Monday night: a chance to make the 64 games that will follow matter.

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