The Detroit Red Wings are trending in the right direction the past six games.
They are playing with the puck more, spending more time in the offensive zone, creating more chances than the opposition and outshooting opponents.
But they are leaving points on the table, and the reason is simple: The power play has not produced.
This has been a season-long issue, a problem for several years. It has gotten worse lately.
The Red Wings failed to capitalize on a pair of power-play opportunities Monday in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Chicago Blackhawks at Little Caesars Arena.
Detroit is 0 for 26 on the power play in its past nine games.
“That’s been a continued sore spot,” coach Jeff Blashill said after the game. “We have nights where it looks not bad and then we go backwards. We’ve used lots of different guys in different situations, given a lot of different people opportunities and not enough people have grabbed it. You struggle between going back to the drawing board and changing it and then you have no chemistry at all. We’re going to sit back as a coaching staff tonight and decide if there’s a better way to attack it. Are guys in the right spots?
“Ultimately guys have to execute better. We lacked a sense of urgency on the power play tonight and we lacked a sense of confidence in making plays, and there’s no reason not to have confidence.”
The Red Wings rank 30th out of 31 teams on the power play at 7.1 percent (4 for 53). They have not converted on the power play since Tyler Bertuzzi’s goal in Dallas on Jan. 28. They have scored on the man-advantage in only three of their 17 games.
The main problem, for much of the season, was entries. Then, after they improved on entries and got set-up in the zone, they didn’t create enough havoc around the net.
“We got to win the special teams battle, find a way to get it going,” Dylan Larkin said. “I think we’ve done an OK job getting set up, now we just got to find a way to get it around the net and get a couple plays, stick to it and get the puck there. We’re too much on the outside. Ultimately, that’s going to help us win these close games.”
Said Blashill: “There’s no easy answer to it.”
The Red Wings are 2-3-1 since their ugly 5-1 loss at Tampa Bay on Feb. 3. Their past three losses have come by one goal and they have dropped their past three overtime games.
“We got to get the second point, got to find ways to win these games,” Blashill said. “We’ve done a good job of playing pretty good hockey and putting ourselves in a position to win. We’ve moved in the right direction in terms of how we play. We understand what we need to do to be successful, and now we got to find a way to win these games.”
The Red Wings (4-10-3) host the Blackhawks (8-5-4) again on Wednesday (7:30 p.m., Fox Sports Detroit).
Smith, Svechnikov switch spots
Givani Smith registered a Gordie Howe Hat Trick (goal, assist, fight) in a 4-1 victory over Florida on Feb. 7, but played only two more games before being assigned to the Grand Rapids Griffins today from the Red Wings’ taxi squad.
Smith appeared in eight games for Detroit (one goal, three assists, averaging 9:55 minutes per game).
Meanwhile, the Red Wings recalled forward Evgeny Svechnikov from Grand Rapids and assigned him to their taxi squad. Svechnikov has a goal and an assist in three games for the Griffins.
More: What are Red Wings’ plans for Danny DeKeyser moving forward?
The Link LonkFebruary 17, 2021 at 01:02AM
https://www.mlive.com/redwings/2021/02/as-red-wings-trend-upward-power-play-continues-to-confound.html
As Red Wings trend upward, power play continues to confound - mlive.com
https://news.google.com/search?q=Red&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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