Dylan Larkin called it a punch to the gut and a tough pill to swallow. Jeff Blashill said it was frustrating, which goes without saying.
The Detroit Red Wings were one minute away from banking a point Thursday and going to overtime when an untimely mistake resulted in the puck in the back of their net as the Nashville Predators, on a goal by Dante Fabbro with one minute remaining, prevailed 3-2.
The Red Wings (3-10-2), despite competing harder and playing better the past four games, continue to fall deeper in the Central Division cellar.
Here are some takeaways from the game:
Mantha returns to form
Embattled Anthony Mantha played perhaps his best game of the season, looking like the engaged high-scoring power forward the Red Wings need to see on a consistent basis.
Mantha made a nice play to set up Robby Fabbri’s goal in the first period and had several scoring chances, including a partial breakaway with three minutes remaining that Pekka Rinne stopped.
“I thought he was really good – I actually thought he was excellent,” Blashill said. “He was strong on his stick, won a ton of battles, worked hard, skated hard, did a lot of great stuff.
“I really think his game is coming the right way. The other night was good, and this was better. That’s a huge bright spot for us. You got a guy who’s a big-time player when he’s playing on top of his game.”
It has been a rough start to the season for Mantha, who was benched in the third period in Chicago on Jan. 24 and then surprisingly scratched Sunday at Florida.
He has drawn Blashill’s wrath for floating too much, not moving his feet and competing hard enough.
“Mo was really good tonight,” Larkin said. “He was moving his feet, made plays.”
Untimely mistake
Mathias Brome had a chance to clear the puck prior to Fabbro’s goal but couldn’t get it out of the zone. The Predators won a battle for it in the corner and got it to Fabbro at the point. He fired it through heavy traffic past Thomas Greiss.
“It’s a tough one there,” Larkin said. “Simple hockey, we didn’t get the puck out at our blue line. We got to manage the puck and can’t give up a last-minute goal. It was a tough pill to swallow.”
Four goals in all were scored in the final minute of periods when coaches often tell their players to make simple plays – get the puck out at their blue line and get it in at the opponent’s blue line.
“We always have to look at the clock a little bit, what’s the time, what’s the score and adjust your game,” Frans Nielsen said. “I don’t know if we did anything wrong on that (winning goal). It was a tough one. The puck had eyes.”
More power-play woes
The Red Wings entered the game last in the NHL on the power play, converting at 9.3 percent. They went 0 for 4, registering only two shots.
They won only 3-of-11 face-offs and, like they have all season, struggled on entries.
“It’s a bad recipe for a power play when you didn’t win any face-offs and you couldn’t get in the zone,” Blashill said. “We used a number of different looks. As I left the bench, I said to myself, ‘We got to find a way to be good on one breakout.’ We haven’t been good on any of them. We got to get to where we’re good at one or two breakouts.”
It’s not about changing strategy or personnel, where they are limited.
“This is the group that we’ve got, and we got to find a way to be better at it,” Blashill said. “We got to be better on our entries and our face-offs. If you can’t do that, you have no chance to have a power play. We barely had it set up because of that.”
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The Link LonkFebruary 12, 2021 at 06:06PM
https://www.mlive.com/redwings/2021/02/red-wings-can-take-at-least-one-positive-from-punch-to-gut.html
Red Wings can take at least one positive from ‘punch to gut’ - MLive.com
https://news.google.com/search?q=Red&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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