Detroit Red Wings forward Luke Glendening tossed around words like “frustrating” and “embarrassed,” saying players need to look in the mirror following Wednesday’s 5-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena.
Defensive breakdowns put the Red Wings behind 3-0 less than five minutes into the game. A lot of hockey remained, but realistically, it was over at that point. The team that finished with by far the worst record in the NHL wasn’t going to come back and defeat the defending Stanley Cup champion after digging that deep a hole.
The Red Wings (2-7-2) have lost seven in a row (0-5-2) and face the Lightning again on Friday.
Tampa Bay (6-1-1) has won 16 of the past 17 games between these teams, and there might not be much the Red Wings can do to garner a different result in the next meeting.
Inserting some younger players into the lineup might not help, but it couldn’t hurt.
Filip Zadina is expected to return Friday after spending two weeks on the COVID protocol list. He hasn’t played since Jan. 19 and might get in only one full practice, so it will take him some time to get back to speed.
Givani Smith and Mathias Brome are two other young forwards who are game-ready but didn’t play Wednesday after being assigned to the taxi squad to make room for players returning from COVID protocol.
Smith has two assists in four games and brings size, physicality and a net presence, someone who can be hard on the defense with his forechecking. Brome has struggled adapting from Sweden to the NHL (no points in 10 games) but played one of his better games in Sunday’s 3-2 loss to Florida, generating some chances.
The Red Wings haven’t gotten it done with veterans like Frans Nielsen, Valtteri Filppula and Darren Helm in the lineup. As hopes for better results quickly fade during this abbreviated 56-game season, the Red Wings should provide more opportunities for younger players. Some probably don’t have a future in the organization, but it’s worth a try.
This is why general manager Steve Yzerman’s decision to waive Evgeny Svechnikov, their top pick in 2015, and send him to the Grand Rapids Griffins without giving him a chance this season is puzzling. Perhaps Svechnikov isn’t an NHL player, but why not give him a good, long look?
If the season continues to spiral downward, Yzerman needs to do whatever roster shuffling is required to get as many young players as possible in the lineup, a list that also includes forward Michael Rasmussen and defensemen Dennis Cholowski and Gustav Lindstrom, who were assigned to the Griffins this week.
Four return from COVID protocol
Forwards Robby Fabbri and Adam Erne practiced only once in two weeks. Forward Sam Gagner and defenseman Jon Merrill were inserted into the lineup Wednesday after going more than two weeks since practicing. It is not surprising these four, who had been in COVID protocol, were rusty, though on this night, they blended in with the rest of the team in that respect.
“They looked like they’ve been out for two weeks,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “That was a concern for me inserting all four guys back in the lineup. It’s not by any stretch their fault, but it’s hard to get game-ready when you haven’t played or practiced at that level for multiple weeks. We hadn’t won in a while, so why wouldn’t you put them in? I knew it was going to be a hard ask.”
DeKeyser scratched
With Merrill back, the Red Wings needed to scratch a defenseman or go with seven. Blashill opted to sit Danny DeKeyser. He indicated DeKeyser, who returned at the start of this season following back surgery in December 2019, has been laboring.
“I think DK is a great player and we need DK to be playing at 100 percent and he’s not,” Blashill said. “He’s been playing on one leg most of the year and in the end, we made the decision to go with guys we thought gave us our best chance to win. It’s not a knock on DK. He’s trying to recover. It’s been a hard year for him. He’s trying to get that strength back and it’s not coming back as fast as he wants, or we want. We’ll keep taking it day by day. I didn’t give him a timeline.”
More: Red Wings look for Rasmussen, Cholowski to further develop in AHL
The Link LonkFebruary 04, 2021 at 06:01PM
https://www.mlive.com/redwings/2021/02/red-wings-might-as-well-go-with-younger-players.html
Red Wings might as well go with younger players - MLive.com
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