The Detroit Red Wings suffered a blowout 5-1 defeat at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The critical divisional loss hinders the Red Wings’ NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs hopes, though there is still a long way to go. After the loss, one of the most experienced players in the locker room, Patrick Kane made a bold confession about Detroit’s performance.
The Red Wings are five points behind the last wild card spot in the NHL‘s Eastern Conference, and the losses to divisional rivals are making the climb a lot steeper for Detroit.
Patrick Kane and the Wings have been riding a strong stretch recently, igniting hope in Motor City as fans dream of a return to the postseason after eight long seasons.
However, performances like their last game in Tampa are not the way forward. The Red Wings were blown out of the water by the Lightning, and could never recover from a sloppy start to the second period, in which the home team took a commanding 4-0 lead. After the game, Kane delivered a strong message to his teammates about their lackluster effort.
“Obviously we feel pretty confident in our power play, but it kind of let us down tonight. First couple power plays, it would have been nice to get one to get the lead,” Patrick Kane said, via NHL.com. ” We shot a lot of pucks at the net, their goalie made some good saves, and we obviously had some breakdowns defensively.”
Kane registered an assist on the Red Wings’ lone power-play goal. Unfortunately for Detroit, it was too little, too late, as the damage had already been done.
Todd McLellan goes all out
Todd McLellan has completely changed the tune of the season in Motor City. What was set to be a disastrous campaign has brought hope back to the fans and the organization as they are back in the mix for a playoff berth.
Regardless, the team is still a long way from where they need to be to be taken seriously against the apex predators in the NHL. The embarrassing loss to Tampa Bay showcased that, and McLellan dropped a bold statement to his team.
“They owned us in and around our blue paint and I didn’t think we were real aggressive around their blue paint,” Detroit coach Todd McLellan stated, per NHL.com. “Yeah, we had 40-some shots on goal, but Vasilevskiy saw most of them and I don’t think we did a lot to help our goaltenders around the blue paint.”
McLellan and the Red Wings will get a quick shot at redemption as they take on the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center just one day after the tough loss in Florida.