It was far from an ideal day for the Detroit Red Wings, a team already amid trade talks involving Dylan Larkin and facing an uncertain future. Their heavy defeat to the Colorado Avalanche left Todd McLellan far from satisfied, with the head coach pointing to several officiating decisions as one of the key factors behind the final result.
“Those were penalties. Some of them were penalties against us. I 100 percent agree. It was the ones that weren’t called that were concerning for me,” McLellan said via the Red Wings official website. Ultimately, several penalty calls ended up working against Detroit.
McLellan was pleased with the team’s start, but the game ultimately unfolded differently than he had expected. “I was really happy with our start,” Detroit head coach also added. “First period was excellent. We did a lot of things we wanted to do.
“It would’ve been nice to find a way to sneak one behind the goaltender and go in with the lead, but then the second period starts and we took — or no, actually we didn’t take, we were called for five penalties in 10 minutes. And that really changed the game, obviously.”
Head coach Todd McLellan.
Decisions that didn’t sit well with McLellan
The 4-0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche left Todd McLellan visibly frustrated, primarily due to how a string of questionable penalty calls derailed the Red Wings after a solid opening stretch. Detroit was controlling play early on, but back-to-back minor penalties in the second period handed Colorado’s deadly power play continuous momentum, allowing Martin Necas and Nathan MacKinnon to quickly blow the game open.
McLellan lamented the inconsistency of the whistles—feeling his team was penalized for marginal calls while similar physical plays by the Avalanche went uncalled—which forced Detroit into constant penalty-killing duties and completely killed any rhythm they had established at even strength.
What’s next for the Red Wings?
The Red Wings hit the road for their next three matchups, starting Tuesday, November 10 against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center, followed by a trip south to face the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday, November 12, and wrapping up the road swing against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on Saturday, November 14.
Key takeaways
- Todd McLellan criticized officiating decisions following the Detroit Red Wings’ loss to Colorado.
- Five penalties in 10 minutes derailed the Detroit Red Wings during the second period.
- A three-game road trip begins Tuesday for the Detroit Red Wings in St. Louis.
