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Lightning count six, while Wings can't count to six |
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The new season for the Detroit Red Wings started in the same place where the old season ended, and the outcome was the same, thanks it part to a familiar Red Wings malady.
Squandering a 3-1 lead against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Wings coughed up a third-period power-play goal after being called for too many men on the ice that gave the Lightning the lead for good at 4-3, one of four third-period goals Tampa Bay scored en route to a 6-4 victory over the Wings Thursday at Amalie Arena.
“We had some breakdowns, a couple of too many men penalties,” Detroit left-winger Justin Abdelkader said. “We’ve got to have better communication on the bench because those are freebies for the other team.
“We’ve got to make sure we don’t have too many men. We’ll have to clean that up.”
The Wings took two third-period infractions for having more than six players on the ice and Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg didn’t pull any punches in his team’s assessment of their bench management.
“We should know that rule and not be six guys on the ice,” Zetterberg said. “But it happens. It’s something we’ve got to fix for Saturday (against Florida).”
Detroit coach Jeff Blashill was also harsh in his assessment of himself and his team.
“Too many penalties, too many easy chances,” Blashill said. “We just had too many self-inflicted wounds, whether it be easy chances against, the breakaways, the outnumbered rushes. Obviously, the penalties were preventable, certainly the two too many men penalties are extremely preventable.
“When you have that many self-inflicted wounds it’s hard to win a hockey game, especially against a really good team, so we’ve got to be better than that.”
In explaining what led to the too many men calls, Blashill accepted the blame.
“Ultimately, that responsibility starts with me,” Blashill said. “It’s inexcusable for me, it’s inexcusable for our players. We’ve got to know who we’re changing for.
“We did know who were changing for, we just missed the assignment there (on the first call). The second one, (Gustav Nyquist) our guy’s coming off, he gets hit, he’s just got to keep coming to the bench, because they were anticipating a change.
“Any way or shape, it’s not good enough.”
Vanek Delivers
Two of Detroit’s free-agent additions were quick to get on the board in their Red Wings debut. Thomas Vanek scored a pair of first-period goals to spot Detroit a 2-0 lead and in the second period, Frans Nielsen scored to make it 3-1 Wings.
“Vanek looks like somebody who is what we thought he was,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. “He’s got real elite offensive ability. He was the fifth overall pick, you don’t become the fifth overall pick if you don’t have elite, offensive ability and a real skill set.
“We don’t have lots of guys who were picked that high because we haven’t drafted that high. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have things he’s got to get better at. He does, of course, but we also focus on the positives and there’s been lots of them so far.
“And Nielsen has done a good job. I think him and Z (Zetterberg) are both cerebral players, they’re both thinkers. I think that will help them as they move through the season as a pair together.”
Vanek wasn’t about to pat himself on the back following a loss.
“This is a game I thought we could have won, we should have won, and we gave it away,” Vanek said.
Six Red Lights
You could say that the difference in the game was that one team counted six, while the other team struggled to count to six.
Thursday’s loss marked just the 11th time in franchise history that the Wings have surrendered six or more goals in a season opener. The previous 10:
Jan. 19, 2013 - Lost 6-0 at St. Louis
Oct. 5, 1993 - Lost 6-4 at Dallas
Oct. 5, 1989 - Lost 10-7 at Calgary
Oct. 6 1988 - Lost 8-2 at Vancouver
Oct. 9, 1986 - Lost 6-1 at Quebec
Oct. 10, 1985 - Tied 6-6 with Minnesota North Stars
Oct 11, 1984 - Lost 7-3 at Chicago
Oct. 5, 1983 - Tied 6-6 at Winnipeg
Oct. 19, 1966 - Lost 6-2 at Boston
Oct. 23, 1965 - Lost 8-1 at Montreal
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