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Too early to call Game 3 a must win? |
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Is it too early to call the third game of the season a must-win?
Maybe not in the case of the Detroit Red Wings.
Saturday’s 4-1 loss to the Florida Panthers dropped the Wings to 0-2 on the NHL season, the first time the Wings have opened a campaign 0-2 since 2009-10.
As they head back to Detroit for the final home opener at Joe Louis Arena on Monday against the Ottawa Senators, it’s the last time the Wings began a season 0-3 that should be cause for concern among the Detroit faithful.
That was in 1989-90, which was also the last season in which the Red Wings failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Wings have begun a season 0-3 or worse seven times and rebounded to qualify for postseason play just twice in those seven seasons.
The worst starts to a season in Red Wings history, with the ultimate outcome of each season in brackets:
1980-81 – 0-5 (missed playoffs)
1973-74 – 0-4 (missed playoffs)
1966-67 – 0-4 (missed playoffs)
1938-39 – 0-4 (lost Stanley Cup semi-final)
1989-90 – 0-3 (missed playoffs)
1971-72 – 0-3 (missed playoffs)
1955-56 – 0-3 (lost Stanley Cup final)
Still Grounded
Two games into the season, the Wings believe they’ve yet to take flight.
“We didn’t break out with a lot of speed,” Detroit left-winger Justin Abdelkader said. “I think our play through the neutral zone affected that. We weren’t above guys, and our gaps weren’t great.
“We’ve got to do a better job of making sure we’re tighter through the neutral zone and when we get in the zone, we got to try to work them a little more, with some grind time and not be as much one and done and bury that puck when we have it.”
Captain Henrik Zetterberg felt the team is spending too much time in their own zone, partly because they are still growing accustomed their new breakout systems.
“Well, we’ve got something to work on, that’s for sure,” Zetterberg said. “It’s early in the year and we’re trying to do the right things but we’re not really connected right now.
Zetterberg was also alarmed by Detroit’s lack of creativity with the puck.
“We should be able to create more than we have in these two games,” Zetterberg said. “You can’t blame it on chemistry of not having played with guys.
“We’re supposed to be better hockey players than that and we should be able to create more.”
Sproul’s Time?
After an opening-night loss at Tampa Bay, Detroit coach Jeff Blashill moved to bring forward Andreas Athanasiou into the lineup for Saturday’s game.
After a second straight loss, might we see defenseman Ryan Sproul inserted into the lineup for his first action of the regular season in Monday’s hope opener at Joe Louis Arena against the Ottawa Senators?
Blashill wasn’t exactly tipping his hand on that one.
“I think first of all we make the decision to try to win every night,” Blashill said. “I want to see what Sproul can do. We’d hate to have him sit if he’s better than one of the options we have.”
But how will the Wings know that if they don’t play Sproul soon?
“Those are obviously our decisions to make,” Blashill said. “I’ve got belief that Sproul’s skill set is really good. If he can play similar to how he played in the preseason I think he could have a good impact, so we’ll make that decision as we continue to go along.”
Smith vs. Smith
Panthers forward Reilly Smith got the better of his brother, Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith.
Brendan analyzed the sibling rivalry off the ice.
“He’s more quiet,” Brendan said. “I’m not as quiet. So he’s the quiet one in the family.
“He’s surprisingly good at chess, which might throw some people off. Another thing is he’s very witty. I think it just comes from intelligence. He’s also the smart one in the family.”
Brendan insisted he’s got the edge when it comes to which one is better eater.
“I think he would agree that it would be me,” Brendan said. “It’s volume. I eat a lot more than him. In choices, we’re pretty even I think.”
The brothers opted to follow the same nutritional pattern during the offseason.
“We tried to go gluten-free, which is a tough thing to do in the summer,” Brendan explained. “I can’t say we were totally gluten-free because the odd bag of chips or something slipped in there but for the most part, we tried to eliminate all bread and stuff like that.”
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