After a solid top to bottom effort in their 2-1 shootout win at Ottawa, some familiar, unsettling, even trouble signs were present Tuesday as the Detroit Red Wings fell 4-2 to the Dallas Stars to suffer their first loss of the NHL season. The Wings turned the puck over far too much and were one and done in the offensive zone much too frequently to enjoy any kind of success. “I think one of the biggest things is our forwards turned way too many pucks over from about the faceoff down to the neutral zone, to the tops of the circles,… Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. “We didn't make them turn enough. I actually thought our D did a good job. It was on our forwards. “I just thought our puck management wasn't good enough. We’ve got to make people turn. We've proven we're a good team with our forecheck, we've proven we're a good team in the O-zone. But we’ve got to make sure we're making people turn. Otherwise, all we're doing is igniting their transition offense.… The Wings spent significant time in their own zone defending, another trait that resembled the debacle that was their 2016-17 campaign. “They were getting in our end way more with speed and pace in the beginning,… Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg admitted. Detroit’s power play, effective through the first two games, scored a goal, but also was guilty of returning to the pass-first mentality that plagued the unit for much of last season. “I don’t think we’re shooting enough pucks,… Wings forward Anthony Mantha said. “Our entries aren’t that bad but we need to battle for the loose pucks and those second chances.… The Stars were winless prior to their triumph over Detroit and Thursday in Arizona, the Wings face another team without a win in the Coyotes. If they don’t want that situation to change, the Wings will need to come up with a much better effort than what they displayed in Dallas. “I didn't think we had enough guys at that ultra-ultra competitive level,… Blashill said. “Our competitive level can't be fine, it's got to be outstanding. I also think we didn't have enough guys skating well enough, so we didn't have enough pressure on them. “I thought when we pressured them we were able to create turnovers, but we didn't do enough of it.…
DeKeyser Out; Kronwall In Blashill confirmed that defenseman Danny DeKeyser (lower body injury) was out and that Niklas Kronwall (groin) will make his season debut on the Detroit defense in Thursday's game.
"It’s big for us," Zetterberg said of getting Kronwall back. "On the ice, off the ice, he’s a leader. He plays a lot of minutes, he plays all situations.
"Coming into camp he looked really good. Then injuries happened. He worked himself back here and he’s ready to go."
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