The Opposite Of A Perfect 10

If the Bo Derek film 10 had come out around Halloween and been a horror flick, it would have proven the ideal metaphor for the start of the Detroit Red Wings season. Ten games into the campaign, the Wings are an NHL-worst 1-7-2. “We’ve played good hockey at times, but some really bad hockey, too,… Detroit center Frans Nielsen said. “So I guess very inconsistent is the word.… “We’ve had a lot of adversity through these first 10 games,… added left-winger Justin Abdelkader. It starts with scoring, or rather not scoring, a key element of the game that simply isn’t adding up for Detroit. It’s not the first time that’s been an issue for this team, although this occasion seems more like an epidemic than a malady. “Yeah, we have, but never not scoring like this,… Nielsen said. “I’ve never seen that before. I don’t have an answer. We haven’t scored enough. That’s one area. I can’t tell you why.… Detroit has scored 20 goals in 10 games, and 20 percent of the tallies have come off of the sticks of two players, Dylan Larkin and Andreas Athanasiou with four goals each. Nielsen is still on the lookout for his first goal of the season, as are veteran forward Abdelkader and rookie center Michael Rasmussen. “We’re not scoring, we’re not seeing pucks go in,… Abdelkader said. Right-winger Anthony Mantha has one goal and is minus-12. Right-winger Gustav Nyquist has one goal and is minus-seven. “I can’t lie about it,… said Mantha, who scored a team-high 24 goals last season. “It’s hard.… With two goals apiece, defensemen Dennis Cholowski and Nick Jensen have as many or more goals than every forward not named Larkin or Athanasiou. “I don’t think we have any 40-goal scorers in here but we’ve got guys that score,… Nielsen said. “Vanny (Thomas Vanek) can score, we know that. Some players we know can. But we’re a team that lacks superstars. It has to come from everyone.… Absent a natural scorer like an Alexander Ovechkin or Patrik Laine, the Wings also need to work more effectively at creating their opportunities. “Obviously, when you don’t have success, you have to dig deeper and try and keep things more simple,… Mantha said. “I think we’re trying the fancy plays these days and it’s not going our way. We need to bring it back to simple. “We’re trying to find a good play instead of just putting every puck on net and trying to get those dirty rebounds.… The Wings have displayed that mentality at times, such as the first period of Friday’s 2- loss to the Winnipeg, and a more consistent level in terms of that approach could do wonders for the digits in their goals for column. “I also think we’ve got guys who will score more on their chances than they have,… Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. “We’ve got some guys — Anthony Mantha’s going to score more than whatever he’s on pace for right now. He’s gonna, and Nyquist will score more than that. “It’s just a matter I think of making sure that we decide that we’re going to forge forward, that we’re going to keep our head up and we’re going to find ways to be better, make the decisions to make sure that we’re changing those close game losses to close game wins.… Follow me on Twitter @asktheduffer