Game 1 wasn’t bad for the Detroit Red Wings.
Game 2 was much worse, and if the Wings don’t make some major adjustments and soon, there won’t be many more games left for them to play.
Detroit was undisciplined, uninspired and once again, unable to defend the Tyler Johnson line, falling 5-2 to the Tampa Bay Lightning Friday at Amalie Arena to fall behind 2-0 in their best-of-seven Stanley Cup opening-round series.
“We’ve got to stop making some mistakes in our defensive end,… defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. “They’re getting the goals too easy right now.
“Tonight I thought they got two for free. Even their second goal was off the rush. They got three off the rush. That’s too easy.…
The Wings paved the way to Tampa Bay’s lead with undisciplined play. Gustav Nyquist was already in the penalty box for Detroit with Justin Abdelkader needlessly tripped Tampa Bay’s Johnson along the boards in the neutral zone and during the ensuing five-on-three advantage, Nikita Kucherov gave the Lightning the lead, one of four goals from the line of Kucherov, Johnson and Alex Killorn, who now have seven goals in the series.
“Obviously they’re a good team on the power play and we kept giving them chances,… Kronwall said. “A five on three definitely is tough but I thought we spent too much time in the box tonight.…
What is even more alarming about Detroit’s miscues is that it is the veteran leadership core like Abdelkader and Pavel Datsyuk who are committing the self-inflicted damage.
In the second period, angered after he was hit with an undetected Victor Hedman high stick that cut him and dislodged a tooth, Datsyuk retaliated and drew a penalty.
“Yeah, I have bad emotion,… Datsyuk said, admitting he deserved a penalty. “It’s a good call when I just jumped at him (Hedman) over emotion.…
The chemistry experiment of putting Datsyuk back together with captain Henrik Zetterberg has failed miserably. Datsyuk has now gone 12 straight games without a goal going back into the regular season, while Zetterberg has gone nine playoff games in a row without scoring. Zetterberg also went goalless during his last 11 regular-season games.
“I think we need to stay more in front of the net,… was Datsyuk’s suggestion to solving Detroit’s goal-scoring woes. “I think this is more important. Make a big screen.…
Coming home for Game 3 Sunday at Joe Louis Arena, the Wings can ill-afford to fall behind 3-0 in the series, so it’s time for some drastic measures.
For starters, start Petr Mrazek in goal. It isn’t that Jimmy Howard has played poorly. He’s been decent, but right now, the Wings need spectacular between the posts. If Mrazek is on, he can steal a game.
Shake-ups are also in order along the blue line and among the forward lines. Break up Datsyuk and Zetterberg. It isn’t working. And drop Joakim Andersson, who hardly saw the ice in Game 2 and bring in either Tomas Jurco, or for a real roll of the dice, how about the offensive potential of a Teemu Pulkkinen, whose one-timer might ignite Detroit’s pathetic power play, now one-for-10 for the series.
“I’ll let you know when we start,… Datsyuk said of their non-existent power play.
“We had a lot of power plays,… Kronwall added. “We have to find a way to be better there as well.…
Defensively, the Wings also must shore things up, so it’s time to let Brendan Smith have a go at it. He can provide more of an edge to their back end and also supplements their capabilities to jump up and join the rush.
Detroit coach Jeff Blashill has been tight-lipped on his lineup for about a month now and spoke more in overalls than in specifics after their second loss.
“We’ve had opportunities in the last two games to win the hockey game and we didn’t win it,… Blashill said. “So we’ve got to make a play to work offensively and we got to make a play to work defensively.…
The Wings need to make it work better at both ends and they’d better find a solution quickly, otherwise they will soon be booking tee times.
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