It’s an old refrain that’s been heard time and again when the Detroit Red Wings struggle to produce and for the first time Friday, it was uttered under the Jeff Blashill regime.
Stop with the fancy stuff. Shoot the puck.
We’ve got to get a little more mentality over shooting the puck,… Wings coach Blashill said after a 5-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at Joe Louis Arena in which Detroit was outshot 36-20.
“We want to make plays first. I’m OK with us making plays but not over-making plays. I’d rather us over shoot than over-making plays and right now we’re over-making plays.…
Detroit forward Gustav Nyquist felt that they could take a lesson on how to attack the problem from the Hurricanes, who’ve pelted the Wings with 83 shots in two meetings this season.
“They’re a team that’s trying to put as many pucks on net as possible,… Nyquist said. “They don’t pass up too many shots. That’s how they’re trying to create offense from rebounds and from overshooting the puck.
“That’s something we want to do, too but we’re just not shooting the puck enough. We’re not getting opportunities to shoot because we’re not working hard enough.…
Blashill was also concerned about his team’s determination and decision-making as they lost for the first time in four starts this season.
Our guys know it, we weren’t good enough tonight,… Blashill said. “They had more jump than we had. Sometimes it comes down to schematic stuff, sometimes you’re playing well and it just doesn’t go your way. I thought tonight we didn’t win enough puck races, puck battles that it takes to win hockey games.
“You have to skate and win puck battles and puck races and play from the right side of the puck and we didn’t do a good enough job of that tonight.…
Marchenko Sent Down The Wings have assigned defenseman Alexey Marchenko to AHL Grand Rapids, making it almost a certainty that Danny DeKeyser (foot ligaments) will be activated from the injured list and play Saturday in Montreal against the Canadiens.
Coupled with the placing of forward Johan Franzen (concussion symptoms) on IRL, it temporarily leaves the Wings with just 21 players on the active roster. That will change quickly when DeKeyser is activated Saturday and more than likely Darren Helm (concussion) comes off the injured list during the club’s Western Canadian swing next week, bringing Detroit back to the maximum of 23 players.
Blashill indicated both Helm and DeKeyser would be game-time decisions Saturday.
Cleary To Report After giving it some thought, forward Daniel Cleary has opted to report to Grand Rapids.
“Yeah, I’ll be there Tuesday for practice,… Cleary confirmed.
Placed on waivers last week, when Cleary cleared and was ordered to report to Detroit’s AHL affiliate, he originally balked at the idea.
“I just needed some time to think it through,… Cleary said. “Anytime something new gets thrown at you, you need some time to think about it.
“I’m going to go down and be a good pro, a good mentor for the young guys. We’ve got a lot of good, young players down there.…
That’s exactly why Detroit GM Ken Holland wanted to see Cleary with their top minor-league affiliate.
“I thought he had a good training camp so obviously I’m happy he’s going to report,… Holland said. “I think it does two things for us. I told him certainly from a depth standpoint there’s certainly a chance down the road he could be back. Secondly, I’m hoping he goes down with the right attitude.
“I think he’s going to be a tremendous role model and a veteran. We have a lot of young players, a lot of future down there and I think he could have a real positive impact on the future of the Red Wings.…
Follow me on Twitter @asktheduffer