Just when it looked as though the Detroit Red Wings were finally headed in the right direction, the wheels came off again.
A familiar fire fuelled a 3-1 loss Tuesday at Joe Louis Arena to the Carolina Hurricanes – weak Detroit play in the offensive zone and far too many turnovers in the defensive end.
A giveaway by goalie Petr Mrazek led directly to Carolina’s first goal and a botched play between Niklas Kronwall and Jonathan Ericsson, coupled with a soft backcheck by Tomas Jurco, opened the door for Ron Hainsey’s third-period game winner.
“It cost us, those two,… Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg said. “Obviously we tried to make the right play but it didn't happen. “I saw when Petr was trying to play it, I don't know if it hit something or not. Then the second one, you're right, we tried to clear the puck out of the zone and their D just stepped right into it.…
After an inspirational rally from a 2-0 third-period deficit to beat Vancouver 3-2 in overtime in their last game, the Wings talked about a momentum carryover to Tuesday’s contest. Instead, Detroit resembled the same team that’s been chasing its tail for much of the season.
“We’ve got to find a way to put the puck in the net, to keep it out of ours, to stop turning the puck over,… Detroit forward Luke Glendening said. “We’ve really got to clean up our game.
“Everyone’s got to take a look in the mirror and see how they can be better. I think we have the talent in this room to be a great team but we’ve got to keep getting better.…
Minus some key personnel – defensemen Kyle Quincey and Mike Green and forwards Brad Richards, Pavel Datsyuk and Johan Franzen are all out due to injury – and learning the tweaks of a different system under new coach Jeff Blashill, it would be easy for the Wings to chalk up their early-season struggles to any of these factors.
Zetterberg insists that this simply isn’t the cause of their maladies.
“It's just mental errors,… Zetterberg said. “We either tried to do too much or tried to make the right play but we don't execute.
“I think some mistakes will happen when you try to do the play and the other player makes a good play. But there's a little bit too many easy mistakes, easy turnovers, and that definitely cost us today.
“We've been talking about it. We’ve just got to get better at it.…
Mrazek Miscue Saturday, Petr Mrazek was the hero. The Detroit goalie stood on his head to keep the Wings in the game, and then his long pass to Gustav Nyquist led to the OT game winner.
Tuesday, Mrazek’s puckhandling, normally stellar, eluded him when his clearing attempt banked off Carolina’s Victor Rask who was left with an easy tap in to open the scoring in the second period.
“I think ultimately we’d all like to have that one back, including him,… Blashill said. “The one thing about a goalie that plays the puck lots, it’s going to happen sometimes.
“I expect him to go back and keep playing the puck next time.…
Mrazek readily accepted the blame for his puckhandling error.
“It shouldn't happen,… Mrazek said. “I didn't see that guy coming to me until at the last second. I just tried to play it hard out and it hit him. It's a mistake that happened but it cost us a goal.…
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