Things are going against the Detroit Red Wings lately, and it all starts with a growing trend in their goals against.
“In the month of March we’ve given up too many goals, so we’ve got to do a better job there for sure,… said Detroit coach Jeff Blashill. “We’ve been able to score goals and I have confidence we’ll be able to continue.…
During 14 games in the month of March, the Red Wings surrendered 49 goals in 842 minutes of play. That works out to a 3.49 goals-against average.
“I thought for the most part we’ve just got to clean up mental errors,… Blashill said. “We’ve just got to make sure it’s every puck, every play and we’re sharp in our decisions every single time.…
It’s not just how many goals the Wings have surrendered of late it’s also how quickly they’ve surrendered those goals.
In Tuesday’s 4-3 loss at Montreal, Detroit coughed up the first two Canadiens goals in a span of 3:02 in the first period and the other two in 4:44 during the third period. Monday’s 3-2 win over Buffalo saw the Sabres bang in two late third-period goals in just 1:01. Saturday’s 7-2 loss to Pittsburgh saw the Penguins tally four times in 14:51 during the second period and twice in 1:53 during the final frame. When Montreal visited Joe Louis Arena March 24, the Habs hammered home three third-period goals in 7:03.
On their recent Florida trip, the Red Wings allowed two goals in 3:21 versus the Tampa Bay Lightning and a pair in 5:40 against the Florida Panthers, and the last time Detroit faced the Philadelphia Flyers, Philly sniped a pair of markers in 1:14 during the first period of play.
The evidence suggests that the Wings are easily rattled when adversity is thrown their way.
“Yeah, getting scored on or scoring a goal shouldn’t change anything,… defenseman Kyle Quincey said. “You go out there and do the exact same thing over and over again. Your mindset shouldn’t change.
“I think that might be momentum shifts in the game you’re talking about but our mindset shouldn’t be any different.…
While there’s a belief that this is a veteran group inside the Wings’ dressing room, the reality is that they are many new faces on the team
“There’s a lot of guys that have never been in this situation,… Quincey said. “It’s definitely different.…
The numbers along the Detroit defense indicate what a thin blue line it’s proving to be. Jonathan Ericsson has been a minus player the last five games (minus-eight) and was minus-nine in March. Danny DeKeyser was minus-eight for the month. Mike Green was a minus-three for the month but is minus-four in his last three games. Niklas Kronwall is minus-seven in his last five games and was minus-six for March. Quincey was minus-three for the month.
Alexey Marchenko was even in March, as was Brendan Smith but Smith was minus-two over his past four games.
When this group is healthy, Blashill has opted to alternate Smith and Marchenko, even though others among the defensive corps display more alarming numbers.
“There's lots that go into those decisions, a lot of which I won't talk about,… Blashill said. “But I think there's tons in terms of resume, history, execution on a game-to-game basis.
“Everybody's got their opinions on who should play and who shouldn't. What I know is we've got seven NHL-caliber defensemen. I also know that the six that play have to play at a high level.
“And if we're going to win here tomorrow (against the Minnesota Wild at Joe Louis Arena), they’ve got to play at a high level, whichever six we choose.
“We’ve got a big game tomorrow night and we’ve got to be better defensively and I know we can be. We’ve continued to work on different things.
“I believe we’ll be better defensively. We need to be to win, not only tomorrow but down the road the rest of the way here.…
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