Coming off two straight losses, if the Detroit Red Wings want to get back on the winning track, they’d better take better care of the puck.
Turnovers, especially those in vulnerable positions near both blue lines, caused on-ice turmoil for the Wings and resulted in a 4-1 loss at Pittsburgh, followed by a 5-4 shootout loss at Joe Louis Arena Saturday against the Winnipeg Jets in which the Wings squandered a 3-1 lead.
As the Wings face Atlantic Division rivals the Montreal Canadiens Monday at the JLA, making smarter decisions with the puck will be a Detroit priority.
“I don’t think we’ve been taking care of the puck as well we would have liked,… Detroit defenseman Danny DeKeyser said. “Especially last game, we had way too many neutral zone turnovers.
“We’ve had chances to get the puck deep in their offensive zone and we’ve been turning them over. That’s something we need to change here tonight.…
Against a speedy Montreal team that thrives on puck pressure and forcing the opposition into mistakes, Detroit’s puck security will be a major issue.
“We need to take care of the puck a little bit more and be a little bit better in all areas of the game,… Detroit defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. “Not only in our own zone, but definitely around the blue lines.
“You have to make sure the puck goes out (of their zone) and the puck goes in (the attacking zone). We kept turning the puck over around the blue lines (the last two games) and that kept costing us.…
The Wings will stick with the same lineup that faced Winnipeg and Jimmy Howard will get the start in goal.
Montador Memories Detroit forward Stephen Weiss was still coming to terms with the reality that his good friend and former Florida Panthers teammate Steve Montador was gone.
Montador, 35, was found dead in his Mississauga, Ont. home on Sunday. The cause of death has yet to be determined.
“I remember a lot of times being in the car with Monty just talking and hanging out quite a bit,… Weiss said. “Man, it’s strange talking about it.
“I’m going to miss him for sure.…
Thinking back on those times, Weiss especially recalled a match-play competition between the two of them that was caught on camera as part of the Panthers’ annual golf outing.
“We had done a little promo competition against each other at our team golf tournament,… Weiss remembered. “It was me against him and we played one hole of match play. It’s online so I actually watched it yesterday.
“We had a bit of a bet going and he ended up beating me. We played from the white tees and I ended up making fun of him because he hit it way farther than me. Once we went up to the white tees, he had a big advantage on the par five.
“It’s just the two of us going back and forth, teasing each other in that competitive atmosphere off the ice, but all in good fun. That’s a good memory I have of him. That’s how we were all the time, just kind of teasing each other and it never really stopped.…
Kindl Update On a four-game conditioning assignment with AHL Grand Rapids, Detroit defenseman Jakub Kindl was plus-two Sunday as the Griffins downed the Chicago Wolves 5-1.
Kindl will play Wednesday, Friday and Saturday with the Wings’ AHL farm club and then join Detroit in California as the team begins the final stage of a six-game road trip to end the month.
“Jakub Kindl hasn’t played (in the NHL) since the 27th of December and every time a day goes by it gets harder and harder to put him in because he hasn’t played,… Detroit GM Ken Holland said. “(Detroit coach) Mike Babcock and I met with him and had to get his consent to go down.
“We told him he had to play some hockey. He’s going to down and play four games. I would like at some point we’d like to get Jakub Kindl back into the swing of things.…
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