The Detroit Red Wings have seen enough of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers to last for a while.
Saturday, the Wings lost for just the fifth time in the last 14 games and all of the defeats have come at the hands of either the Leafs or Panthers.
Florida stopped Detroit 3-2 in a shootout Friday at Joe Louis Arena and Saturday it was Toronto’s turn, as the Leafs humbled the Wings 4-1 at the Air Canada Centre.
The game was deadlocked 1-1 after the first period, but it was all Toronto after that, as the Leafs beat the Wings for the third time in a row.
“I think we came out good in the first,… Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg said. “Then they took over in the second, a lot of special teams. They were a little stronger over 60 minutes, I think. When they had the puck it was in our net.
“We have to take care of the puck a little bit better. I think it was more us making simple mistakes. It didn’t turn up in our net all the time, but it gave them momentum. It gave them power plays. Just take care of the puck a little better and play with poise.…
Scoring Drought Losers of three straight games, albeit two of them via the shootout, the Wings also suddenly find themselves starved for goals again. The last two games marked the first time since Nov. 2 (3-2 shootout loss at Buffalo) and Nov. 4 (3-1 loss at Ottawa) that Detroit has gone consecutive games without scoring at least three goals.
“I didn’t think we played good enough,… Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. “I think we’d been pretty good offensively the last little bit, without scoring, the last couple games.
“I think that (offense) comes if you play good. Tonight, we didn’t play good enough to create offense. In the first period we had some chances rolling around. (Toronto goalie Jonathan) Bernier made some decent saves. I thought he made a real good save with the game 2-1 on Pavel (Datsyuk) who walked in home free, but we weren’t hard enough on the goalie.
“We didn’t spend any time in their zone.…
Part of the offensive problem stems from the fact that two of the biggest producers on the Red Wings – Zetterberg and Johan Franzen – aren’t producing. Zetterberg is goalless in nine games and has tallied once in the past 19 games. Meanwhile, Franzen hasn’t lit a red lamp in 12 games and has scored one goal in his last 15 contests.
“I think we’re a little bit too tight when the puck’s not going in,… Zetterberg said. “We knew we can’t score all the time. We just have to execute when we have the puck, play your game five-on-five, instead of being spread out there on the ice.
“We have a couple days here. We’ll be back and play a good game (Tuesday against Columbus).…
Babcock felt the lack of goal production Saturday was a team-wide effort.
“I didn’t think, if you go through the whole group - I thought (Darren) Helm probably was our best player, provided the most energy - but we didn’t have enough guys.
“I thought Datsyuk’s line early was pretty good. But other than that we didn’t have enough guys that you’d say, ‘Geez, they were good.’…
Panik Attack Detroit defenseman Brendan Smith dropped the gloves and tangled with Toronto forward Richard Panik after Panik checked Smith late in the game with a hit that Smith felt was border line. It was Smith’s first fight since he suffered an infected hand in a bout with Nick Foligno of Columbus.
“I thought it was a high hit for sure,… said Smith, who believed Panik came up with an elbow on a hit along the glass. “The second one probably wasn’t as high, but he first one definitely caught me right across the face. Then I gave him a hack and a cross-check and he kind of dropped the gloves.
“I didn’t want to drop the gloves, obviously, for previous reasons, but I was in one (fight). You have to answer the bell then.…
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