Finding yourself in Edmonton in the midst of January is unlikely to be near the top of anyone’s list of happy situations, but for the Detroit Red Wings, considering the hot mess that the Edmonton Oilers currently resemble, it just might be the best news the Wings have gotten in some time.
Detroit has officially dropped to 31st overall in the 31-team NHL, a spot the team hasn’t occupied at season’s end since 1985-86. And the glimmer of hope caused by a brief two-game winning streak has been extinguished via an 0-2 start to their current three-game Western Canadian swing, which concludes Tuesday at Edmonton.
“Yeah, it’s been really frustrating,” left-winger Justin Abdelkader told Detroitredwings.com. “It hasn’t been easy but we’ve got to continue to go out and work and improve on our game as a team and as individuals.
“Tomorrow is a new day. We get to the rink and learn how we can get better.”
The Wings blew a 2-1 third-period lead in Sunday’s 3-2 loss at Vancouver and scuttled four one-goal advantages in Friday’s 6-4 loss at Calgary.
“Right now we’re on a roll the wrong way,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. “We just keep finding ways to lose hockey games. I couldn’t ask a whole lot more out of our guys from a competitive, from a work, from an attention to detail. Unfortunately, after the second we could have been up more than 2-1.
“With that said, we have to find a way to dig in and win these hockey games, so we got another challenge ahead of us on Tuesday.”
Rasmussen Update
You aren’t going to see forward Michael Rasmussen back in time for Tuesday’s tilt. He will miss his eighth consecutive game due to a lower-body injury.
“I don’t foresee him playing tomorrow,” Blashill said. “I think we’d wait until after the break.”
De La Rose Skates
Lately, forward Jacob De La Rose has also been missing in action during practices due to an undisclosed ailment, but he joined his teammates on the ice for Tuesday’s practice.
“First off, Jacob wanted to practice,” Blashill said. “He hasn’t liked missing practice. We were trying to get him into the break where he could get some time off and be fully healthy when the break is over. So we were trying to hold him out of practice and play him in games.
“The problem with that is there’s a cumulative effect where it’s hard to not practice and play in this league. We just felt it was important for him to skate today to be as ready for tomorrow as possible.”
Glendening OK
Forward Luke Glendening was hobbled by a shot block in Sunday’s loss at Vancouver, but he’s been given the green light to play Tuesday, even though he sat out Monday’s practice.
“He should be available tomorrow but, yes, the after-effects of that, we just wanted to keep him off,” Blashill explained. “He goes so hard when he practices, too, so that we didn’t think we needed to have any more wear and tear there.”
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