The Detroit Red Wings rank among the NHL’s highest-scoring teams this season. But their offense has virtually disappeared in the past two games.
They’ll try to reverse that trend when they host the Anaheim Ducks on Monday.
Detroit, which has lost five of its past six games, dropped a 2-1 decision to Carolina at home on Thursday. The Wings were then shut out at Philadelphia, 1-0, on Saturday.
Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson made 33 saves as the Wings were blanked for just the second time this season.
“We didn’t finish,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. “We had some plays out there and didn’t make them and hence getting shut out. We had looks, some puck possession, some entry looks and we were just unable to put it in the net.”
Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider said his team didn’t generate enough quality chances.
“If you look at the scoreboard, it says it pretty good,” he said. “We didn’t give up too much but also we didn’t create enough and that’s an honest reflection of the game. We didn’t get enough traffic, we complicated our breakouts a little too much and couldn’t get anything done on the power play.”
Detroit doesn’t have any practice time to straighten out its offensive issues. The Wings will be playing their eighth game in two weeks on Monday. They’ll have three more before Christmas.
“We better not use tired as an excuse, everyone goes through a part of their schedule like this,” Lalonde said. “We have to fight a little harder. We have four more (games) in six days before the break. We have to fight through and start accumulating some points (in the standings).”
Red Wings forward J.T. Compher returned to the lineup on Saturday after an undisclosed injury. The team’s top center, Dylan Larkin, should be back in action this week. He’s been out since taking a hit to the head on Dec. 9. David Perron is still serving a six-game NHL suspension, but he’ll be eligible to play again on Friday.
The Ducks will be playing the second game of a back-to-back. They snapped a five-game losing streak by defeating the New Jersey Devils 5-1 on Sunday night.
Goaltender John Gibson made 18 saves during the first two periods before exiting due to an illness. Lukas Dostal made 10 saves to close out the victory.
The offense was carried by Adam Henrique, who recorded his first career hat trick.
“We played well,” Arizona coach Greg Cronin said. “We’re trying to coach our players to believe that ultimately if you play the right way and generate chances, you’re probably going to win more games than you lose. We were able to get some quality chances and get some goals out of them.”
Anaheim, which is wrapping up a four-game road trip, has also been hampered by injuries. Forwards Trevor Zegras, Mason McTavish and Isac Lundestrom and defenseman Jamie Drysdale didn’t play on Sunday.
The Ducks and Red Wings have gone to overtime or a shootout in four of their past five meetings. This is the first of two meetings this season. Detroit will travel to Anaheim on Jan. 7.
–Field Level Media
