Red Wings Come Up Empty in NHL Opener
· Yahoo Sports
The agony of being a goal-starved NHL team is more pronounced in low scoring games than 6-1 blowouts.
Visit freshyourfeel.org for more information.
That reality was evident Friday in the Detroit Red Wings NHL home opener when they fell 2-0 to the New York Rangers. They were effective enough to entertain winning that contest. But they were ultimately doomed again by a low yield offense.
The fear is there will be too many of these losses this season.
They were facing a Rangers team playing their second of back-to-back games. It was their third game in four nights. The Rangers were using rookie goalie Dylan Garand who was making his fourth NHL appearance. It was game they could have won if only they could find more offense.
“Overall, I thought maybe not our best day, but probably still a pretty good effort from everyone,” Seider said. “Just got to bury our chances, really the focus in on those and then I think we could have flipped that game today.”
A remedy for the Red Wings problem was in the building Friday. Dylan Larkin has an upper body injury, but his return might only be a temporary solution. He has asked for a trade and could be moved at any time. Fans booed him, although not with much effort or duration, in the first game pre-game introduction.
Larkin’s Absence Changes Equation
The Red Wings may have to learn to live without Larkin who has scored 30 or more goals for five consecutive seasons. And a hard reality may be that they may not able to get back a scoring forward to help them. Most suitors want to give up prospects and draft picks.
Part of this may be learning to live without Larkin. His speed creates opportunities and the Red Wings need more of those. They could have won this game or at least pushed it to overtime if Larkin was in the lineup.
“We got going,” McLellan said. “There were good shifts. There were some ugly shifts in the game. But I thought our checking skills were good. We spent some time in our zone, a couple of extended shifts. But other than that we didn’t give up a lot.”
But they didn’t put enough pressure on the New York goalie. Not enough second chances.
“Going the other way, we are going to have score some goals to win games,” McLellan said. “And we had some looks, but not near enough. . . The players that are here, they have to understand that they have to expect it from themselves and their teammates.”
It’s hard to know whether the Red Wings should be encouraged by their ability to find their defensive game or discouraged by the continued lack of offense. It’s only Game 1. Much could happen by Sunday’s Game 2 against Anaheim or Tuesday’s Game 2.
“I’m sure they’re not happy losing the game,” McLellan said, “but I don’t think it destroyed our spirit by any means.”
I
Related Headlines