The Detroit Red Wings have struggled with consistency during the first month and a half of the season, which has hurt their chances of ending an eight-year playoff drought.
Since late October, the Red Wings have not been able to win more than two games in a row. However, they are hopeful that their comeback victory over the New York Islanders on Monday is the start of a turning point. Detroit scored three unanswered goals in the final period to win 4-2 and avoid a fifth loss in six games.
“We’re in desperation mode for sure,” said goaltender Alex Lyon. “We need to play desperate every night, and the best teams in this league play desperate every night. If you’re not desperate, you have to find a way to play desperate. It’s good, it’s fun to play that way and it’s a grind, but it’s kind of where we’re at. We need to continue to push real hard.”
The Red Wings’ power play had been effective until their last three games, but they have failed to score in their last 10 chances, including three on Monday.
Detroit’s top line produced at even strength in the Islanders game, with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond scoring the tying and go-ahead goals, respectively. Raymond has scored in three straight games after only scoring twice in the first 18 games.
“You need a top line if you’re going to be good in this league and if you’re going to have success,” head coach Derek Lalonde said. “Those guys have been doing it of late.”
The defensive unit has also improved. After allowing 15 goals in a three-game losing streak from Nov. 15-18, the Red Wings have only allowed five goals in their last three games.
“We’ve had some ups and downs, but this team has shown some battle,” Lalonde said. “Hopefully, we can keep building our game.”
The Calgary Flames, on the other hand, had their four-game winning streak broken with a 4-3 loss to Ottawa on Monday. The loss was largely due to penalty trouble, as the Flames were penalized for 20 minutes, giving Ottawa nine power plays. The Senators converted on two of them.
“It’s hard to win when you have 20 penalty minutes, right? It’s one-third of the game in the penalty box,” said defenseman Rasmus Andersson. “They have a good power play. I didn’t think we were playing our best, even at five on five. I think they were a desperate team, they were a little bit more desperate than us to start.”
Coach Ryan Huska blamed a lack of discipline for the loss.
“We took eight minor penalties. I don’t care what league you’re in, you’re not going to win a hockey game or give yourself a chance to win,” he said. “But hey, five on five, we did some things, and there was a fight right to the end, which I’m pretty proud of our group. But we didn’t really give ourselves a chance with the amount of penalties we were taking.”
The loss marked the start of a four-game road trip for Calgary, which will also visit Columbus and Pittsburgh this week.
“We gave it our all until the end. It’s one of these games that you just leave behind you, and you move on,” Andersson said.
Detroit has won the last four matchups against Calgary. It is uncertain whether forward Patrick Kane, who has three goals and seven assists this season, will play Wednesday after missing Monday’s game due to an upper-body injury.
