Detroit Red Wings crushed by Avs' stars with Yzerman in building, trade deadline looming

DENVER — The Detroit Red Wings scored first and converted on a power play, but their opponent's superstars superseded everything.

With their current captain sitting in the press box and the franchise's former captain watching from the visiting team's management suite at Ball Arena on Wednesday, the Wings were, for the second straight game, shown up by one of the elite teams in the NHL. The Colorado Avalanche's top line and top defenseman piled up points as the Wings gave up a season high in goals in a 7-2 loss, their third in a row.

It speaks to how well the Wings (33-23-6) have performed that it is their longest losing streak since before Christmas. It comes with general manager Steve Yzerman facing Friday's 3 p.m. trade deadline to decide whether to make any changes to a team that has put the Wings on a path to advance to the playoffs.

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It was the first of at least two week's worth of games the Wings are without the services of Dylan Larkin, who suffered a lower-body injury in the loss to the Florida Panthers.

Alex Lyon did what he could to withstand the Avs, but with them leading 5-2 after two periods, the Wings took the opportunity to give James Reimer some looks. Jonathan Drouin scored on him to pull the Avs ahead by four goals. By that time, Nathan MacKinnon already had four points, and Cale Makar, three goals. Jean-Luc Foudy added his first career NHL goal with 4:35 to play as the Wings gave up a season high 55 shots.

Broadcast on TNT, the game didn't start until 9:54 p.m. E.T. because of the Toronto-Buffalo game going to overtime. There was also a pre-game ceremonial puck drop featuring Darren Helm, Stanley Cup champion with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022 and formerly with the Wings.

Lyon gets a workout

Robby Fabbri picked up his 16th goal of the season 1:48 into the game when he was in position in front of Alexander Georgev's crease to redirect Alex DeBrincat's shot, giving the Wings an early boost on their power play. Makar evened that out within four minutes when he fired a shot through traffic. Lyon spent the next 10 minutes doing acrobatics to keep his teammates in it, as the Avalanche rolled out one attack after another, dominating zone play. Halfway through the period, shots favored Colorado, 10-2. It wasn't until the second half the Wings were able to sustain offensive pressure again.

Building another lead

David Perron picked up his 13th goal of the season when he made it 2-1 at 13:30 of the first period. Andrew Copp won a draw against Ross Colton, and the puck came back to Olli Määttä, who sent a shot on net. Georgiev saved that and Copp's attempt. Perron was next, first trying a backhand and then converting on his own rebound. That gave the Wings their second lead. Nathan MacKinnon, who assisted on the first goal to draw his home point streak to 31 games, converted six seconds into a Colorado power play to make it 2-2.

Top tier contributors

Colorado's top line – MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Artturi Lehkonen – and top defenseman Makar – kept inflicting damage. Lehkonen was able to get time and space in front of Detroit's net to hand the Wings their first deficit, 3-2, near the midpoint of the second period. MacKinnon assisted on that, which gave him his 68th point during his home point streak, and 108 points on the season. Makar contributed his second of the game, off a Patrick Kane turnover, at 16:12 – from Rantonen and, naturally, MacKinnon. With Jake Walman in the penalty box and 34 seconds left in the second period, Makar scored again to earn his first career hat trick.

Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from  Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings crushed by Avs' stars as NHL trade deadline looms