Detroit Red Wings drop fourth straight with 5-2 loss at Winnipeg
Just as the Detroit Red Wings appeared poised to build momentum, their opponent was the one that took off.
The Winnipeg Jets dinged James Reimer for three goals in the second period on Wednesday at Canada Life Centre. Patrick Kane delivered his second straight multipoint performance, but it wasn't enough as the Wings fell, 5-2, and dropped to 1-6-1 their past eight games.
The Wings (15-13-4) showed snippets of what their game needs to be, but lacked the game-long effort needed to overturn what has become a four-game losing skid. Since the start of December, they have given up four-or-more goals in seven of 10 games. The Jets outshot them, 41-28.
Neal Pionk scored at 15:38 of the first period, when his shot from the blue line redirected in off Jeff Petry, but otherwise it was a solid period for the Wings.
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They scored early in the second period when Kane took a pass from Andrew Copp and eyed an open Olli Määttä, who took Kane's feed and turned it into a 1-1 game.
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But rather than feed off that boost, the Wings got careless. Nikolaj Ehlers put the Jets ahead again at when he was in position by the net to redirect Gabriel Vilardi's pass from behind the goal line. That lead grew to 3-1 at the halfway point of the second period, when Alex DeBrincat turned the puck over in the neutral zone. Dylan Samberg sent a pass off the boards to Axel Jonsson-Fjallby, who scored his first goal of the season.
Vilardi added a goal at 16:10. He was by the net with Moritz Seider, but Seider stepped away from Vilardi, leaving the top-line player free to stuff a pass from Cole Perfetti.
Kane scored at 8:41 of the third period when he tapped in Dylan Larkin's rebound. Larkin's shot came off a pass from Kane. Mark Scheifele deflated the Wings' rallying attempts when he was open in front of Detroit's net to score his 12th goal of the season.
It was the last game that David Perron will miss because of suspension for crosschecking Ottawa's Artem Zub Dec. 9. Perron had an in-person appeal with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman Tuesday in New York, but Bettman has 48 hours to announce whether he will uphold the six-game suspension, or reduce it. While a reduction won't help the Wings, it could lessen the financial penalty for Perron.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings drop fourth straight with 5-2 loss at Winnipeg
