Detroit Red Wings want to change a certain narrative after win over Boston Bruins
A busy week lies ahead for the Detroit Red Wings, with two games against Original Six rivals and a red-eye transatlantic flight.
Sunday was what coach Derek Lalonde called a "much-needed day off," made all the better after Saturday's lively comeback against Atlantic Division leader Boston. The Wings (7-4-1) pulled within four points of the Bruins while handing them their first regulation loss of the season.
And after that, it's on to New York, where the Wings face the Rangers on Tuesday, followed by home games Thursday against the Montreal Canadiens and Saturday's matinee against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Then, the Wings are scheduled to depart Saturday night for Stockholm, Sweden, to give them time to acclimate to the six-hour time change before playing games there on Nov. 16-17.
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The Wings have won two of their past three games — "a pretty good week," Lalonde said — on the strength of overcoming third-period deficits against the Bruins and the New York Islanders. That the Wings have the scoring power to do so is one thing, but ultimately, it's a taxing way to win.
"It's a very good sign, but not a recipe for success," Lalonde said after Saturday's game. "We played a really good 60 minutes but find ourselves down in the third. We’ve got to start flipping some of these decent starts to leads. We’re not good enough to be chasing games all the time."
Banking four of six possible points was needed all the more after the listless performance against the Bruins on Oct. 28, which led to a 4-1 loss. (Another meeting is on the horizon: Nov. 24 in Boston.)
"It’s big, for sure," forward David Perron said. "Now we’re headed to New York, and we have to start changing the narrative of the last few games here for us, and then we have to show that we can do it every night."
In addition to changing the narrative of chasing games, the Wings need to help out their goaltenders more.
"Can’t give up freebies," Lalonde said, like leaving Boston rookie Matthew Poitras undefended down low, or getting caught way out of position, as Olli Määttä was on Charlie Coyle's tie-breaking goal in Saturday's second period. Lalonde said he'd have to review game film when asked his thoughts on goalie Ville Husso's performance (26 saves), but it would not be a surprise to see James Reimer start at Madison Square Garden.
The other takeaway from Saturday was that the Bruins did everything possible to disrupt the last couple minutes of the game, including an abuse-of-officials penalty, which led to the Wings having a two-skater advantage for the final 72 seconds of a one-goal game.
"I thought we couldn’t handle the 5-on-3 at the end," Lalonde said. "There’s some youth, and we just haven’t been in these situations. Hopefully, we can learn and grow from it."
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. 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.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings need better starts to avoid chasing games
