from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,
Moritz Seider wants to see more presence from the Detroit Red Wings, who at this point can only look back fondly at that brief moment they spent inside the playoff picture.
They have time to gather their collective thoughts before their next game, which comes Wednesday against the Chicago Blackhawks, a team earmarked for the draft lottery. The Philadelphia Flyers may be waiting for the lottery balls to drop, too, but they still handed the Wings a 3-1 defeat Sunday at Wells Fargo Center, which extended the Wings winless' skid to six games and prompted Seider's comments.
"It’s not about taking guys’ heads off, it’s just making sure you’re present out there and people are aware of you and I think we need that a little bit more," he said. "That’s not up for discussion, I would say, because teams are just out-competing us right now and it’s a really tough feeling."
It has been a slew of tough feelings for the Wings since that optimistic night on Feb. 23 when they won for the seventh time in eight games and saw their names in the East's second wild-card spot. They deserved to win the next game, but the opposing goaltender, Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilvskiy, thwarted that effort. But over the past five games their compete level has lacked, and while last week's trade deadline took an emotional toll, especially in losing two key players in Tyler Bertuzzi and Filip Hronek, the Wings need to figure out how to move on.
"We put that away immediately after the game when Tyler got traded, and Fil the day before," Seider said. "Those are not excuses any more. We still have a very competitive lineup out there and we still should have won that game.
"It’s really unfortunate we don’t get the bounces our way. PKs are getting a couple goals against, our power play isn’t that that hot any more, and then it’s hard when you are missing big players. So we just really have to come together as a team and put in a team effort to make those wins count here."
continued ($)
from Ansar Khan of Mlive,
I still think we can be a little bit better getting into the hard areas, those uncomfortable areas, maybe win a few more battles, Lalonde told Bally Sports Detroit. Its very frustrating because these were winnable games, especially tonight. We just didnt manage things very well in the second.
After David Perron staked the Red Wings to a 1-0 lead in the first period, the Flyers took over in the second, getting goals from Nicolas Deslauriers (shorthanded breakaway following Jake Walmans turnover) and Noah Cates (net-front tip) to take the lead.
We needed to be really exact to be successful. Now its probably even double fold, Lalonde said. You cant leave mistakes out there. The margin for error is beyond razor thin. Whats really disappointing is both these games were very winnable and we put ourselves in position to win. We made some plays that didnt help.
The Red Wings are 2 for 24 on the power play and have allowed six power-play goals and two shorthanded tallies during this slide.
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Nice to hear Seider being open and honest about the team and what they need to do - not the typical hockey interview.
Ive only watched the 8 minute recaps of the last two games because I was feverishly working my ham radio in an international contest this weekend. Good comments from Seider, and I think they really miss Rasmussen. Can anyone match the pesky snarl of Bertuzzi? Doesnt seem so.
re: Bertuzzi Ultimately we werent going to get a contract done. - SY
This isn't surprising considering how his last negotiations went.
Just feels like the team is gutted after the trades, but they didn't help themselves when the 8th spot was just two points away and they let it get away from them in the second and third periods of their last several games.
Good for Seider, starting to become a leader, their play has been unacceptable.
I heard LaLonde say this the other day, that this roster, is "pretty much" the same roster they've played with most nights and he's right. Think about it, Bert was hurt most of the year, Sonny missed some time, Hronek being on PP certainly is felt.
Gave Newsey his props while winning, and the light shines bright when your losing too. The roster, even post trades, has more talent on it then Blashill had to work with, don't produce the same results, do something with it. More importantly, get improvement out of developing players, get Raymond Zadina, and Veleno taking a step. Lot to be said about the coaching if this team folds up their tent and wilts away into the night.
Detroit falling out of the Peloton of Suck. Ottawa wins five in a row.
Detroits Islanders draft pick has dropped from 14 to 15.
Detroits draft pick moved up from 12 to 10.
Longer view to game 82.
So basically we need the Islanders to get to the playoffs so get value out of the draft pick this year, correct?
That or they don't and then we root for them to implode next year when its unprotected.
it galls this observer to witness losing a "revenge" game to Torts.
think about how different the Wings mind set would be if wed given a late pick for Reaves, and Bert for Chychrun...give the Sens credit.
gave away a whole lotta goals letting V go.
bottom line imo, if your scorers arent going to score consistently, you need a big top 4 D w/attitude in front of Husso, to play Scotty style D.
This team needs a lot more than a big stay at home D. It needs actual game breaking forwards, which are not easy to acquire. Larkin is arguably their only one.
Also, slap an A on this kids sweater now. No reason to wait.
Totally agree
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