from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News,

The Red Wings haven't been helping themselves lately with poor starts and falling behind early.

It's all contributed to the recent six-game winless streak, and made life trying to win hockey games more difficult.

"Be prepared to play, simple as it sounds," said defenseman Troy Stecher, as to what the Wings can do to reverse the trend. "You're not really setting yourself up for success when you blink and you're down 3-0 (as in Tuesday's game, a 7-5 loss to the Edmonton Oilers). You're always playing catchup. It's obviously something we don't want and like doing."

In some of the losses, such as Tuesday's in Edmonton, the Wings simply didn't have the puck much early and were forced into defending. They allowed good scoring chances, making life difficult for goaltenders Thomas Greiss and Alex Nedeljkovic, both of whom have been struggling.

"Right now, the puck’s going in, it’s just the way it’s going," coach Jeff Blashill said. "We have to find a way to make sure that doesn’t happen and then you kind of expect to tilt the ice back.”

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