from Bob Duff of Detroit Hockey Now,
A 2-1 loss to the Capitals was the result of ill-advised decisions with the puck made by experienced forwards J.T. Compher and David Perron that both resulted in Washington goals during the final 2:13 of the second period.
“Those were controllable situations,” Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde of the two miscues that led to Capitals tallies. “We gave them some zone time and some looks off of some turnovers.”...
Poor puck management has victimized the Red Wings all season long. These self-inflicted mistakes were Hockey 101 stuff. You learn early never to throw the puck out of your zone up the middle of the ice. Likewise, the last thing you want to do with the puck as the period is nearing a conclusion is send it back toward your own net.
Tuesday, those bad decisions put the Red Wings behind the eight ball, handing the Caps a playoff position. Detroit is now trailing Washington (85 points). The Red Wings are in a deadlock with Pittsburgh (84 points). They’re heading next to the Steel City for a Thursday showdown with the Penguins.
“This one certainly stings,” Lalonde was admitting. “We still have some games to play. If we take care of business, I still think we’re in this thing.
“It’s just gonna be a little harder now, obviously, going into Pittsburgh, into Toronto. It stinks, it happens.”
from Ansar Khan of Mlive,
Doc just told me he broke his cheekbone; hes going to get an x-ray to get it confirmed, Lalonde said. My understanding was if its an injury they can take a look at it. Again, its hindsight now because hes got a broken cheekbone, but that stings even more. They said they didnt see it. What can you do?
They never took a look at it. Again, theres no blood. Again, my understanding is if an injury is caused before the whistle, they can take a look at it. Obviously, a blatant high stick. If it hits him in the visor, you can probably move on from it. But the fact he broke his cheekbone, that one stings a little bit. I feel for Copper. Obviously, I dont know what the situation is going forward, but that would be a big loss for us.
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This is where I wish Lalonde would have gone full-tilt Babcock on the bench because it's completely unreasonable they didn't look at Copp's injury at the bench and do a review.
Getting a 4 min power play with 5 or 6 mins to go...it kinda makes a big difference. But Lalonde just stands there, whispering with the assistants, and accepting it. F'ing fight it man. Bring the ref over. Show them how jacked up his mouth looks.
This is a perfect example of why a centrally conducted video review should be taking place. In the time the refs were huddled around talking about if anyone actually saw anything, the video could have been reviewed and a penalty assessed - it wouldn't have taken more than one look at the footage. Simple as that, and the game would have been back in action in less than two minutes after the whistle was blown.
He could have gone on a rant but would not have resulted in a PP. They did give the Wings a PP right after that on a somewhat questionable penalty.
Had he gone ballistic it may have made everyone feel a little better, temporarily.
"I still think we're in this thing ".
No Ras and now no Copper, which means more Veleno and Czarnik.
If by "this thing" coach means trouble, yeah, they're in it.
Stick a fork in them, they are done.
All season long, Yzermans vets have cost them games. Hint: stop signing too many FA vets.
Lalonde stop pointing out the mistakes of the Yutes. Early on, you should have scratched some of those players.
Well you said that a month ago and they are one win from gaining the wild card position.
from Shawn Windsor of the Detroit Free Press,
The Capitals win gave them the final wild card spot for now. Theyve got 85 points, ahead of the Wings and the Penguins who are at 84.
Its hardly insurmountable, and Lalonde insisted that his team is still in this thing. Hey, coaches arent wired to say anything else.
But the reality is the Wings playoff chances took a big hit. For one thing, they no longer control their own fate. They need other teams to lose.
For another, while Montreal is not good, Pittsburgh is, and the Penguins are hot, and they will be at home, and if the Wings dont beat the Penguins, then they will be trailing two teams for the final spot if the Capitals keep winning.
Now, I know what youre thinking: The Capitals stink. And its true, they had lost six in a row before Tuesday. Theyve also got a few good goal-scorers and a goalie capable of closing off the net for a night.
Which is to say that the laws of winning and losing, of sports in general, tell us that the six-game losing streak can easily ricochet into a five-game winning streak. Momentum, and all that.
If that happens, the Wings are done, obviously. Yet there is some hope. The Capitals play at Buffalo on Thursday. The Sabres are at least scrappy. Two days later, Washington hosts Tampa in D.C.
This is probably the one to circle. Yes, Washington plays Boston Monday, but the Bruins might rest their stars and theyve been more beatable lately anyway.
All of this would not have mattered if the Wings could have figured out Lindgren when they had the chance. They sprayed 43 shots at him, though they didnt generate enough chances, especially when the puck bounced back out into the slot.
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Zach Aston-Reese called up under emergency condition.
This might not be the worst thing. Copp has been a turnover machine lately and he's had some rough games in the dot. Aston-Reese might be a safer option and bring some call up energy. Didn't he play for Pittsburgh too?
I would prefer 11-7 against the Pens
Not likely VPalmer, as it will probably be 6 skaters vs.10. Also expect at least one Pittsburgh 5 on 3.😝
I agree with this. They didnt dominate the Capitals for the whole game but the Caps put the Wings under pressure for 2 minutes of 60, enough to win the game on a couple of turnovers and failing to stop a shot by maybe the greatest marksman in the history of the NHL. These consistent mistakes are why the present Wings are a mediocre team. The Caps are very vulnerable as well and Buffalo could take them down.
Unfortunately for Detroit the Isles and Pens are playing their best hockey at the right time.
What I don't understand is what is Wings management thinking signing all of these 3rd line defensemen and older forwards. The wings now have the 5th oldest roster in the NHL yet we're being told these late games give our youth experience in "meaningful" games, but our limited youth are Raymond, Seider, Edvinsson, Rasmussen, and Veleno; everybody else on the team is over 25.
These late game failures are predominantly caused by veteran gaffs, which is not to say our youth don't make mistakes. So, why hasn't GMY taken to collect some additional youth, since none of his 2nd rounders are playing in the NHL yet? For instance, our three 2019 2nd rounders aren't playing in the NHL, after five years! Can they? Will they? Our first rounders seem to be what we need for our future, but seven, of which only three are playing in the NHL, doesn't seem to be enough.
I'm happy we're in the hunt for a playoff spot, and hope we make it, but I sure wish we'd perform better "down the stretch". Having one of the worst last-ten-game records in the NHL at this time of year is frustrating. :-(
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