from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,
The plan for the Detroit Red Wings is to mirror what they did two weeks ago, when they righted themselves at the tail end of a rough road trip.
They limp into Saturday’s matchup against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on an 0-3 free fall, having surrendered five goals on each of the stops in Columbus, Dallas and Las Vegas. They’re in a situation similar to the start of the month, when they capped a three-game winless streak on the road by rallying for an overtime victory at Buffalo, which propelled them onto a 4-1 streak.
Then they went on the road again and slipped.
“In this league, it can change fast, especially when you’re playing lots of games,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “We have to earn that confidence by getting back to playing way better defensive hockey. In the end, we had plenty of chances to score (Thursday). But when you give up that many goals, you’re just never going to be able to overcome that, and if you do, it’s going to be once in a blue moon.
“We have to make sure that we earn that confidence back.”
Playing better defensively is a drum Blashill has beaten louder and louder.
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