from Ansar Khan of Mlive,

The Detroit Red Wings are deeper, better offensively, and more entertaining than in recent years, due mainly to the addition of two dynamic rookies.

But they haven’t been as good defensively, which is somewhat lost amidst the optimism generated by their decent start.

They were reminded of that on Monday during a disastrous ending in a 5-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena.

Zach Werenski scored with 1:19 remaining in regulation, after Yegor Chinakhov tied it with a breakaway goal at 15:42 of the third period.

“We’ve talked about learning lessons while we’re winning but sometimes you got to get slapped in the face,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “We got slapped in the face tonight.”

It was the start of a four-game trip that continues Tuesday in Dallas (8:30 p.m., ESPN Plus and Hulu), and Dylan Larkin aptly noted that his team gave away points.

“For us to become a good team, we got to learn to put this game away,” he said. “It’s frustrating right now.”

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