"The season is on the line right now," defenseman Moritz Seider said in a somber Wings locker room Thursday after a 4-0 loss in Carolina. "We can't find ways to dominate games and be a force but luckily other teams are missing out on the opportunity (to take advantage) and it's still up to us.
"We have to wake up pretty soon and just beat a team that we definitely can beat, that everyone saw in the past in us this year.
"Then, hopefully, we'll be on the right track."...
"A great opportunity," Seider said of Saturday's game. "An early game in Florida, against a team that is always tough to play against. But we've shown we can beat them in their rink (earlier this season). That would be a big step in the right direction if we got two points out of that building."
There was a sense of disappointment after Thursday's loss, a game Carolina dominated for long stretches. But the Wings aren't necessarily concerned, believing there is plenty of time to correct what is ailing them.
"Keep doing what we're doing. We just have to find a way to the back of the net," said defenseman Ben Chiarot, noting the offensive drought. "We're playing well defensively."...
"We have to get more pucks to the net," Lalonde said. "This time of year, with the way teams are defending, you're not going to get much on the rush. You have to create from the offensive zone and gets pucks to the net.
"When they (goalies) are feeling it and seeing it, you have to be harder around them. We've struggled against Bob (Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky) and we'll see him Saturday and it'll be the same thing. We have to get to that (hard) area a little more, a little bit more volume of shots."