The Detroit Red Wings’ four-game road swing got off to a strong start, but the momentum hasn’t translated to the remainder of the trek as the team heads into Tuesday’s trip to face the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Red Wings improved to 8-1-0 in their previous nine games when they topped the Florida Panthers 5-2 on Thursday. Dylan Larkin registered two goals and an assist, while Patrick Kane and Marco Kasper each had a goal and an assist.
Everything was looking bright for the team until the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated Detroit 5-1 Saturday — a setback that was followed by Sunday’s 4-1 defeat in Dallas in which the Stars scored three times in the first period and never looked back.
Now the Red Wings head back north looking to avoid a 1-3-0 road trip.
“I think it’s a mentality thing. You’ve got to be sharp in practice, sharp in morning skate,” said Detroit goaltender Alex Lyon said. “It’s easy when you go on a good run like that (recent winning streak) to maybe take your foot off the gas. It always seems like maybe some things start to creep in, at least personally for me, those last few games we were winning, and now they’re showing up.
“Now you’ve got to put the foot back on the gas. It’s a good learning lesson that you’ve got to have the foot on the gas all the time.”
Red Wings coach Todd McLellan knows that his team can’t win every game, but he certainly doesn’t want to lose as a result of sloppy errors and mental mistakes.
“From my perspective, we look at it from the defensive side and what we gave up. Some real egregious errors by individuals again, and the whole group pays the price for them,” McLellan said.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia enters with some momentum after going 4-0-1 in its previous five games — most recently, a 3-1 victory in New Jersey on Saturday. Bobby Brink scored the go-ahead goal in the third period, while Samuel Ersson needed to make only 12 saves to earn the victory.
“We do such a good job of blocking shots, of getting sticks on pucks — I cannot complain that we’re good at defending,” Ersson said. “It’s just up to me to stay sharp and be ready mentally for when that shot comes.”
Flyers coach John Tortorella was pleased with his team’s ability to limit the Devils’ odd-man rush attempts, which certainly will be a focal point of the team’s defensive game plan against the Red Wings.
“I think it’s a huge part of what we’re trying to do as a team because that’s the way we have to play. We just can’t get into run-and-guns with other teams,” Tortorella said.
Philadelphia’s other goal scorers Saturday were Matvei Michkov, who scored on a breakaway in the second period, and Travis Konecny, who deposited an empty-netter to seal the win. Michkov has 14 goals but has not scored in back-to-back games since Thanksgiving.
“He has got a lot of offensive skill,” Flyers captain Sean Couturier said. “He’ll bury those (wide-open chances) a lot of times.”
This is the third and final matchup between the teams this season. Scott Laughton scored all four Philadelphia goals in a 4-1 victory on Dec. 12 before Detroit returned the favor with a 6-4 win six days later as Kane scored to break a third-period tie.
–Field Level Media
