Anton Johansson summed up how the Detroit Red Wings felt pretty succinctly.
“It’s hard,” the young defenseman said Thursday, Nov. 5. “I mean, I think we played a good game. Second half of the first period, I think it’s ours. I think the second period is ours. I think we started the third a little bit sloppy, but I think we got into it. We got a goal. It’s hard. Just have to bounce back.”
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They get a chance to do so Saturday when they take on another top-notch opponent in the Colorado Avalanche, on the road. By then, they’ll have to shake off the final minutes of Thursday’s game, when a close game against the Vegas Golden Knights ended with a 2-1 loss.
“We played a pretty good game,” coach Todd McLellan said. “We checked fairly well. We needed to find one probably on the power play. But we kept a Stanley Cup-caliber team to one. Made one mistake at the end and it’s in the net.”
NET GAIN: Red Wings would be ‘in a lot of trouble’ without their goaltending depth
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The mistake was letting Trevor Connelly walk in from the boards and toe-drag through multiple defenders to get a clean shot on goalie Daniil Tarasov from the left circle.
“Very disappointing,” Moritz Seider said. “That can’t be the standard of this locker room. It’s been multiple times that we kind of just gave away the game in the last couple minutes and that’s not acceptable.”
The Wings (7-7-3) have lost three of their past four, including consecutive games. They’ve been in every loss – but to Seider’s point, they gave two points to the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 31.
The Vegas game wasn’t like that. The Wings were first to score, when Johansson found the net two minutes into the third period, but Vegas came right back and made it 1-1 two minutes later. The game was something of an exercise in patience – a chess match in which neither team gave up much.
“They play that style,” McLellan said. “They play a very good, tight checking game. They always have. I think that sometimes you think of Vegas and the run and gun. That’s not how they play. They defend first. They’re heavy. They take a lot away on the boards in their zone. They got the goaltending when they needed it. But I thought both teams played a patient game. We made the last mistake.
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“We got out of the first period okay. I thought we played really good in the second period. The third was a chess match back and forth. Unfortunately, we moved a piece in the wrong spot and we paid the price for it.”
Contact Helene St. James at Hstjames@freepress.com.
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Matchup: Red Wings (7-7-3; 17 points) at Colorado (9-6-1; 19 points entering Thursday).
Faceoff: 9 pm.. Saturday, Nov. 7; Ball Arena, Denver.
TV/radio: Detroit SportsNet; WXYT-FM (97.1).
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings learn they have to be patient in strategic game
