Just listen to the coach.
Todd McLellan is always good for a money quote, and the best one coming out of Monday’s practice, per MLive, was this:
“You shouldn’t be trying to extract competitiveness or heaviness out of the players at this time.”
That’s exactly it. Out of context, it’s a direct callout to the players. In full context (linked above), it may not have been quite as cutting — he’s answering a question on how to right the ship after a slide, and he talked about how the coaches can address it with video, then emphasize those lessons in practice, etc.
He’s speaking truths. This is along the same lines as what he said after the team’s Opening Night loss in October, indirectly addressing the longer-serving members of the team. “Are you sick of this, yet?”
I’m not really buying the sports-radio host arguments that this is a tipping point for Yzerman, or that the deadline wasn’t splashy enough. Same as I wouldn’t place much blame in line combinations, power-play deployment, anything like that.
We’re at Game 74. No drill’s going to finally help a key tenant of the system click for a player who’s been here all year. There’s not a video clip that will be that ‘aha!’ moment to teach a player that, yeah, backchecking is important.
This is a team that’s won 39 games this season. That matches last year’s 82-game win total, and is the second-best total for the franchise in the last 10 years. Think about how long ago guys like Brad Richards, Stephen Weiss, Joakim Andersson, Alexey Marchenko, etc., were around — that’s how long it’s been since we’ve seen better than 41 wins.
It’s a good team. They know how to win. They’ve beaten good teams. They’ve closed out more tough games than in years past. It falls solely on the players to bring a much better effort than they’ve offered in two of the last three games if they have any interest whatsoever in not answering the same questions. “What’s up with March?” “How does this team get over the hump?” Or worse for them, answering for these concerning repetitive patterns when it comes to the tough decisions that will need to be made this offseason.
We shouldn’t be seeing shot totals that barely reach the 20s. We shouldn’t be seeing starts that lack urgency. No casual backchecks, no fly-bys of the net on a shot when getting to a rebound might be the difference between playoff hockey and a tee time in three weeks. We shouldn’t be seeing half-hearted responses when opposing teams take liberties with our stars. They know what they need to do.
Tonight’s opponent has risen to the occasion. Pittsburgh is second in the Metro and currently has home ice for the first round. Last night, they played the New York Islanders, a team right on their heels, and they waxed them 8-3. Statement win. They have similar excuses to us. Their top center, Sidney Crosby, is clearly banged up — he’s missed two separate stints with injury since the Olympics. Malkin’s also been out. Everyone’s playing through bumps, bruises, and worse. At this time of year, playing against a team coming off a back-to-back is an advantage, and the Red Wings need to bring the early pace to take advantage of that.
As bad as the last week has felt, Detroit is just two points out of the postseason with a game in hand. Playoff odds that were around 80% a few weeks ago currently sit around 30%, but could climb back near a coin flip if the Red Wings can capitalize tonight. Catching anyone other than the second wild card has become a significantly more difficult task in the last week, but if they have any hope of doing so, they need to start stacking points.
How to Watch
Time: 7:00 p.m. EDT
TV: FanDuel Sports Network
Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
Red Wings Projected Lineup
Finnie – Larkin – Raymond
DeBrincat – Copp – Kane
Perron – Compher – Mazur
van Riemsdyk – Kasper – Appleton
Edvinsson – Seider
Chiarot – Faulk
Johansson – Bernard-Docker
Gibson
Talbot
Penguins Projected Lineup
Chinakov – Crosby – Rust
Mantha – Rakell – Brazeau
Novak – Kindel – A. Hayes
Soderblom – Dewar – Acciari
Wotherspoon – Karlsson
Girard – Letang
Shea – Clifton
Skinner
Silovs
Rooting Guide: Dallas over Boston, Buffalo over NY Islanders, Tampa over Montreal, Florida over Ottawa, Washington over Philadelphia, Carolina over Columbus
