Red Wings announce what must be done to end skid

If ever there was a need to break out of a skid, it's right now for the Detroit Red Wings. 

Their recent slide has seen them drop out of the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference; both slots are now occupied by the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals, respectively. Detroit just hasn't been the same since blowing a 4-0 lead against the San Jose Sharks followed by a 5-1 setback against Ottawa that saw them lose Dylan Larkin to injury and David Perron to suspension.

Detroit was also unable to get it done Monday night against the basement-dwelling Anaheim Ducks, who built a 4-0 lead by the early 2nd period and held on for a 4-3 victory at Little Caesars Arena.

“Obviously, we lost our identity a little bit with this stretch, so I think it’s on all of us to get this in order,” coach Derek Lalonde said ahead of tonight's game against the Winnipeg Jets. 

“Those games were tight,” Lalonde continued. “We had everyone going. We didn’t give up much. We had energy, we had pop, we were working off the forecheck.

“We definitely lost a little bit of that right now. You see little sparks of it. Went through the Carolina and Philly losses only giving up three goals and then (Monday vs. Anaheim) we had the slow start, put ourselves in a huge hole." 

Detroit suffered back to back one-goal losses against the Hurricanes and Philadelphia Flyers before Monday's one-goal loss to Anaheim.

“Pretty clear from Day One, we have to be on completely to be successful. This three-game losing streak, we’re playing some solid defense at times, we’re not able to get to the net. We score a few goals; we give up some easy looks. It’s getting our entire game together.”

For Larkin, who will be playing in his second game back since his frightening injury he suffered on December 9, he still feels that his team is very much in the race. 

“I’ve been on teams where we’ve had injury problems and we haven’t really had a chance,” Larkin said. “I don’t feel that way with this team. We’re going into Winnipeg with some guys out of the lineup. I still feel like we have a chance to win. It’s a completely different feeling than in the past. We’re in a rut but there’s ways out of it and it’s the guys in the room.”

Recommended articles:

• Red Wings confirm grim update on Ville Husso
• Red Wings release bad injury news
• Red Wings lose both Jake Walman and Ville Husso on the same play
• Derek Lalonde lays out plan for Red Wings moving forward
• Major update on Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin.