The Wings rolled into St. Paul, Minnesota Sunday night in desperate need of two points. They had just dropped two games against other Central Division teams and were in no mood to be swept. Unfortunately, they had no such luck and dropped their third straight game by a score of 4-1.

As soon as the puck dropped in this one, the Wings were buzzing. It only took four minutes for them to find the back of the net. Justin Abdelkader netted his 11th goal off a rebound from Jonathan Ericsson. He was all alone in the slow and wired it top corner.

There were no more goals in this period, but the teams exchanged penalties twice, both giving each other the opportunity to score with the man advantage. Neither team could do it. Detroit out-shot the Wild 11-5 in the first.

The second period was much different. Minnesota came out of the gate fast and they were all over Detroit for three-quarters of the period. A little over four minutes in, Luke Witkowski just missed a huge open ice hit on Zach Parise. Parise’s teammate, Nick Seeler, took exception so he dropped the gloves and went after Witkowski. What followed was an old-time hockey banger as the two exchanged punches repeatedly.

Right before the fight, David Booth took a hooking penalty, so the Wild were on the powerplay when the puck dropped again. They didn’t waste much time on their third powerplay of the game as Eric Staal deflected the puck off his skate and into the net.

The goal probably should have been credited to Jared Spurgeon as I’m pretty sure it went off Ericsson’s stick. The Wild kept on them and took the lead when Zach Parise fired home the team’s second goal in three minutes.

It wasn’t the team’s best stretch as both Nyquist and Zetterberg looked lackluster on the play.

Towards the end of the period, the Wings started to come alive again as Anthony Mantha, Justin Abdelkader, and Trevor Daley all had good looks at the net at various times. They were unable to beat Devin Dubnyk, though, as they were out-shot 14-9 in the second.

Detroit couldn’t get much going in the third period. The chances were few and far in between. Minnesota took a delay of game penalty, but the Wings couldn’t get anything going on the powerplay. Then, Darren Helm took a slashing penalty, and the Wings managed to kill it off.

Late in the game, Minnesota started to seal the deal as Jason Zucker slightly redirected a weak shot through Howie’s five hole.

They officially sealed the deal with an empty net goal less than a minute later. The final score was 4-1.

The Wings came up a little short here, but their 47.62 Corsi-For percentage isn’t that far off of their season average. The team may be throwing pucks at the net, but they are playing with no energy and no spunk. They’re not creating any real chances around the net, as evidenced by their 19 scoring chances for verse the Wild’s 22.

Tonight’s Motor City MVP is Dylan Larkin for being the best Red Wing on the ice. With an assist on the Abdelkader goal and a team-leading 6 shots on goal, Larkin lead all Wings forwards with a 61.76 Corsi-For percentage. As he’s done all season, he’s been a bright spot on this team and played full of zest and energy.

The Wings get a day of rest as they travel to Beantown to take on the Boston Bruins Tuesday night. Puck drop is 7:00 P.M. ET and you’ll be able to watch the game on NBCSN or Sportsnet if you’re in Canada.

As always, Brock Seguin will have your pre-game report early Tuesday afternoon.