WINGS POSTGAME: Vanquished by Vancouver
By Cameron Kuom
4 years agoYikes. Big yikes.
The Red Wings lose to Vancouver by a score of 5-1. But based on how most of the game went, that score line is generous. Detroit’s depth woes are painfully evident now, so much so, that any key injuries are decimating. As was the case with the absence of Danny DeKeyser, who ended up being a surprise out with an undisclosed injury.
The loss of DeKeyser was brutal, forcing Jeff Blashill to rely more on Mike Green, who, well…lets just say he had a bad game.
Aside from a competitive first period, this looked like a complete mismatch. Very disappointing to see the same old problems keep impacting games.
Thoughts and Highlights
- The Wings actually jumped out to an early lead in this one. To no ones surprise, the top-line set the tone with a dominant first shift, leading to a Dylan Larkin goal 30 seconds in.
- Alex Biega made his Red Wings debut, which just so happened to be against the team that dealt him. I thought he was steady. Didn’t make any costly mistakes. There was an energy that he played with, always bending his knees and looking around, it was nice to see him never relaxed.
- It was a forgettable night for Mike Green. His mistakes were the direct cause of several Vancouver goals. Its pretty obvious that Green has lost a step, and simply can’t be asked to play much over 20 minutes a night. The problem is Detroit has literally no one capable of stepping up yet.
- In typical Jonathan Bernier fashion, it wasn’t his best night, but who can really blame him with the way the defense leaves him out to dry. He allowed 5 goals on 32 shots — some of which I thought he could have had — but no matter, the defense needs to be better. Hopefully the news on DeKeyser is positive.
- Andreas Athanasiou has been mostly invisible to start the season. In Vancouver you can see him play with a lot more urgency. He created chances and I thought he took steps in the right direction. However, it is clear his line does not work well together. Taro Hirose specifically has not worked out. I must ask, besides some power-play upside, why is Hirose still in the lineup?
- Late in the third, with the game essentially feeling over, the two teams got into a scrap at center ice. Possibly subject to league discipline, this Tyler Myers elbow to the head of Adam Erne is an ugly look for the Vancouver blue-liner.
Gif of the Game
We all stayed up until 1:00 A.M. on a Tuesday night just to watch the Red Wings get blown out by the Canucks. We are all psychopaths. It would have been nice if the game was slightly competitive.
Motor City MVP
Anthony Mantha
Déjà Vu, right?
Mantha has routinely been the Motor City MVP this season, and he was great again. Leading the team in 4 shots on goal, he got back to his opening weekend form by really moving his feet and getting engaged. He is too big to stop if he’s moving his feet, so that kind of consistency is a great sign.
He also had some key defensive moments. The majority of the forechecking from his line comes from Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi, but he was more active on that front. A few times he broke up some breakout passes with his long reach, extending the offensive shift. The great defensive work from his line as a whole set up the Larkin goal, in which Mantha gave him a nice feed to find the speedster all alone.
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