Game Notes: Red Wings Limp into Break on “Careless” Note

DETROIT—On Saturday afternoon, the Detroit Red Wings snapped their seven-game winning streak with a 6–3 loss on home ice to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Red Wings conceded four goals on Tampa’s first six shots to sink into a 4–2 hole after the opening period from which they could never fully recover.  The second was much sharper from the home side, who dominated the run of play to the tune of a 19–5 advantage in shots for the period.  However, Detroit only beat Andrei Vasilevskiy once (an excellent solo effort from Alex DeBrincat).

Then, in the third, rookie Dylan Duke—making his NHL debut—scored his first career goal to lift the Lightning back to a two-goal lead, which the Red Wings never truly threatened to upend.  Eventually, Brandon Hagel clinched the result with an empty-net goal.

The Game in One Quote

Saturday afternoon’s result is not a difficult one to analyze.  The Red Wings came out playing a loose, turnover-plagued brand of hockey, Tampa took full advantage straight away, and while Detroit got better as the game wore on, it wasn’t enough to make a difference.  As McLellan vividly laid it out here, the Red Wings served up a “plate full of carelessness” to a team more than ready to take advantage of that vulnerability.  Unsurprisingly, that did not end well for Detroit.

Observations

Poor Puck and Game Management Doom Detroit

Detroit’s performance was a bit reminiscent of the way the Red Wings often played (and struggled) last season.  They looked like a team intent on outscoring all their problems and instead created a slew of them for themselves.  Especially in the first period, Detroit conceded far too much easy rush offense to the Bolts, and that, combined with a less than stellar night of goaltending (more on this in a moment) proved a losing formula for obvious reasons.

Even in conceding four in the first period, the Red Wings could easily have found themselves in a worse hole than the 4–2 deficit they did face after the opening frame.  It wasn’t just that Detroit allowed too many rushes against; it was also that those rushes often featured the Lightning’s most dangerous attackers.  Were it not for some wayward finishing from Tampa, the deficit could easily have been worse.

When asked for his assessment of the Red Wings’ start after the game, McLellan said, “I’ll tell you the same thing I told them between the first and second period.  Usually the coach is coming in and losing his marbles because of lack of effort and no energy and bad body language and all those types of things.  I thought we had that.  But we didn’t have any game management skills at all.  The number of turnovers, the gifts that we gave them—I didn’t see that part coming.”

McLellan’s observation here is a worthwhile one.  It’s not that Detroit played an apathetic game (think, for example of such a performance, of the shutout loss to St. Louis that ultimately ended Derek Lalonde’s tenure behind the bench) but a sloppy one.  There was a certain measure of ambition to their game (with an offensive bent), but the Red Wings’ chosen path toward realizing that ambition invited an easy night for their guests.

As for how that start conditioned the closing two periods, defenseman Ben Chiarot said, “It shouldn’t really change anything.  We try and be aggressive all the time, but they’re a team that, you make a mistake with the puck, it’s a good chance there’s gonna be some sort of chance coming the other way.”

In theory, the Red Wings were able to quell the tide of the turnovers after the first, or at least mostly, but even as Detroit dominated the second, a sense persisted that Tampa had lots of space in transition whenever it chose to pursue it, making the final shot tally (37–18 Red Wings) a bit misleading.

Early Goaltending Strife

This was not a banner night for either Red Wings goaltender, both of whom had been excellent throughout Detroit’s now defunct winning streak.  Alex Lyon got the start, but his afternoon was done before the game was three minutes old, having conceded twice on just three shots.

The first goal against was a particularly regrettable one for Lyon, who got a heavy piece of Brandon Hagel’s shot with his glove but failed to snare it.  For the second goal, Tampa had a robust net-front presence, obscuring Lyon’s vision as Erik Cernak found the back of the net on a seeing eye point shot.  Evidently, McLellan had seen enough.

It was a bit harsh to give Lyon the hook in such a hurry, but it was not a difficult decision to parse.  The first goal was poor, even if the second one wasn’t exactly his fault, the fact that it came in such a hurry provided readily comprehensible reason to make a change.

However, bringing Cam Talbot to the crease did not bring about the desired result, in large part because of the play in front of him.  Talbot conceded two more on just four shots over the remainder of the first.  Of course, Detroit could’ve used an extra save in there, but, as we’ve discussed ad nauseum by now, the Red Wings’ recklessness with the puck and the resulting Lightning rush chances set both goaltenders up for failure.

“Well, two of the first three [shots] went in,” said McLellan of making the change in net.  “Here’s the thing about pulling a goaltender: When you pull a goaltender, he leaves the game, and he’s not heard of or seen anymore, and everybody asks questions after.  When a coach has a s—ty night, he doesn’t get pulled.  He just stays in the game, and he stands there…So it’s so magnified for the goaltenders.  It’s a tough position to play, but we had given up four goals on our first six shots.  By no means was that on the two guys that wear the pads…We were so careless…It’s a team loss tonight.”

A Forgettable Send Off

After an outstanding start to 2025 under McLellan, the Red Wings certainly limped into the 4 Nations Face-Off break with Saturday’s performance.  After the game, McLellan was asked if the game may have provided a worthwhile serving of “humble pie” for his team.  In response, McLellan explained that, pragmatically, that was unlikely to be the case for a team heading into a roughly two-week layoff.  Instead, the coach suggested his team was better off flushing the game in a hurry before enjoying their time off.

“I would normally agree with you 100%, but let’s face it, they’re off to wherever they’re off to tomorrow, and that’s good.  They deserve it,” McLellan said, of the idea of “humble pie.”  “They’re gonna forget about this one quickly, and it’s gonna be hard for us tot take them emotionally back to tonight two weeks from now…I don’t think we crossed the line of being over-confident and cocky, arrogant.  Not one bit.  We crossed the line of being careless and reckless, and there’s a significant difference in that.”

DeBrincat, asked whether this loss would linger or Detroit would look at the broader picture of the season and successful run through January and early February, replied, “I think big picture.  I think you’re gonna have off games, you’re gonna lose games, you’re not gonna win every one.  But yeah, it sucks the way we came out today, but after that first, I thought we played well and had a chance to get back in the game…I think we forget about this one and come back from the break rested and get back to work.”

Saturday’s performance was undeniably a poor one, but that does little to diminish what the Red Wings did between the Christmas break and the present one.  Even after Saturday’s defeat, Detroit sits in a playoff position as of this writing; that would’ve been nothing short of unthinkable.

That the preceding run was so successful makes Saturday’s effort an easier pill to swallow, and the break allows the Red Wings the luxury of simply moving on from a lackluster effort, enjoying some rest and relaxation, then returning in two weeks time to get back to the playoff chase.

---

Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features. Never miss a story by adding us to your Google News favorites.