Detroit Red Wings: ‘We have to learn’ to close out opponents
Detroit Red Wings Todd McLellan, Patrick Kane & Lucas Raymond, Nov. 15, 2025 in Detroit.
Just as they seem to show they’ve learned something, the Detroit Red Wings fall behind in class.
They salvaged a point against the Buffalo Sabres, but that was after being ahead by three goals and then basically crashing.
“Giving up a shorty is, when the momentum is starting to swing their way, that’s a Bermuda Triangle death trap,” coach Todd McLellan said after the Wings lost, 5-4, in overtime at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday, Nov. 15.
The Wings (10-7-1) were up 4-1 midway through the game, and took a 4-2 lead into the third period. But closing down a team that sits near the bottom of the NHL standings was too much to ask.
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“You have a chance at 4-3 on the power play to put the game out of reach and we give up a shorthanded goal,” Patrick Kane said. “Those are just things that are unacceptable that we have to learn.
“It hurts in the moment, but hopefully we can learn from it.”
The Wings played with a short bench the last 15 minutes after defenseman Simon Edvinsson went down the tunnel, but McLellan said Edvinsson “is fine.”
The Wings as a team, not so fine. They were able to practice two days in a row and applied that in a 6-3 victory over a talented young Anaheim Ducks team on Thursday.
Then came the Sabres game.
McLellan has been preaching game management and toughness between the ears since he arrived last Christmas. Eleven months later, it’s still an issue.
“Clearly, we haven’t learned that yet,” McLellan said. “I don’t even know if you could write a script like that. We’re shorthanded and we’re trying to score and creating turnovers. Until this group figures out what’s important at certain times of the game, we’re going to have those nights. Simple as that.
“I’m not sure that at times we value or crave the shutdown part. I think it’s always about getting the next goal. Yes, it would be nice to get the next goal, but preventing the next one is equally as important and sometimes even more timely. I’m not sure that we’ve figured that out.”
McLellan sounded frustrated as he delved into what went wrong as the Wings failed to recover despite having a lead still with 10 minutes to play in regulation.
“Just understanding what’s happening and what’s important in certain moments,” he said. “We have D that are joining a rush, we’re up by two with seven minutes left and it’s a risky rush. That just makes no sense to me.
“We have penalty-killers that, we’re throwing pucks back towards our end hoping to get a shot on goal on their end and turning it over for a breakaway. We’ve got Simon on the ice and he let [DeBrincat] take their 50-goal scorer who’s 6 foot 7 instead of him coming to play him. I don’t know what happens sometimes, but those are all game management situations.”
Tage Thompson basically went nearly the length of the ice to score on goalie John Gibson at 4:25 of the third period, and then Ryan McLeod stripped Moritz Seider of the puck and rushed up ice to score shorthanded at 9:28.
That tarnished an evening where the Wings looked like they had control, until they nosedived.
“We’ve got to keep playing our game,” said Lucas Raymond, who had three assists. “We’ve got to keep playing on our toes, but under control. Tonight was self-inflicted for sure. We gave up chances that you’re not supposed to do in the third period with a two-goal lead.”
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com.
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