DETROIT _ Four games into their longest home stand of the season, the Detroit Red Wings have banked one point.
They left Joe Louis Arena on Thursday with empty hands and red faces after failing to respond to their previous game, instead falling 4-1 to the Los Angeles Kings. The Wings host Anaheim on Saturday before heading to the road for 10 of the next 11 games.
Going away might do them good. Being at home certainly hasn't. The Kings game was more of the same _ inept start, lack of execution, and this night, outshot 31-18.
Thomas Vanek was mauled by Tom Gilbert on a breakaway early in the third period, sending both men crashing into L.A.'s net, dislodging the net before the puck crossed the goal line. That was only Detroit's ninth shot on goal. Gustav Nyquist hit a goalpost at the midpoint of the period, looking in disbelief as he remains at one goal the past 25 games. Frans Nielsen had a clear shot denied and nobody there for the rebound. The Kings promptly went down the other end and scored, with Tyler Toffoli shaking off Danny DeKeyser while driving the net. Several Wings would do well to take note of how that's done.
A fourth power play saw Jimmy Howard pulled for an extra attacker, which enabled Toffoli to score into an empty net.
It was hard to watch.
The game came two nights after a catatonic start left the Wings embarrassed. In an effort to generate offense after scoring two goals the previous three games, lines were tweaked. The most interesting iteration had youngsters Dylan Larkin, Andreas Athanasiou and Anthony Mantha together.
It didn't translate to a good start. Just 21 seconds into the game, Derek Forbort scored when the puck deflected behind Howard. Anze Kopitar almost scored three minutes later but the puck hit both posts before dropping into the paint, just outside the goal line. Meanwhile Mike Green had the only shot on the for the Wings until 7:13.
That was the time Green made it 1-1. Luke Glendening won a puck battle behind the net and the puck slid out front for Green to slip beneath Jeff Zatkoff. A power play didn't result in any shots, but at least the Wings had possession. That's an improvement from recent showings.
The Wings didn't manage another shot on net the rest of the period, but they had more offensive zone time than Tuesday, and took 1:22 of a power play into the second period.
A third power play saw the Wings lose possession, regain it in their own zone, race back up the ice only to lose the puck again, Howard make a save. But the Wings did start generating tangible offensive zone time after that, and Larkin forced a good save from Zatkoff with a wrist shot. The penalty killers did their job for a third time soon after, as the Wings continue to have at least one of their specialty teams be a positive factor.
Athanasiou set up a chance for Mantha late in the period but Zatkoff denied the shot. The Kings got it to 2-1 on their 22nd shot, with 16.3 seconds left in the second period. Howard made the save on Nic Dowd's tip-in but couldn't get up in time to catch the rebound. It didn't help that Dowd was wide open. Nor that the Wings had just eight shots after two periods.
