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The Detroit Red Wings have seen their playoff hopes drop significantly over the last few weeks. The Red Wings have struggled mightily since the league returned from the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament. Todd McLellan's squad has lost 12 of their last 16 games, including nine of their last 11. And this includes a loss on Saturday night to the Vegas Golden Knights.
Veteran forward Tomas Hertl scored a hat trick for the hosting Golden Knights, and Jack Eichel scored a goal and four points. Vegas claimed an emphatic 6-3 victory over the Winged Wheel at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. After the game, McLellan explained his view of what Detroit was doing wrong. He believes his team needs to be more willing to do the dirty work. However, the team's current attitude toward it has him rather concerned.
“There are some that seem to get hit by a puck a lot. And then there's others that just kinda find their way out of it. That's our job, to get them in the lanes. If they're not willing to get there, then we have to look at who we have. It's more than (shooting lanes),” the Red Wings head coach said in a clip shared on the team's official YouTube channel. “It's netplay; it's board work, lines changes, reading and reacting to situations. Some are still gaining experience, some are still making the same mistakes over and over. And that's a little alarming.”
What Todd McLellan wants to see from the Red Wings
Todd McLellan has done an impressive job with Detroit overall in 2024-25. The Red Wings were near the bottom of the league when he took over on Boxing Day. Since then, he has helped the team compete for a Wild Card spot in the East. However, this recent stretch of poor play has put the team's playoff chances in significant doubt.
McLellan mentioned being impressed with his team's offensive performance on Saturday. In fact, this was a consistent theme among Red Wings skaters after their loss to the Golden Knights. Detroit played well enough to win offensively, in their eyes. Defensively, though, they left much to be desired.
McLellan knows his job to get his team to buy into his system. And he needs the entire roster to buy in. If there is any lack of buy in, the team won't be able to put it's best foot forward in these crucial games.
“We have to be honest with each other. We were again tonight between periods. Like, we talk about wanting to be in the playoffs. But we're not sure we want to always be in shooting lanes. We're not sure we want to do some things. I'm not saying everybody, but (we're) picking and choosing,” the Red Wings head coach said in the clip shared on the team's official YouTube channel.
“Do we really want to do it around the net? Do we really want to get hit by a puck? Do we really want to do the board work when it's hard? If the answer is ‘yes' to that from everybody, we have a chance. If the answer is ‘yes' to those questions from 85% of the players, we don't.”
The Red Wings fell to 32-31-6 on Saturday following the loss to the Golden Knights. Detroit is still within five points of the Montreal Canadiens for the final Wild Card spot in the East. However, they need to make up ground as soon as possible. Detroit is in action next on Monday night when they face the Utah Hockey Club.
