The Detroit Red Wings wasted a chance on Wednesday to collect two valuable points. They will try not to make the same mistake on Friday when they host the Florida Panthers.
Detroit had a 3-1 lead against road-weary Vegas, which was playing its third game in four nights. The Golden Knights rallied with two goals in the last nine minutes of regulation to tie it, then won 4-3 in overtime during a power play.
“I thought we played two games,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan said. “The first half was excellent. We were aggressive, we were direct, a lot of pucks went to the net and we were able to maintain some O-zone time.
“And then the second half of the game we started pulling up, playing cross ice too much. We never went to the net. They defended well and they defended easier than they had to in the first half and it came back to bite us. A two-goal lead, you can’t sit back. We thought we were going to check our way to the points and it ended up costing us, so lesson learned.”
All of Detroit’s goals came during even-strength situations in the first period. The Red Wings came up empty on four power-play opportunities.
“It didn’t have the urgency it needed to have to be successful,” McLellan said.
The Red Wings disappointed a large home crowd in their first game at Little Caesars Arena since Jan. 31.
“You have to be able to close games down,” Detroit forward Lucas Raymond said. “Having a 3-1 lead coming into the third period, we should be able to do that. We didn’t do that. It’s so tight at the end of the year, we know it better than anyone, every point is a big point.”
Detroit will be facing the Panthers for the second time in the four-game season series. In the first matchup on Oct. 15, the Red Wings’ Mason Appleton scored twice to lift his club to a 4-1 home victory.
The Panthers arrive in Detroit having lost four straight and nine of their past 11 games. They will be playing the second game of a back-to-back, as Florida dropped a 4-2 decision to the host Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.
Florida trailed 3-0 early in the third period, scored twice to pull within one but couldn’t complete the comeback. An apparent tying goal by Gustav Forsling with 2:55 remaining was overturned due to goalie interference.
It’s unfamiliar territory for the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, who sit next to last in the Eastern Conference.
“We’re not changing our grip here,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said postgame. “We talk about handling our day. These are tougher days to handle right now. We still have to be good pros and come to work.
“I thought, as evidenced by tonight’s game, there wasn’t a quit in the third period and a resignation to the final score. They battled hard and stayed in it and supported each other. We’re having a hard time with the puck a little bit right now and some confidence issues, I think, and that’s what we’ve got to work through.”
