DETROIT, MI—On some level, the Detroit Red Wings’ (4-4-1) one point from a 3-2 Sunday evening overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers (4-4-1) is a decent result. Detroit was on the second night of a back-to-back, while the Oilers are among the favorites to capture the Stanley Cup come June. However, Detroit also blew a third period lead along the way, and the Red Wings’ hyper-defensive approach (one that secured mid-week victories over the Devils and Islanders) has clearly served and then out-lasted its utility.
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Andrew Copp and Patrick Kane each spoke to this dynamic after the game:
“I thought the first period was really good: Generated a lot of looks, I think our forecheck was good, we had good gap. Second was okay, and then the third, we were just too busy defending,” said Copp. “I think we weren’t thinking about getting that next goal. We were just kinda hold off and hold off. Against a team like that, you keep giving them O zone possessions, they’re gonna break through at some point. Obviously we wanna be defensively responsible, but we gotta continue to attack a little more and try to get some O zone time. The best way to defend is by playing in the offensive zone.”
“We had a great first,” echoed Kane. “And it’s nice when we’re playing hungry like that, on top of them, excited to play with the puck, not thinking about defending. Instead, just taking it to them, and we gotta get that more in our game, especially when we have a lead. Throughout this year, we’ve seen it multiple times where we have a lead, and we’re just kinda playing defense. It’s just tough to defend like that all the time. It wears on you energy-wise. It’s so much easier to play offensively with the puck in their end, offensive possession.”
In the above featured video, I discussed the Red Wings’ defeat and the peril inherent in Detroit’s passive, defense-first game.
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