New Detroit Red Wings coach Todd McLellan described the first game as a “roadmap,” giving him a hint of the best path forward.
It is clear, though, that the Wings still very much lack the direction needed towards fulfilling general manager Steve Yzerman’s preseason expectation that the 2024-25 Wings are good enough to compete for a wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They take on the Washington Capitals Sunday on a four-game losing streak that’s left the Wings (13-18-4) tied at the bottom of the Eastern Conference in points (30) with the Buffalo Sabres.
Not exactly a spirit-uplifting place for a team that desperately needs a boost.
“When things have gone how they’ve gone for us lately, it can be tough coming to the rink,” veteran Ben Chiarot said. “It’s not a lot of fun when things aren’t going well. So getting that back in the room, getting some energy and some life in there, making every day more exciting and guys are excited to come in and get to work. We’ve got a lot of work to do here.”
Saturday’s practice was intense, and, given it was McLellan’s first and because there’s no morning skate Sunday with a 5 p.m. start, long. At one point, he urged players to “play hockey, you’ve done it your whole lives.” That echoed his message from the night before, when he described the Wings as too mechanical, as playing tentatively rather than intuitively.
The Wings delivered a mediocre effort in McLellan’s first game, a 5-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs in which the opponent was up by five goals two periods in.
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