By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Paul Sancya)AP
The Detroit Red Wings started their season opener with a not-so-pleasant note. They drop the home opener to the Montreal Canadiens, 5-1, on Thursday night.
The game of hockey is about fundamentals. Teams that utilize good fundamentals tend to achieve positive results. Although it’s only the first game of the season, the Red Wings looked terrible against the Canadiens.
The Red Wings were embarrassed after Dylan Larkin scored the only goal of the game, which came in the first period on a power play possession. Defensively, they played poorly, especially in the second period.
The crowd booed the players after the second period, and you also heard “Let’s go Tigers” chants. The Red Wings had opportunities but didn’t capitalize on the situation.
“We didn’t execute,” Larkin said. “I feel like we met them get behind us. We couldn’t do the simpler things. We shot ourselves in the foot so many times.”
Defenseman Moritz Seider noticed how good the Res Winds began the game, but they had no urgency or made adjustments after Montreal gained the momentum.”
“We came out with a great start, really good intensity, and then the game kind of slipped away from us,” Seider said. “They outworked us, outskated us, got a lot of great opportunities around our net, and nothing could have done there to prevent goals. So that’s definitely on us.”
The Red Wings went 1 for 4 on power play. Canadiens goaltender Jakob Dobes played a terrific game, making 30 stops. The Red Wings had no answer for him.
Aside from the lackluster performance, it was the NHL debut of defenseman Axel Sendin-Pellikka, forwards Michael Brandsegg-Nygaard and Emmitt Finnie.
The Red Wings will face the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
X: @mmm_sportnfilms, Instagram: @miguel_passionforsports and @themmmjournal, LinkedIn: The MMM Journal, TikTok: @miguelmikemedina