The Detroit Red Wings still haven’t experienced the joy of victory in March and it’s starting to get late.
The Michigan club, however, had the wind in its sails in February and seemed on the right track to take part in the playoffs. However, the Wings have suffered a defeat in their last seven outings.
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With currently 72 points on the clock, they are tied with the New York Islanders in the Eastern Conference standings. The Big Apple team has the last place giving access to the playoffs, because it has a game in hand over the Detroit team.
“It’s unacceptable,” said forward David Perron, whose comments were reported by the site NHL.com. “It couldn’t be more tense in the locker room right now. We have to find a way to bounce back. We have to demonstrate that we have pride and that we are better than that.”
“We perhaps thought too early that we would be in the playoffs, but it’s a league too strong for that,” added the Quebecer. “We learned that the hard way.”
Scoring goals is not enough
So far this season, the Red Wings are seventh in the National Hockey League (NHL) in goals scored per game (3.38). They were third in this category before their ugly losing streak.
Detroit, however, occupies 25e rank for goals allowed per game (3.36), tied with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“It’s difficult to maintain the same rhythm in attack throughout a campaign,” analyzed Perron. “Hockey is played differently than at the start of the year. “It’s impossible to sweep your problems under the rug by scoring more goals over the course of a whole season.”
“I haven’t seen a team win the Stanley Cup like this recently. I haven’t seen that during my career,” continued the man who is playing his 17the NHL season. “We have to find a way to be good for 60 minutes and be proud of it. To do this, we must allow less than two or three goals to our opponents. It’s that simple.”
Perron and the Red Wings will try to end their losing streak Saturday afternoon when the Buffalo Sabers visit Little Caesars Arena.