Detroit Red Wings don't belong on same ice as Hurricanes, lose 3-1

Helene St. James | Detroit Free Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Detroit Red Wings aren't as bad as it seems ... or are they? Free Press sports writer Helene St. James and USA TODAY Sports writer Kevin Allen discuss the Detroit Red Wings on Monday, Oct. 22, 2018.

The Detroit Red Wings didn’t get in the game until the third period, after relying on Jimmy Howard to do the heavy lifting.

The Carolina Hurricanes tilted Little Caesars Arena Monday through the first two periods, dominated in puck possession to the degree the Wings didn’t even look like they belonged on the same ice.

They finally responded past the midway point of the third period, but they couldn't undo the damage of their bad play and lost, 3-1.

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There wasn’t any improvement from the first period to the second period, and both Detroit’s power play and penalty kill looked inept against an opponent with the worst-ranked special teams in the NHL. Howard faced 38 shots the first 40 minutes, while the Wings only generated 12.

• Box score

Too little, too late

The Wings managed not to get a shot on net even when they started the third period with 1 minute, 56 seconds of a man advantage. Darren Helm managed an even-strength shot from the low slot, but it was past five minutes before the Wings got another shot on former teammate Petr Mrazek.

The bad start — and middle — stood out because the Wings had just managed to win their first game of the season by showing resilience after falling behind 2-0 in Florida. They didn’t make a dent in the scoreboard until Andreas Athanasiou redirected Thomas Vanek’s pass at 12:02 of the third period.

The Wings went on a power play with 1:44 to go in regulation, but Jordan Martinook scored an empty net goal to deny the rally attempt.

Derisive cheering

The Hurricanes took it to the Wings at the start, forcing them to chase them around Detroit’s zone while Jimmy Howard averaged a save a minute. The Wings, for all their speed, couldn’t catch the Hurricanes, and that led to a lopsided shot total. It was 9-0 when Dylan Larkin was called for tripping at 8:53, 11-0 when the penalty had been killed, and 14-0 soon after. It was rookie defenseman Dennis Cholowski who finally succeeded in registering a shot on Mrazek, after going coast-to-coast. Fans greeted the shot with a loud cheer with an undertone of derisiveness. Nick Jensen sprang Justin Abdelkader for a breakaway soon after, but Abdelkader basically tapped the puck straight into Mrazek’s stick.

Justin Faulk scored on a power play at 18:25, part of a 20-shot barrage in the first period by the Hurricanes. The Wings had six shots on net.

No response

For a team that had just been outplayed for an entire period, the Wings did not push back in the second period. The Hurricanes continued their rapid-fire approach, running up an 8-1 advantage. The Wings got their second shot of the period at 6:13, on a weak Thomas Vanek slap shot from the top of the right circle.

The Wings faced their third penalty kill of the game at 7:28 when Anthony Mantha was called for roughing. The Hurricanes, who came into the game with the 31st ranked power play at 6.7 percent, converted again, with Micheal Ferland firing a shot in off the right post.

It looked like the Wings were going to get in the game when Mantha put a big hit on Jordan Martinook and Christoffer Ehn drew a penalty, but the power play didn’t generate momentum.

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