DETROIT — John Tortorella delivered his post-game comments to the media, but it felt like his words were directed, at least in part, at Vancouver Canucks general manager Mike Gillis.

One game into his return as head coach following a 15-day suspension, Tortorella watched the Canucks lose again, this time 2-0 to the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena.

After the game, Tortorella not so subtly hinted that changes need to be made and more than just the pre-game deal that sent winger Dale Weise to the Montreal Canadiens for defenceman Raphael Diaz.

“We need to change the complexion of our hockey club, either with our play or with different people because we looked like a slow hockey team tonight,” Tortorella said. “We are going to keep banging away to try and get better, but I tell you it is very frustrating to see the same looks. It worries me, I’ll leave it that. It really worries me.”

Over to you, Mike Gillis.

The Canucks not only got their coach back Monday night, but their captain as well. Henrik Sedin returned after missing six games with a rib injury. But not even his return could spark the Canucks, who have now lost 13 of their last 17 games.

Even the normally optimistic Canuck captain was at a loss to explain the team’s offensive struggles.

“We have to score goals, that is No. 1,” Sedin said. “You are not going to win games if you’re not scoring goals. We have been scoring goals lately but we haven’t had the defensive effort. Tonight it was the other way around. We played well enough defensively to win the game, but again the power play has to come through and we have to score another one five-on-five.”

The Canucks trailed 1-0 heading into the third period but generated absolutely nothing for most of the period. They didn’t get their first shot until the 14:24 mark of the third on a long-range backhand by Daniel Sedin.

Tortorella was at a loss to explain his team’s weak performance in the third.

“It was set up for us to push back and we didn’t,” he said. “We didn’t get enough big plays from big people right on through our lineup. We have to crawl out of this hole somehow. So we’ll keep on working at it.”

It will be interesting to see how Gillis reacts to Tortorella’s comments. Most GMs don’t take kindly to being challenged publicly by their head coach. The problem Gillis faces is that 10 of the Canucks -- and they’re pretty much most of the players who would yield something in a trade -- have no-trade clauses in their contracts. However, some of them are of the more limited variety where a player can deliver a list of teams he would accept being traded to.

The Canucks wasted another solid effort by goalie Eddie Lack, who must have felt a little like a Major League Baseball starter who tosses a one-hitter and loses 1-0. Lack, who has now dropped eight of his last nine starts, is getting very little goal support from his teammates.