Derek Lalonde doesn’t address the Detroit Red Wings after losses, but on Saturday, he was tempted.
Lalonde, in his third year behind the bench, said of the 4-0 loss to the New York Rangers that, “I don’t know if I’ve been in a more frustrating hockey game, and I’ve coached 30-plus years.”
The Wings (6-7-1) outshot their opponent, 37-24, only to have nothing to show for as good an effort as they’ve put forth offensively through 14 games. That’s why Lalonde thought about breaking his habit of not saying anything to the team after losing.
“I almost wanted to because I wanted them to hang in there,” he said. “The fact that we’re sitting here under .500, it doesn’t feel good. You have to eat it, look at the standings. But our process has been pretty has been pretty darn good, so it’s just, that’s the really frustrating part.”
SATURDAY’S GAME:Red Wings pile up the shots, but not the goals in 4-0 loss to New York Rangers
The Wings don’t play again until Wednesday, when they take on the Penguins in Pittsburgh. Lalonde expressed frustration about that, too, because it means that, “guys will have to sit on it for a little bit.”
Veteran Patrick Kane tried to put the loss in perspective.
“I think we definitely produced some looks and some odd man rushes,” he said. “Throughout the season, you are going to have games like that. What we can take away is that we created a lot. Obviously you have to find a way to produce and get pucks by the goalie, but you have to be happy with what we created.”
It’s the most shots on net the Wings have had this season, and that they didn’t get a goal, much less a point, irked.
“We literally could be sitting here with an 8-1 win, and we lost 4-0,” Lalonde said. “We have to eat it and keep getting better.”
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.
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Her latest book, “The Franchise: Detroit Red Wings, A Curated History of the Red Wings,” was released October 2024. Her books, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” and “The Big 50: The Men and Moments thevent$de the Detroit Red Wings” are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.
