Red Wings Larkin: ‘Every Guy’s Gotta Be Better’

Smarting following a 5-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday, Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin was blunt in his assessment of the club’s latest on-ice debacle.

“It’s just kind of spiraling right now,” Larkin told Bally Sports Detroit after the loss. “We had to come in here and find a way and we didn’t. We found the opposite.”

It would be hard for even the most ardent of Red Wings loyalists to stage a debate with the captain on this matter. It’s all going wrong for Detroit, all over the ice.

Not only have the Red Wings lost four in a row, they haven’t held the lead for a single second in any of the four games. During the club’s current 1-6-1 skid, Detroit has allowed four or more goals in five games. Meanwhile, the Red Wings have scored fewer than three goals in four games, including three of the last four contests.

“We’re trying but it’s not clicking right now,” Larkin said. “The offense isn’t clicking and you can’t win hockey games playing D like that. We just defended so poorly.”

There must have been some magic
In that ole top line they found 🚨

For when they placed them on the ice
They began to dance around 🌟 pic.twitter.com/VdRmGasgF8

— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) December 21, 2023

Wednesday, all of these maladies again combined to cook up a massive recipe for failure.

“We lost our D zone coverage,” Larkin said. “We’ve been struggling with that of late. They exposed us tonight. We hung Reims (goalie James Reimer) out to dry with back doors and extended O-zone shifts for Winnipeg.”

Defenseman Jake Walman and forward Christian Fischer were both minus-three on the night. Five other players were all minus-two. Of the 18 stakers suited up for Detroit, 11 fired one shot on goal or fewer.

Back To Drawing Board For Red Wings

Larkin seemed to be at a loss as to what the team could try next in order to shake the stench of this funk that has enveloped the club.

“We’ve really tried it all in the past couple of weeks – different line combinations, different coaching,” Larkin said. “Coming in and being hard, trying to pump us up, whatever it is. But it’s gotta come from within the room.

“Every guy’s gotta be better. That sounds like a cliche but tonight it was very apparent that every guy needs to be better.”

Patrick Kane pulls the #RedWings within 2. pic.twitter.com/TkpLV0sRU1

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 21, 2023

A rare positive for the Red Wings might’ve been the play of left-winger Patrick Kane. Collecting a goal and an assist for his third and fourth points in the last two games, Kane was plus-two. Defenseman Olli Maatta tallied his first goal of the season.