During their regular-season opener, the Detroit Red Wings looked like a team that didn’t have a training camp. They’ll aim for a quick turnaround when they host Toronto on Saturday night.
Detroit gave up three first-period goals Thursday en route to a 5-1 home loss to Montreal. Defensive breakdowns were the norm early as the Canadiens scored their first two goals on a breakaway and a 2-on-1 situation.
“We just spent 3 1/2 weeks of training camp dealing with these situations,” said Red Wings coach Todd McLellan. “Now, if it happens once or twice in a game, OK. But there were six or seven odd-numbered rushes in the first period from the 10-minute mark on. It’s unacceptable. We’ll have to drill it back into them.”
Dylan Larkin scored on the Red Wings’ first power play to give the hosts a 1-0 lead, but that’s all the offense they would muster.
“I thought we made it pretty easy on them,” Larkin said. “Odd-man rushes, we know that’s their game. They go for offense and we were careless, letting guys get behind us.”
Goaltender John Gibson was pulled late in the second period after allowing Montreal’s final goal during a power play. Gibson, acquired from Anaheim during the offseason, made just eight saves before being replaced by Cam Talbot.
Forwards Emmitt Finnie and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellikka made their NHL debuts.
“It’s even more disappointing because it was such a special night. The crowd was so good,” Larkin said. “The three guys playing in their first NHL game, you always want to make it special and there wasn’t much going on that was special.”
Toronto opened its season on Wednesday with a 5-2 home victory over Montreal. The Maple Leafs broke a 2-2 tie on Morgan Rielly’s goal midway through the third period and secured the win with two empty-netters.
“There was some good, some not so good, but I think it’s good just the way we stuck together and pulled it out,” Reilly said. “I thought we played well in the third and that’s important.”
Reilly, a defenseman, is coming off a season in which he registered seven goals and 34 assists while appearing in all 82 regular-season contests.
“We’re all trying to improve off last year,” Rielly said. “And I thought that there were lots of guys to do that (Wednesday), and lots of guys (will) look to do that as we keep going. So it’s a first win, but there’s lots to work on.”
William Nylander led the offensive attack with one goal and two assists.
“A lot of good and there’s stuff we have to work on obviously, but we did a good enough job to win the game,” said Toronto coach Craig Berube. “I thought our third period was our best period. Good job protecting the lead and closing it out. Our goalie was good and we had some players who were really good (Wednesday), but overall our puck play wasn’t great and that was the root of our problems in general.”
The opening night goaltender was Anthony Stolarz, who made 29 saves. Stolarz will handle the bulk of the goaltender duties until Joseph Woll returns from an indefinite personal leave that began Sept. 23.
–Field Level Media
