Detroit Red Wings players Henrik Zetterberg, Jimmy Howard and Dylan Larkin and coach Jeff Blashill answer questions after the 3-1 loss to the Bruins on Saturday, Dec. 23, 2017, at TD Garden. Video by Helene St. James/DFP
Wings got chances but couldn't finish them Saturday, now trail Bruins by 10 points for third place in Atlantic
BOSTON — Maybe a little time away will boost the Detroit Red Wings.
They continued a trend of playing well and still losing, leaving Saturday’s matinee at TD Garden with a 3-1 loss that gave Boston a 10-point lead over Detroit for a playoff spot. The Wings have won just three times over the last 15 games, finding ways to lose even when they’ve outplayed their opponents.
It grates, and hence getting away looks so welcoming. The Wings don’t play again until Wednesday at New Jersey (7 p.m., Fox Sports Detroit).
“It’s Christmas, we’ve got a three-day break,” Dylan Larkin said. “It could be good for us to get away, get time with family. Regroup, come back, and after Christmas, we have to close out these games.
“A lot of games we are right there, but what we’re doing isn’t enough.”
It’s challenging to stick with something when the rewards aren’t there.
“So far, guys have kept their belief up to a good level,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “I haven’t seen a drop in that belief, but that is my job – as we come back here from Christmas, we’re going to have to make sure that we continue to get our guys to come and play extremely hard and then when we get in these games and it’s tied, we have to find ways to win them.”
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The Wings didn’t have a good first period on Saturday, but they still came out of the first period tied, 1-1, because Frans Nielsen stemmed the momentum from Brad Marchand’s power play goal with a shorthanded goal. The Wings were the better team in the second period, and outshot the Bruins, 25-14, the last two periods. Larkin alone had six shots on net. Tomas Tatar and Gustav Nyquist and Henrik Zetterberg all had good chances denied by Tuukka Rask.
“You have to score on your chances,” Zetterberg said. “We are working on it in practice, we are talking about it, we know what we have to do. Some nights we are really good at scoring when we get our chances.”
Just like Dec. 13 in Detroit, the Bruins found a way to make one more play, with Patrice Bergeron scoring on a setup from Marchand in the third period. Bergeron then gave Boston a two-goal lead after Jimmy Howard was pulled for the extra attacker in the last minute of regulation.
“When you end games like this, you are frustrated, 100 percent,” Blashill said. “But all frustration can do for us is burn that inside your gut a little bit so that you are even more determined. You can’t let it cloud your judgment. You’ve got to find a way to come back against Jersey and play just a little bit better.
“We’ve got to find a way when we get back from Christmas here. It’s every night like this. We have to find a way to make a play to make the difference in the game.”
Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Check out our Red Wings Xtra app on Apple and Android!