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All About Response For Red Wings

Detroit has lost two in a row

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2 months ago

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Jake Walman, Red Wings
Defenseman Jake Walman is confident that the Red Wings will reset and rebound from their current skid.

No one has to spell out for the Detroit Red Wings how ugly things got as Saturday’s 4-0 loss to the Florida Panthers continued.

“Florida was a real eye opener and good test for us,” Detroit defenseman Jake Walman said.

The Red Wings have lost two in a row – one to the Panthers, who lead the NHL standings and one to the New York Islanders, who are seeking to hunt down the Red Wings for an Eastern Conference wild card.

Detroit also recently was starting a four-game Western Canadian swing with back-to-back losses to Edmonton and Vancouver. But the Red Wings would rebound to defeat Calgary and Seattle and go 2-2 on the trip.

They launch another four-game trek on Wednesday and it starts out with a significant level of difficulty. The Wings are playing at Colorado. In their last six road games facing the Avalanche, Detroit is 0-6 and has been outscored 31-14.

“Yeah, they’re good,” Walman said. “Obviously you’re facing a really deep team. They’ve won a Cup and that group of guys is still hungry as ever.

“I think it’s a good test for us. It’ll be another big game.”

Larkin Absence Additional Obstacle To Red Wings Rebound

It will also be a game the Red Wings will be going into minus captain and leading scorer Dylan Larkin. He’s out at least two weeks due to a lower-body injury.

These are the bumps,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. “The margin for error obviously is much thinner playing these type of teams. Maybe even more so with our leading scorer out.

“If you want to stay in that battle, get over the line, you got to fight through some of these things, and this is our opportunity on this road trip.”

Red Wings Have Proven Their Resiliency

You have to go back to a four-game slide from Dec. 14-20 to locate the Red Wings losing more than two in succession. It is worthy of noting that they were without Larkin for the first two of those four setbacks. They are 2-6 without their captain in the lineup over the past two seasons.

“I think we have a resilient group,” Walman said. “You can’t be in these lulls for too long. You gotta get right back at it and try and turn the page.

“It’s not going to get any easier, obviously. It’s only going to get harder down the stretch. If you want to be in the conversation at the end, then these are the games we gotta be a part of.”

When it comes to keeping that conversation going, Lalonde says it’s going to be about what they do, and not about what the other team might do to them.

“I think it’s more about us and playing our game correctly no matter who you play,” Lalonde said. “I think everyone’s got to go a little bit more. I think they understand the task.

“We’re going to be battling. Our message to the guys, all along if we were ever going to stay in this fight, stay in this battle right until the end, everything is going to be difficult.”

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