Detroit Red Wings
One Bad Period Dooms Red Wings in Dallas

The Detroit Red Wings used a seven-game winning streak to climb back into the playoff race. But they won’t be able to stay in the chase if they can’t avoid the bad stretches like the one they are in now.
The Red Wings’ 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars Sunday was their third loss in the past four games. They are now 1-2 on their four-game road trip that ends Tuesday in Philadelphia where the Red Wings are 2-18-2 in their last 22 games.
The Red Wings also have bad history in Dallas where they haven’t won since 2016. They are 0-9-3 since last winning there.
After recently moving to within two points of a playoff spot, the Red Wings (21-21-4) are now five points out of the final wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference.
Head coach Todd McLellan believes the Red Wings have become more reactive than proactive in the last handful of games, including tonight's 4-1 loss to the Stars. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/o5oMRjgI4A
— FanDuel Sports Network Detroit (@FanDuelSN_DET) January 20, 2025
The frustrating aspect of the Dallas loss was the fact that the Red Wings were primarily done in by one poor period. The Stars scored three goals in the first period, aided by Detroit’s sloppiness and turnovers. Detroit out-shot Dallas 34-25.
Started Late
One bad period also hurt the Red Wings badly in Saturday’s loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“Right now, I think we’re a reactive team when a couple weeks ago we were proactive,” McLellan told FanDuel Sports Network. “We were getting after it and now we’re waiting to see what happens and reacting to it. We’ve got to fix that and we will.”
The Red Wings have only scored a combined total of two goals in their last two losses, but McLellan is more concerned about the team’s inconsistent defensive play. The Red Wings have given up a total of 15 goals in these three recent losses.
“I’m looking at it from the other side of the coin, the goals against,” McLellan said. “The start that we had tonight, it’s hard because the team plays the price for a few individual errors. It reminds me a little bit of the San Jose game. We start that way and put ourselves in a hole. We’re not a four-goal team. We talk about playing to three and if we would have kept it at that level maybe we had a chance but I look it more from the defensive side of it, the disastrous mistakes we made that ended up in the back of our net.”
Marco Kasper scored Detroit’s lone goal as he continues to prove he belongs on the top line, playing with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond. Kasper has four goals and seven points in his past six games.