Detroit Red Wings
Red Wings Come up Empty in Vegas
Detroit shutout in Sin City
The Detroit Red Wings certainly aren’t the first people to ever leave Las Vegas empty-handed. Lots of folks get shut out in Sin City, even when they show up thinking they’ve got a system that’s ready to succeed.
That was certainly the feeling the Red Wings felt when they arrived at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday. But they left town feeling disappointed.
A 1-0 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights marked the first time since Todd McLellan took over as coach that Detroit failed to score. The last time the Red Wings were shut out was a 4-0 home-ice loss to the St. Louis Blues on December 23 of last year. Three days later, McLellan replaced Lalonde as coach.
“I thought that was a winnable game,” Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin told FanDuel Sports Network. “We just didn’t get the offense, the bounces, the puck going in the net that we needed.”
Red Wings Were Dominated In Most Facets
While the game was close on the scoreboard, in many other factors, the outcome was leaning heavily in favor of the Golden Knights. Vegas outshot Detroit 34-24. The Golden Knights dominated the faceoff dot, with 68% of all draws. Vegas outhit Detroit 21-10 and blocked 17 shots.
The only area in which the Red Wings held the edge was in giveaways, with 15, compared to 14 by Vegas.
Big team effort 💪#VegasBorn pic.twitter.com/xeVSmUZZdU
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) November 5, 2025
“Just not enough sustained offensive time,” McLellan said.
Detroit was 0-for-2 on the power play, struggling to make clean zone entries. That unit is clearly feeling the absence of Patrick Kane. He’s missed the past nine games with an arm injury. The Wings are hopeful that Kane may be available for Friday’s home game against the New York Rangers.
“I thought throughout we just didn’t get anything going,” Larkin said. “We gotta execute better and when we get our chances, we gotta bear down.”
The Red Wings finished 3-2 on their five-game road trip, but went 1-2 in the last three games.
“There’s some things that we improved on,” McLellan said. “There’s still some things that need work.
McLellan cited the game’s lone goal by Vegas forward Ivan Barbashev as an area in which his club needs to improve. Detroit’s top forward unit and No. 1 defensive pairing were on the ice. Still, they allowed Barbashev to get behind them and gain the inside position at the net front to slam home a rebound.
BARBIE BROUGHT THIS PLACE ALIVE 💈 pic.twitter.com/oYoUimG1vd
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) November 5, 2025
“We understood the net play was going to be real, real important,” McLellan said. “And you look at the one goal, they got in behind us. We had enough bodies around it, but we didn’t play it very well. So we’ve got to work on that.
“Some guys had really good trips, other guys just average. But we’re still a team that’s evolving, and we have work to do.”
A 1-0 loss against a well rested Vegas Knight team is good. PP will get some help soon. Should be better and better from here on out. December will bring someone up from GR. All good stuff.
I don’t believe a loss is ever considered good stuff. I think McLellan would agree.
Anybody know what’s really wrong with Kane,?. The power play in particular needs those slick hands.
I agree with you. They miss Kane. Hope he gets back soon. Their PP is their ace in the hole and isn’t as effective with Kane out.
The Red Wings played an energetic, disciplined game, and they remained focused through all 3 periods. I thought it was one of their best games as far as playing within their system. The problem is, they lose some of their dynamic traits when they’re so structured. To beat the best teams, they have to be both dynamic and disciplined. They’re not there yet, but last night was a step forward. Vegas is just a better team.
Also Vegas was well rested that hadn’t played in 3 nights vs a Red Wings team playing 4 games in 6 nights in a 3 hour timezone difference. Not too worried about this loss especially a 1-0 loss.