Detroit Red Wings
Red Wings Continue to Make Bad Teams Better
Detroit loses 6-3 to Nashville, NHL’s worst team
Bottom feeders continue to feast on the Detroit Red Wings.
The Nashville Predators (West) and Buffalo Sabres (East) are the bottom-placed teams in each of the NHL’s two conferences.
This season, they are a combined 3-0 against the Red Wings. An 5-4 overtime loss to the Sabres, in which Detroit squandered a 4-1 lead, is the only point the Red Wings have claimed from those three games.
Wednesday, Detroit coughed up five third-period goals in a 6-3 loss to the Predators. Nashville had just two wins in the previous 10 games. The Predators went with backup goalie Justus Annunen in net. He came into the game with an .836 save percentage and 4.07 GAA.
And yet, the Red Wings still managed to find a way to be the second-best team.
We are Haula-ing back, girl pic.twitter.com/PAj5kpgm51
— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) November 27, 2025
“You kind of go through the whole night, and I think every time there was a crucial battle, we kind of lost it,” Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider said.
Twice during the third-period onslaught, the Predators scored a pair of goals less than a minute apart.
“When the third period starts, we gave up four (goals) in every different fashion you could think of,” Detroit coach Todd McLellan said. “Four-on-four, faceoff coverage off of rush and off a D-zone breakout.”
Add in an empty netter, and Detroit pretty much filled out the hockey goals against bingo card, other than perhaps a penalty shot.
Red Wings Were Bad From The Get-Go
A well-known Red Wings pattern was emerging quickly. They broke slowly from the gate, lacking intensity and purpose in their game.
“Didn’t like our game most of the night,” McLellan said. “I thought we were quite casual early in the game. Our passing was horrendous. There was nothing crisp about our game.”
ROR FOR THE LEAD 🙌 pic.twitter.com/TERtmxoMtb
— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) November 27, 2025
Despite playing so poorly, the Red Wings did carry a 2-1 lead into the third period. The game was theirs for the taking.
“You come into a third at home and you’re in a good spot to win a game,” Detroit forward Lucas Raymond said. “We gotta be better than that.”
McLellan said. “I thought we were quite casual early in the game. Our passing was horrendous. There was nothing crisp about our game.”
“Casual” is a great description of the way the Wings (minus a few guys) have played all season. There’s so little intensity in their game it’s kind of shocking.
And Mo is spot on when he said, “…every time there was a crucial battle, we kind of lost it.” Again, the word “casual” comes to mind.
I know McLellan is saying all of the right things (both to the media and the players), but I would think those kinds of behaviors are the very things a coach is responsible for. So if the players are tuning him out, maybe it’s time for a few good ol’ fashion “bag skates.” Let the players know they can either bust their asses during a game or they can do it between games.
LGRW!!!
Every time there’s a battle or a scrum for the puck if he’s on the ice, Rasmussen is always on the outside looking in. One of the biggest dudes in the league and he plays like a sissy. Casual is right he’s beyond that. And what the heck is wrong with Kasper. He’s invisible almost every game. Throw him a bus ride and see if he straightens out in GR. Just Bench Copp, he’s useless, because no one else wants him at that contract number. There are three or four more that could qualify in this conversation… but we’ll just let it go. You all know the culprits.