Detroit Red Wings on what went wrong against Utah Mammoth
And how do you think you guys played tonight? Um, I mean, I thought for the most part we were in the game and felt a lot like the Islander game where um, back and forth uh, up and down the ice at times and then at times not much going on and um, playing defensively and and then uh, you know, in the third we pushed and and got the goal and and then um, a little uh, too excited to get the second one and then it cost us and and um you know that’s what it went downhill after that but thought the game was out of reach by then. >> What did you notice on the power plays in the second period? >> I mean unlike last night we just we we had looks, we had zone time, we just didn’t get it done and and um didn’t get pucks through. Credit to them. They they had a tight diamond and and um I’m sure Todd will tell you both on the on their penalty kill and and five on five they probably won the the the net play tonight and and u that was probably the story of the game. >> You said it was going to be tough coming back from the road in that first game back, but the way you guys played yesterday, does it give you confidence that this isn’t just something to be worried about? This was maybe just pushing a little bit too hard, not hitting the bounces. >> Yeah, I’m not worried at all. I mean, you’re going to have games like this and back to backs. We’re going to have to be a little better on on on back to backs with uh our schedule moving forward with with all of them coming up here and um some really tough matchups like like this this back to back was. Um, so, uh, it’s just growing and and and experience and and knowing when we’ve we’ve done it on the road, uh, where you don’t have your best, um, you know, you got to find a way to win and and and bring something better than than what we brought tonight, probably. And, um, you know, when you’re at home, it doesn’t change change much. You know, I think, uh, um, you want to make more happen. It’s it’s a natural a natural feeling. So, you don’t have to play that way. you we can we can make it boring and and and find our legs and and get going like I thought we did. We had some good zone time again and and I thought our five on five game was was pretty good. >> Just backtoback games where you didn’t score in the first two periods and how difficult does that make it when you’re just playing catchup? >> Yeah, and that that’s a that’s a good point. Um you know, I think uh like I said, it it felt a lot like the Islander game. Um, and it would be nice to to uh not make a trend of that and and and you know, come out next game ready to go, ready to ready to play and uh in a tough building on the road. So, um, we have things we have to address and and like we’ve done all year, Todd’s brought it to in meetings, brought it up in meetings and and we’ve addressed it and and, uh, we’ve improved on it. >> When you say along these lines, it was like calendar day. What was the difference? that didn’t make this one a victory. >> Um, and we didn’t score more goals than they they scored. Um, yeah, we we just didn’t uh didn’t get it done offensively and and um they won the net that battle that front battle on both ends. >> It’s tough. I mean, you know, credit to them. They, you know, they played pretty hard and um you know, I didn’t think we had a good enough third period. How much was the setback having those backto-back call plays in the second and not getting more out of them? >> Yeah, I mean it’s frustrating for sure when you don’t score on those. Um, you know, I thought we generated some good looks, but um, yeah, definitely a little frustrating when you don’t score. >> How difficult did they make it or did they make it just getting to the net and establishing any kind of net presence or making it harder on their goalie? >> Yeah, they, you know, they dominated the net play tonight against us and, you know, on both ends. Um, you know, I thought we weren’t good enough in our own end and you know, they were, you know, boxed us out and taking away our chances. >> 24 hours ago, you were sitting in here saying you think they figured things out. How would you assess tonight and maybe especially the second period? >> Well, I after last night, I wouldn’t take those words back at all. Um, team did a real good job. And, you know, tonight for me, the difference was was obvious. It was play around our net. And it wasn’t just the goals we gave up. it was some chances that that they had even earlier in the game. Um they were much better around their blue paint. And I’m not talking about goalending. I’m talking about clearing and and uh you know batting pucks away uh making sure that sticks were on on plays that were made in towards that scoring slot area. Uh we weren’t. And you know look at the first goal that’s easily that that’s preventable. Uh the second goal is preventable. Um you know, the third one, they all came kind of the same way and uh they were better than us in that area and they got the best of us. And it’s it’s a obviously an area that we got to work on this week because we’re going to play against a a team that goes to the net and um scores in those spots um in in Washington. >> I believe you guys are one and five on the second night of a backto-back this year. Is there anything to that besides, you know, the obvious? >> Um, I would say no right now. I off the top of my head, I’d have to go back and review all the games. Uh, we play uh three more sets of them. I this weekend we’re going to have another one. And um, you know, I’m not sure that we’ve scored first in any of those games, which makes it more difficult. Um, but I don’t think there’s anything that’s uh, in my mind that’s sticking out. Um, but that’s without doing any any type of review. >> What did you think of those two power plays in the second period? Did you feel like you I you obviously you don’t score, but did you feel like you generated enough looks on those or where were you at? >> Our power play got us a goal tonight. And if it’s running at 25%, we can’t ask it to score four a night, three a night, two a night. It got us one goal. Uh, yeah, it wasn’t real good, but it got us a goal. We didn’t score five on five and we gave up four goals. So we can whine and about the power play and write a story about it. It has to be better.
Detroit Red Wings players Dylan Larkin and Emmitt Finnie, as well as coach Todd McLellan, talk about the 4-1 loss to the Utah Mammoth on Dec. 17, 2025 in Detroit. Video by Helene St. James, DFP.
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