To properly assess what the Detroit Red Wings brought to the ice for Tuesday’s 5-1 loss to the Penguins in Pittsburgh, you need to apply a 180-degree turn to an age-old axiom.

Where there’s no will, there’s no way.

“I think that’s fair to say,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan told reporters after the game. “In some situations, it’s definitely competitiveness and the will and the drive to do it longer and harder than maybe the opposition.

“Some of it’s technique and skill, too. It’s a combination of both. But the will and the drive is something we could use a little bit more of right now, and we’re gonna ask them for it.”

Todd McLellan was asked again about the Red Wings effort after their 5-1 loss to the Penguins.

“The will and the drive is something we could use a little bit more of right now, and we’re gonna ask them for it,” he said.

“In some situations, it’s definitely competitiveness, and… pic.twitter.com/7iWTo4e2S9

— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) April 1, 2026

McLellan has been asking for several games now. The troubling concern is that his team seldom answers his call.

The coach admitted that his level of disappointment is growing with each frustrating setback.

“I’m just part of the team, and for all of us, it’s disappointing this time of the year,” McLellan said. “So I’m part of it. Our staff is part of it. We’re responsible for it. So I can’t stand here in front of these cameras and just sling everything at the players.

“It starts with us and the ability to drive the team, and we have to do a better job. Obviously, it’s not getting done.”

Red Wings Stumble Through Another Devastating March

Detroit finished the month of March 5-7-2. The Red Wings surrendered the first goal of the game in 10 of those 14 games.

Slow starts are a major stumbling block for the Red Wings. They’ve scored in the first period in just one of their past 10 games. Overall, they’ve been outscored 8-3 in the opening period of the past 10 games.

Even at that, the Red Wings still sit just a scant two points from securing a playoff spot in the NHL’s Eastern Conference. That makes their utter inability to compete an absolutely perplexing issue.

McLellan keeps addressing it with his team, but instead of the Wings dialing up the tempo, it’s as if their coach is dialing the wrong number.

“I thought we did that [Monday] at practice, at the meeting,” McLellan said. “I thought our practice would set us up well for this game. It didn’t.

“So perhaps our approach was the wrong one. I don’t know. Or else it didn’t get through. So we’ll spend the next 10 or 12 hours trying to figure out what we’ll do [Wednesday] and get them ready [for Thursday’s game at Philadelphia].”