The Red Wings are coming off a 5-0 defeat to the New York Islanders on Thursday, which snapped their four-game point streak. By the end of the first period, Detroit found itself in a 2-0 hole against New York, and never quite recovered.
“I would say, three of the first four goals were basic face-off or change-type goals,” Copp said. “That shouldn’t happen. I think those were the most frustrating ones… And overall, we weren’t great, but we didn’t give ourselves a chance.”
Following Friday afternoon’s practice at Little Caesars Arena’s BELFOR Training Center, Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan hadn’t finalized his lineup for Saturday’s Eastern Conference clash. But no matter who suits up against Columbus, McLellan said he’s looking for a little more offensive production from Detroit’s bottom six.
“Other teams are scoring against us,” McLellan said. “We’re losing that tradeoff, so we need more from there. We spent a lot of time, maybe 7-10 days ago, working around the net with deflections, screens, feeder shots and rebounds. That’s where those goals tend to come from. We have to spend a little more time, forecheck can get a little bit better, in the offensive zone so those things can evolve.”