For the third consecutive game, the Detroit Red Wings struggled to find the back of the net and paid for it with their third consecutive regulation setback.
While they had no shortage of opportunities on Sunday afternoon against the Chicago Blackhawks at Little Caesars Arena, they were repeatedly denied by goaltender Arvid Soderblom, who put together one of the best performances of his career with 44 saves.
Meanwhile, Detroit badly lost the special teams battle. The Blackhawks scored on all three of their power-play opportunities, while the Red Wings failed to convert on the five chances they had, which included a four-minute opportunity late in the second period.
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Afterward, team captain Dylan Larkin pointed the finger at himself not only for the lack of scoring in their three recent setbacks but also for not winning key face-offs.
“Starts with the face-off, which I take most of the time, and not winning them, and we’re going down 200 feet and that’s on me and got to win the first battle of the two minutes,” Larkin said. “Last year when we were good (with the man-advantage), this year even when we had it going good we were winning those draws and attacking and getting the kill on their heels.”
“I have two back doors in two nights and zero goals to show for that, that’s on me,” he continued. “People look to me to score and look to the big guys to score, and I think I would point the finger at myself.”
Larkin, who scored Detroit’s only goal in the first period of play, had a golden opportunity on a two-on-one rush with Lucas Raymond, only to have what appeared to be a certain goal stopped by the left skate of the outstretched Soderblom.
NHL (@NHL) on X
WHAT A SAVE FROM ARVID SODERBLOM 😱
Following what was an extremely encouraging 5-1 start to their centennial campaign, the Red Wings have since gone 4-6. Additionally, they’ve also failed to score on each of their last 13 power-play opportunities.
“I don’t want to make too much out of it. It’s not good enough right now, but we have a good power play,” Larkin said. “We have the personnel there. We’ve showed it. Not just over a few games, but over years. We’ve showed that we can be good. We just got to figure it out.”
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