Detroit Red Wings all bark, no bite in 4-0 road loss to Arizona Coyotes

TEMPE, Ariz.— Losing to elite teams is one thing, but to gift victory to a team headed for the draft lottery is a stain on the Detroit Red Wings.

Hours after general manager Steve Yzerman opted to stand pat (save one small move) at the trade deadline, the Wings did little to reinforce that decision Friday night. They didn't play better team defense, as Yzerman had stressed in his post-deadline comments, and they failed to feed off the heavy presence of Wings fans — someone even threw an octopus onto the ice with three minutes and change to spare — at 4,600-seat Mullett Arena. The result was falling, 4-0, to the Arizona Coyotes and losing their fourth straight game.

"I thought the guys were ready," coach Derek Lalonde said. "Felt like a home game in warmups. But, just, the inability to compete early on, the lost battles. Much better in the second. If we could have started our game like we did the second, it could have been a much different outcome."

The losing comes as the New York Islanders have moved within two points of the Eastern Conference wild-card berths, where the Wings (33-24-6) cling to a position after losses to the Colorado Avalanche, Florida Panthers and Islanders. Detroit is tied with the Tampa Bay Lightning, albeit with one fewer game played. During their skid, the Wings have been outscored, 20-5.

"I don't think there's any shame in losing to Florida and Colorado," Andrew Copp said. "We are trying to right the ship here, play with a certain edge, certain tenacity and we didn't do that off the hop. We got better as the game went along, didn't give them much. But we have to be ready right from the get-go. We need points right now."

Copp said the fact Yzerman didn't make any additions was "talked about before the game.

"It should be a vote of confidence. We have to figure out a way to right the ship here."

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The Wings were without Dylan Larkin (lower body injury) and down to 11 forwards after trading Klim Kostin to the San Jose Sharks. They fell to 2-6 on the season without Larkin.

"We haven't handled Dylan being out well this year," Lalonde said. "As a group, everybody needs to do a little bit more."

Coyote ugly

The Coyotes had played the night before, when they lost their 33rd game of the season. The Wings, on the other hand, had been off the day before; not even being called upon to practice as they were headed into their own back-to-back situation. But it was the Wings who looked tired and sloppy when the game began, displaying little defensive cohesion and therefore little in the way of offensive attack. The result was a deficit that began when Jack McBain scored at 2:35, doubled when Alex Kerfoot tipped Juuso Valimaki's shot from just outside the crease at 8:05, and tripled when rookie Logan Cooley ripped a slap shot from the right circle during a too-many-men penalty on the Wings at 17:04.

"The first 10 minutes, we weren't playing on our toes, and they get a couple early," Copp said. "It's tough to fight back in this league when you're down two- or three-nothing. That's kind of the difference in the game."

Second-period response

The Wings looked better when they came out for the second period, and Alex DeBrincat had a decent chance early that was denied by Coyotes goaltender Connor Ingram. By the time the Wings went on a power play at 14:07, they were down by four goals, though, because Nick Bjugstad had time and space to get off a good shot on Alex Lyon, scoring at 8:16. The Wings registered 17 shots on net in the second period to hold a 23-17 edge after 40 minutes.

"That fourth one was a bit of a back breaker," Copp said. "Especially because we felt like we were getting some momentum."

Fischer's impact

There was a nice tribute video to Christian Fischer during the first timeout, recognizing the former Coyote for his seven seasons with the organization. The Wings signed the 26-year-old to a one-year deal last summer, and given how he has established himself in the lineup, he projects to be re-signed. Fischer's value is in how hard he works around the net and in retrieving pucks. Teammates give him some gentle ribbing for tracking the little plays he makes that leads to goals but not an assist for him, but it's all in good fun.

"The boys like to tease me now that that is in the media," Fischer said after the morning skate. "There’s a lot of guys that do those types of things and it goes noticed in the room. That’s what matters."

Contact Helene St. James athstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter@helenestjames. Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon,Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.

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