Detroit Red Wings lack urgency in 4-1 loss to Coyotes, get booed at LCA as slide reaches 7

The Detroit Red Wings didn't perform like a team urgently in need of points.

Their Thursday game at Little Caesars Arena was less than a week after the Arizona Coyotes embarrassed the Wings in the desert, but that wasn't evident in the response.

Nick Bjugstad's goal midway through the third period was a snapshot of why the Wings have lost seven straight games: He had the luxury of time and space, right in front of Detroit's net, to help hand the Wings a 4-1 loss.

There were boos from the stands when Clayton Keller scored into an empty-net goal with 3:04 to play, about half a minute after the Wings pulled Alex Lyon.

It's only been a week since Steve Yzerman endorsed the team by making no additions at the trade deadline. The Wings have rewarded that vote of confidence by being outscored, 19-7, in the four games since.

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The Wings (33-27-6) are in a tight battle to get back into the wild-card picture in the Eastern Conference playoffs, battling a handful of teams for positioning. They have 16 games left, and next play Saturday against the Sabres, who hand the Wings a 7-3 loss on Tuesday in Buffalo.

So it goes

The Wings' didn't have the energy expected from a team on a such a skid, and they hadn't managed to get a shot on net when they went on a power play at 3:16. Late in that stretch, Jonatan Berggren was unable to corral the puck along the boards, and the Coyotes took control. Moritz Seider's ability to counter their attack was hampered when he tripped, and the result was Logan Cooley getting away on a breakaway and scoring shorthanded on a backhand at 5:10. Nine seconds after that, the Wings had to deal with killing a penalty to Michael Rasmussen.

A little relief

David Perron and Patrick Kane were among the forwards who played around 7 minutes just in the first period, a result of the Wings having three power plays in that span. They needed all of them just to pull even. Perron and Alex DeBrincat tested Connor Ingram during the second advantage, but it wasn't until the second minute of the third power play that the Wings finally had something to celebrate. Kane fired a pass through traffic from the right circle to the left, where Raymond was in place to connect on a one-timer, delivering a measure of relief as the Wings came out of the first period at 1-1.

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Frustration shows

Instead of shooting the puck at every opportunity, the Wings tried for the perfect pass, the perfect shot, and the result was falling behind for the second time. Olli Määttä turned the puck over behind Detroit's net and Alex Kerfoot's shot from the slot through traffic was tipped both by Michael Carcone (who was credited with the goal) and Shayne Gostisbehere, putting the Wings in a 2-1 hole at 8:35.

The Wings' frustration erupted with 2 minutes to play into an all-out scrum that resulted with the Wings having to finish the second period killing off a penalty.

Contact Helene St. James athstjames@freepress.com. Follow her@helenestjames.

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Next up: Sabres

Matchup: Red Wings (33-27-6) vs. Buffalo (32-30-5).

Faceoff: 12:30 p.m. Saturday; Little Caesars Arena, Detroit.

TV/radio: Bally Sports Detroit; WXYT-FM (97.1).