In both games of its back-to-back set this past weekend, including Saturday’s 4-3 overtime loss to Minnesota and Sunday’s 5-4 OT victory over the Anaheim Ducks, Detroit surrendered two-goal leads late in the third period.
According to Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan, there are several strategies when approaching how to defend late-game, 6-on-5 situations compared to a standard 5-on-4 penalty kill.
“They’re coming right out,” McLellan said about 6-on-5 scenarios. “You have no time, no space. You have to understand there's a difference there. Positionally, there's a few different things. They can usually outnumber you near the net, or at or around the net, and then from a structure perspective. From our end, there's a few things that we should do differently. We met about them again [on Monday]. We’ll try and be much better in those situations.”
McLellan also shared that neither Andrew Copp (undisclosed), who was placed on injured reserve on Monday morning, nor Michael Rasmussen (undisclosed), who is day-to-day after exiting the second period of Sunday’s game against the Ducks, will make the trip to Minnesota.
Needing some extra forward depth, Detroit recalled Sheldon Dries from the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins on Monday morning. As of that afternoon, while McLellan hadn’t decided whether Dries would suit up on Tuesday, he was confident the Red Wings have several players who can fill the center roles.