RECAP: Red Wings drop fourth straight game with 5-2 road loss against Jets

WINNIPEG – The Detroit Red Wings have proved themselves more than capable of overcoming adversity this season. And after Wednesday’s 5-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets extended the Red Wings’ losing streak to four straight games, captain Dylan Larkin said there's only one way for Detroit to get out of this rut.

“I think we’ve really tried it all the past couple of weeks,” Larkin said. “Different line combinations, different coaching coming in being hard, trying to pump us up or whatever it is. But it’s got to come within the room. Every guy has to be better. That sounds cliché but tonight, it was very apparent that every guy needs to be better.”

Goalie James Reimer made a season-high 36 saves for Detroit (15-13-4; 34 points), which was outshot by Winnipeg (19-9-3; 41 points), 41-28.

When reflecting on the game, head coach Derek Lalonde said defensive lapses cost the Red Wings.

“It’s frustrating in that there’s some good moments,” Lalonde said. “But it’s these lapses where we just break down and everything is ending up with some easy offense against us.”

Detroit went into the first intermission in a 1-0 hole after the Jets opened the scoring at 15:38 of the opening frame.

“I liked our start,” Lalonde said. “Felt a little unfortunate to be down 1-0.”

Olli Maatta tied the game for the Red Wings at 1:44 of the second period when he skated in on the rush and took a cross-ice pass from Patrick Kane before firing a shot over the shoulder of Jets goaltender Laurent Brossoit to make it 1-1. Andrew Copp also assisted Maatta’s first goal of the season.

“Liked the start of our second,” Lalonde said. “We get it back to 1-1, then they had a little push and then we had a really poor end of the second. And that’s that lapse.”

Winnipeg took control with three straight goals in an 8:29 span before the end of the second, taking a 4-1 lead.

With 11:19 left in the third period, Kane saw a rebound come to him in front and promptly buried it to cut the Red Wings’ deficit in half, 4-2. Larkin and Moritz Seider picked up the assists.

"He's been producing some offense," Lalonde said about Kane, who has six points in his first eight games with the Wings. "You like to see him finish. Obviously the two points tonight. I think that's a good sign going forward."

After finding the back of the net at 15:12, Winnipeg held on the rest of the way for the 5-2 final.

“We had a pretty good third period,” Lalonde said. “Probably should have gotten it to 4-3, then we had that lapse again."

Detroit finished 0-for-2 on the man advantage but played its first penalty-free game since Jan. 19 at Vegas.

“We have to get desperate,” Larkin said. “We have to get something to hang our hat on.”

NEXT UP: Playing the first half of a back-to-back set before the NHL’s annual holiday break, the Red Wings will host the Philadelphia Flyers at Little Caesars Arena on Friday night.

QUOTABLE

Lalonde on the importance of staying mentally strong

“That’s the challenge, not to get frustrated. I thought for the most part, the group did that. We’ll try some different things going into Friday. Obviously David Perron coming back, I think, will help our group. But it’s just (playing) complete hockey.”

Larkin on his evaluation of Wednesday’s loss

“It’s kind of spiraling right now. It’s a lot of hockey, but we can’t make excuses. We had to come in here and find a way, and we didn’t. We found the opposite. We lost our d-zone coverage, we’ve been struggling with that of late and they exposed us tonight. We hung Reims out to dry with backdoors and extended o-zone shifts for Winnipeg.”

Larkin on how the Red Wings can snap this skid

“It’s just about simplifying one game at a time. We’re just in a rut. It’s frustrating. It’s not clicking right now. Offense isn’t clicking and you can’t win hockey games playing defense like that. When we get five guys back, we got to simplify and grind it out. We didn’t do that tonight.”

Seider on how he feels Detroit is playing of late

“I feel like we really try, and it just feels like we’re a step too late or just not really connected on the things we’re trying to get done, say like the forecheck or breakouts. It feels like it’s always one split second is kind of off and we’re chasing the game.”