Trending: Slow start dooms Wings against Islanders

UNIONDALE-- After a beautiful number retirement ceremony for John Tonelli and coming off four straight losses, the New York Islanders came out fired up.
The Red Wings could not answer the bell in the late-starting game and fell, 4-1, at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum Friday night.

Anthony Mantha (power play) scored the lone goal for the Wings.
Jordan Eberle (three, one power play) and Leo Komarov (empty net) scored for the Islanders.
Detroit goaltender Jonathan Bernier (13-18-2) had 36 stops.
New York netminder Semyon Varlamov (18-12-4) made 21 saves.
Up next for the Wings is a Sunday night date with the Calgary Flames at Little Caesars Arena.
The Islanders are also playing Sunday, hosting the San Jose Sharks at Nassau Coliseum.
1. Jonathan Bernier: The last time the Wings were on Long Island on Jan. 14, Bernier was out with an injury so Jimmy Howard got the start. Howard allowed three goals on the Islanders' first seven shots so Calvin Pickard came on in relief. The end result was an 8-2 loss for Detroit. This time Bernier was healthy and made the start. As has been the case most of the season, Bernier was tested early and often. Just 21 seconds in, Michael Dal Colle had a shot from the right circle after a turnover. The only save Bernier did not make in the first was on Eberle's deflection of Ryan Pulock's shot from the right point at 5:45. In the second, Bernier stopped Andy Greene from the left point a couple of times, Eberle from the mid-slot at 1:33 and Tom Kuhnhackl from the right circle after a turnover. But Eberle got his second at 17:02 on a short-side shot from the left circle.

Quotable: "Personally, I felt good. The first one was kind of lucky, it hit Eberle in the (butt) and went in. I think we didn't come out the way we wanted for sure. I think a lot of guys can tell you this, but I thought we came in in the second and played better."
Quotable II: "Bernie has been great the past stretch. He's been our MVP. I think without him, there's a lot of chances with his calmness that he swallows up. He didn't give them any rebounds. Again, I can't take that penalty and give them that chance late. I don't know what the power plays were but that had at least triple ours. You just can't give a good team like that at home in a building they like playing in many chances like that on the power play." - Dylan Larkin
2. Not many shots: The Wings average just 27.3 shots per game, which is the fewest in the league, but they really struggled to get any on net in the first. Brendan Perlini had a shot from the mid-slot at 2:16 and that was their only one for the entire period until they were credited with another after the period ended. In the second, they managed to get a few more but still were outshot by a considerable amount. Among the best chances were from Robby Fabbri at 2:18 from the left point, a tip shot from Luke Glendening at 5:21 and Larkin on a partial breakaway at 12:10. On the Larkin attempt, defenseman Devon Toews was able to bother Larkin enough that he couldn't get off a really good shot. The Wings finished with just 22 shots.
Quotable: "I think the first period wasn't enough from us. I think like myself and my line especially. We're put out there to generate offense and take care of the puck and manage it and we didn't do that especially. We didn't bring enough energy to spark the team. I put that on myself at the start to just try and get something going and get the team going. I think we didn't have very many shots after the first. We gotta generate more." - Larkin
Quotable II: "Not good enough. We wanted to create more there but we knew they were going to come out hard, losing four straight and fighting for their lives, we knew they were going to be coming. We didn't give up too many crazy chances but we got to be able to sustain more pressure in their end." - Frans Nielsen
Quotable III: "It's an everyday league and you gotta come out and you gotta be at your very best every day, us especially. We gotta outwork teams and out-compete them to have an opportunity to win. We're gonna be on a little bit of a mismatch on the skill set most nights. We gotta outwork and out-compete people every night. I didn't think in the first we did that at all. Not everybody but enough guys. Similar to the first against Montreal to be honest with you. And then we don't create any momentum because we don't shoot the puck ever. It ups in two shots or whatever. We had opportunities to shoot more than that and we didn't shoot it. We gotta be better than that to start the game." - Wings coach Jeff Blashill
3. Officially eliminated/Anthony Mantha: With the loss, the Wings were officially eliminated from the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs. While that particular outcome has not been in doubt for a while, the fact that it came before Monday's trade deadline makes it sting a bit more for the team. According to Sportsnet, the Wings' elimination in their 63rd game of the season was the earliest elimination since the Ottawa Senators were eliminated in their 63rd game of the 1995-96 season. Mantha scored a fluky goal at 17:25 of the third period on the power play when his shot went off of two Islanders and into the net. It marked Mantha's first goal in the six games since his return from broken ribs and a punctured lung. Mantha now has one goal and five assists in those six games but has yet to truly reach the level he was at when he started the season. Mantha finished with 20 shifts for 17:04, had one shot, one takeaway and was minus-2.
Tweet from @HeresYourReplay: 🚨 Anthony Mantha 2-1 #Isles pic.twitter.com/bLDPoW7UjL
Quotable: "It's been a couple years now, at least. It's been tough. We're all here because we love competing. We love to win. This has been a long year, but I think we're trying to have fun and stick together and come to work every day and work hard, trying to keep our head high and that's all we can do right now. But it hasn't been fun every day." - Nielsen
Quotable II: "This group is relentless, and you just got to come to work every night. That's how I approach it. It doesn't matter where we're at in the standings, I just try to do the best I can every night." - Bernier
Quotable III: "It sucks to be in a spot where you're eliminated this early but that part of it sucked for awhile. I think we knew we'd been out for too long and there's no other word to describe it except that it sucks. That's a fact. What stings to me, though, is the fact we didn't have enough guys showing up in the first period. That stings for me. The elimination from the playoffs is what it is. My focus for a long time here, really since the beginning of the year, as we spoke earlier, is to make sure that we're pushing to be better. That there's a better future. Part of having a better future is understanding what it takes every single night. We gotta be better than we were to start the game." - Blashill