Detroit Red Wings coach Todd McLellan wasn’t happy with the way officials made some calls, or a lack thereof, in Saturday night’s loss.
The Red Wings looked good early in their loss to the Colorado Avalanche. Then came the penalties in the second period, which led to power-play goals from Martin Necas and Nathan MacKinnon.
Those goals proved to be a difference-maker as the Avalanche won 4-0. They scored once more on the man advantage at 9:45 in the third when Cale Makar snuck one past goaltender Daniil Tarasov. Colorado also scored at even strength when Necas notched his second of the night at 7:15 in the third.
Clearly, power plays were the difference-maker here. Via Jonathan Mills of DetroitRedWings.com, McLellan had something to say about the penalties:
“Those were penalties. Some of them were penalties against us. I 100 percent agree. It was the ones that weren’t called that were concerning for me.”
Definitely concerning, but it still didn’t erase a bad night all around.
Todd McLellan Frustrated By Second-Period Penalty Calls
Overall, Detroit had 19 penalty minutes compared to 15 for Colorado. The Red Wings ended up on the power play three times while the Avalanche got five chances on the man advantage.
While those numbers aren’t completely lopsided, McLellan was incredibly frustrated with supposed missed calls on Colorado.
Three of Detroit’s penalties came within six minutes of one another. Ben Chiarot got two minutes for elbowing at 0:51. William Wallinder got another two for holding at 4:21, and Moritz Seider got two for roughing at 5:59. The Avalanche’s Nazem Kadri was also called for roughing.
The roughing penalties offset before Colorado’s Jaden Schwartz got penalized for slashing at 6:37. Once again, Detroit took two more trips to the sin bin at 7:59 and 11:01.
Justin Faulk and Keegan Kolesar were both hit with interference. That forced Detroit’s penalty kill back out, where they allowed two of Colorado’s three power-play goals.
Lopsided Penalties Should Not Excuse Red Wings For Saturday’s Loss
While power-play opportunities in the second period helped the Avalanche, this isn’t to say the officials were objectively wrong. McLellan implied that. The concern was the no-calls that could have given Detroit more opportunities on the power play.
Detroit’s power play unit has been solid this season, converting 21.67 percent of the time. But on Saturday, it had three chances and converted none of them. Maybe the officials missed some calls in Saturday’s loss, but the Red Wings also didn’t help themselves when given an opportunity.
In the second period, Detroit still found itself on the man advantage twice. They also should have had momentum on the first one after warding off two Colorado power-play opportunities. Had they converted on Schwartz’s penalty, it may have tipped the scales.
Instead, Faulk was hit with an interference call 1:22 into Detroit’s power play, and that shifted momentum when Necas took advantage.
Overall, Detroit’s shutout loss was a game when the officiating crew may not have had its best outing. But the Red Wings played far from their best game on Saturday.
Going forward, Detroit must take more advantage of opportunities given to them. If they’re limited in opportunities, then they must increase their sense of urgency.
Red Wings’ Todd McLellan Questions Officiating After Crushing Loss