Turnovers cost Red Wings in 6-4 loss to Sharks

By @SKubus –

DETROIT – “You can’t outscore your mistakes.”

That was a line Detroit defenseman Danny DeKeyser used to sum up the Red Wings’ 6-4 loss to the San Jose Sharks at Joe Louis Arena Thursday night. That’s a line that could further be applied to the team’s recent stretch of games, as well, as the loss was the Red Wings’ fourth in their past five games. Detroit gave the puck away to the Sharks 12 times, the majority of which led to San Jose goals and scoring opportunities.

“We haven’t been good enough and we haven’t been executing well enough over the last couple weeks, and that’s something that has to change if we want to make the playoffs,” DeKeyser said. “We’ve got teams behind us that are closing in on us and they have been for a while now, so we’ve got to figure it out here pretty quick.”

As head coach Mike Babcock often says, “catch-up hockey is losing hockey,” and that’s precisely the lull Detroit fell into.

“We chased it all night long,” Babcock said. “The puck went in our net and we played catch-up, and then what catch-up hockey leads to is turnovers, because you’re trying to make the perfect play all the time because you think every shift is an emergency instead of just taking what’s given and wait for your opportunities, you get impatient because you’re chasing the game.”

Above all else, even the turnovers, Babcock was most concerned with keeping the puck out of the net. He didn’t particularly like how Jimmy Howard performed–allowing three goals on ten shots in the first period before giving way to Petr Mrazek in the next 40 minutes.

“Obviously, it didn’t go the way he wanted,” Babcock said of Howard’s game. “He’s a proud guy. We gave him an opportunity to bounce back. He didn’t do that.”

Babcock added that Mrazek would get the nod for Saturday’s tilt at home against Tampa Bay.

“We’ll give Pete an opportunity here because we need that area fixed, and it’s amazing when you get a little confidence in that area we can all settle down and get playing better again here.”

In this game, it took only 19 seconds for San Jose to score, as Marc Edouard Vlasic let a point shot go that beat Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard up high.

Then, at 3:41, Joe Thornton took a slashing minor on Henrik Zetterberg, one he was not particularly pleased with. As Thornton saw Zetterberg down on one knee on the way to the penalty box, Thornton gave him an extra shove, which caused an extra skirmish.

Matt Nieto’s tally extended the Sharks’ lead to 2-0, as he banged in a quick shot off a quick pass from Chris Tierney behind the Detroit net. Nieto’s shot went off the left post, off Howard’s back and dropped in the goal.

But just past the halfway point of the period, the Red Wings got one back. As the fourth line crashed the net, the puck sat in the crease amidst a chaotic scrum. Jurco was able to get just enough of the loose puck to help it crawl across the goal line for his first goal since Nov. 26.

Like the first Sharks goal, Detroit capitalized on a giveaway to notch the equalizer, as a blind pass from the goal line across the ice went right to Danny DeKeyser. His point shot was beautifully tipped by Tatar in the high slot through Niemi’s five-hole to knot the game at two, Tatar’s 27th of the season.

Tierney scored off a wrap-around with just over four minutes remaining in the opening frame, as he banked his wrap attempt off Joakim Andersson’s skate and in.

After allowing three goals on ten shots in the first frame, that was all Babcock needed to see from Howard, as Mrazek led the Red Wings onto the ice for the second stanza and took his position in goal, holding the Sharks off the board in the period.

But just 31 seconds into the final frame after a Gustav Nyquist giveaway, Logan Couture took a pass from Patrick Marleau on the right side and sniped a shot off the far post and in to give San Jose an insurance marker.

Weiss scored his first goal since Feb. 11 to cut the Red Wings’ deficit to one three minutes later, but Marleau restored the two-goal lead less than two minutes later to make it a 5-3 game with a shot from the right circle that beat Mrazek between his right arm and his body. That was one goal Babcock said he didn’t like to see Mrazek give up.

Continuing the teeter-totter nature of the game, Abdelkader potted his 22nd of the season at 7:27 of the third period to cut the Sharks’ lead back to one. Mrazek came up with a huge glove save on Tomas Hertl, point-blank, with just under seven minutes left, to help keep Detroit in the game. But despite the push, it was ultimately a fruitless effort for Detroit, as Marleau deposited his second of the night into an empty net with 1:17 remaining to seal the 6-4 victory.

“We’re all in this together, we took our lumps here today, and last game, we’ve given up a lot of goals at home, and that’s not how we want to play, that’s not Red Wing-like,” Babcock said. “We’ll come in here tomorrow, and we’ll get it fixed.”