After a poor night of puck management the Wings fell to the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 Sunday night having their seven game winning streak snapped.
The Wings were able to get on the board first after Johan Franzen netted his 12th goal of the season on the power play in the first period.
However the Avalanche took things over in the second period.
Colorado used two quick goals by Ryan O’Reilly and Paul Stastny to go ahead 2-1. Both of those goals came off Red Wing turnovers in their own zone.
In the third period, Danny Cleary was able to tie things up for the Wings after he deflected a Henrik Zetterberg shot. However Colorado quickly regained the lead when Gabriel Landeskog nailed a one-time past Ty Conklin at the 9:22 mark of the third period. Landeskog’s goal game came shorthanded and off another Detroit turnover at center ice when Darren Helm and Drew Miller couldn’t control the puck.
The Wings lost red-hot forward Valtteri Filppula late in the first period when he apparently suffered a cut on his leg. He did not return to the game.
“He got a cut on his leg above his skate,” coach Mike Babcock said. “We sent him to have it looked at. We don’t know if it’s serious or not serious.”
The Majors Detroit Player of the Game: Ryan O’Reilly
Ryan O’Reilly finished tonight’s game with 2 goals, 2 shots and was a +2. Aside from the two goals of his own he was a vital part of the Colorado offense tonight.
The Majors Detroit Zero of the Game: Detroit Turnovers
Instead of naming one particular player, I’ll just say the Detroit turnovers as a whole were devastating to the Wings tonight. Three of the four Colorado goals came by way of a Detroit turnover. This is a problem that has plaqued the Wings for as long as I can remember.
Looking Ahead
Next up for the Wings are the St. Louis Blues who sit at 14-9-3 which is good for third place in the Central Division. This game takes place on Tuesday night at 7:30PM ET from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri.
The Bottom Line
It was good to see Ty Conklin get some playing time tonight but it would’ve been even better to see him get some support from the guys playing in front of him. Like I said before, turnovers have been a problem the Wings have had for a while now and it definitely costed them their eighth straight victory tonight.
Ref: Mlive.com, ESPN.com, AP (image)
