The Detroit Red Wings are in dire need of turning the corner when they visit the San Jose Sharks on Monday.
The Red Wings arrive in San Jose with only one victory in their last five outings and having dropped the first two clashes in their set against the trio of California teams. Detroit opened a four-game road swing with a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins, but after blowing a two-goal lead in a 6-4 loss at the Anaheim Ducks on Friday, they were handed a 4-1 loss by the Los Angeles Kings the next night.
“One shift can turn the whole ship around,” forward Andrew Copp said. “I think we’re going to put some pressure on ourselves Monday night. Treat it as a very, very big game for us just in terms of mentality. Salvage a 2-2 road trip, then go from there.”
The Red Wings never really had a chance in Los Angeles, falling behind 2-0 late in the first period thanks to a pair of Kings goals 22 seconds apart and then surrendering a third goal 15 seconds into the third period, which coach Derek Lalonde called a “backbreaker.”
“What’s frustrating about this is having some moments of some pretty good hockey. It’s just not enough of it,” Lalonde said.
The Red Wings were given a day off Sunday with the hopes the rest will be rejuvenating after their travel stint to the West Coast began with games on successive nights.
“We got to go earn some confidence on Monday night, and hopefully bring some swagger back to Detroit,” Copp said.
Speaking of travel, the Sharks return home after ending a four-game road trip with a 4-3 shootout loss to the Penguins on Saturday.
San Jose trailed 3-0 early in the second period but mounted a comeback to earn a point.
“It’s not ideal to be down in games, so we obviously don’t want to be doing that,” said forward Tyler Toffoli, who scored twice on Saturday. “But I think for us and our team mentally and all that, I guess (rallying is) a good thing. A good way to look at it.”
The rebuilding Sharks are in a good-news, bad-news run. They are winless in three games but posted a 1-1-2 mark on the trip and have cobbled together a 5-3-2 record in their last 10, a turnaround after losing their first nine games of the season.
Despite their small positive run, the Sharks remain at the bottom of the Pacific Division and well off the playoff pace.
“I don’t feel like we’re that close, to be honest with you,” coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “We’ve still got a way to go. Until every guy in there is believing in that, it’s going to be this up-and-down of a game that we’re going to see.”
The Sharks were without forward Nico Sturm in Pittsburgh due to an upper-body injury suffered in New York. Also, goaltender Vitek Vanecek left the net after the first period in Pittsburgh due to an undisclosed issue. There was no word whether either will be able to play Monday.
