Derek Lalonde frustrated by lack of offense

Despite being able to contain the dynamic Edmonton Oilers duo of superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the Detroit Red Wings weren't able to take advantage of a struggling Jack Campbell and eventually fell by a 5-2 final score. What's even more frustrating is that amidst Detroit hitting the post on three separate occasions, they were unable to light the lamp on any of their five power play opportunities. 

It's safe to assume that the Red Wings were planning on having at least two potential 30+ goal scorers heading into this season in the form of Jakub Vrana and Tyler Bertuzzi. The reality has been anything but, with Bertuzzi breaking both hands in separate shot blocking incidents, while Vrana spent nearly two months in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program. 

And while the Red Wings enjoyed steady production early on in the year from newcomers David Perron and Dominik Kubalik, both are currently mired in a cold spell. Top line forward Lucas Raymond has also been streaky. 

For head coach Derek Lalonde, he was clearly frustrated following last night's game at the lack of pure goal scoring talent on the roster.

"We have to finish," Lalonde said afterward. "I know it sounds simple, but we’re not natural finishers, goal scorers. We don’t have a ton of 30-, 40-, 50-goal scorers on our team. We don’t actually have any of them, really. It’s kind of got to be by a group. We just have to cash in on some of those chances. We had those looks, unfortunately it just didn’t go in.

"The inability to finish with some of our looks was a little bit frustrating."

Captain Dylan Larkin echoed his coach's sentiments: 

"We could have had more," Larkin said. "There were chances to be had. But you know what, we left a lot out there. 

"That’s an extremely difficult test coming out of a nine-day break. We played with emotion, the crowd was into it. We responded. We were right there, but just not enough. It is frustrating that we can’t find traction, but there is still a little bit of time for us."

The Red Wings will try to get back on the winning side of things tomorrow night when they host the Calgary Flames.