Struck by Energy, Panthers Defeat Wings 2-1

The Detroit Red Wings looked dead against the Florida Panthers on Saturday evening. After coming off a hard-earned victory over the New Jersey Devils the night before, the Wings looked tired and ill-prepared to go again against a Florida team that was currently desperate for wins.The team did not show enough energy in every aspect against the Panthers, allowing them to notch two against Wings goaltender Jonas Gustavsson, handing him his first regular season loss of the season.

“I thought it was lack of energy for sure. You try to fight through it the best you possibly can,” Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said after his team fell to 5-6-6 at Joe Louis Arena. “We had a game last night, they sat in our building, hung out and waited for us. There’s no excuse for anything, you got to find ways to win games.”

Assistant Captain Niklas Kronwall is was just as frustrated with the inconsistency.

“We stopped skating, I don’t think it has anything to do with the energy. I don’t know what it is,” defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. “We have to be a lot more desperate and determined than that. We stopped skating and started watching hockey instead of playing.”

Darren Helm is currently awaiting results from an MRI on an injured shoulder suffered against the Philadelphia Flyers. Captain Henrik Zetterberg (herniated disk) and young defenseman Danny DeKeyser (separated shoulder) are also both nursing long-term injuries.

The team can only hope for their increasingly scary list of injuries to dull down by the time the second half of the season rolls around.

Pavel Datsyuk is expected to return tonight in Florida where the Wings get another chance against the Panthers at 7:30 p.m. EST.

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Information from the Detroit Red Wings was used in this report.

For more information on the Detroit Red Wings and NHL hockey from analysts and journalists at Michigan State University – tune into Octopi Hockeytown podcasts and embrace the Spartan debate at www.impact89fm.org/sports

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Austin Goodman is the host of Octopi Hockeytown for Impact Sports.

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Scoring Summary:

1st Period:

DET – 4:06 – D. Cleary (Snap) (J. Abdelkader, C. Emmerton)

2nd Period:

FLA – 2:59 – J. Hayes (Wrist) (S. Matthias, D. Olsen)

3rd Period:

FLA – 3:29 – J. Huberdeau (Backhand) (T. Gilbert, S. Matthias)

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Three Stars:

First: Shawn Matthias

(2A, +2, 2 shots, 13:06 TOI)

Second: Jonas Gustavsson

(37SA, 2GA, .946%, 32-34EV, 2-2PP, 1-1SH)

Third: Brian Campbell

(2 shots, 24:02 TOI)

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