The Detroit Red Wings allowed a winnable game to slip from their grasp. And the statistics for one player were excruciating.
The St. Louis Blues defeated the Red Wings 5-4 even though they only managed 15 shots on goal. A group of individuals will point their fingers at goalie John Gibson if he allows five goals on 15 shots.
Nevertheless, head coach Todd McLellan did not solely hold Gibson accountable. McLellan said, “You can’t blame this on John Gibson. You may look at five goals in 15 shots, but he had no opportunity on the first two, then two lasers from the hash marks, and then a tip,” according to Dave Hogg of NHL.com.
While goaltenders are supposed to protect the net and make important saves when a team’s defense fails, if they are asked to accomplish this while allowing high-quality shots over high-quantity shots, the outcome will be similar to what the Red Wings witnessed on Saturday.
No, Gibson did not take on the role of hero on Saturday. Nevertheless, at critical periods, the Red Wings did not provide him with much assistance. Considering how well Detroit has defended this season, it was shocking to see them collapse.
Defense of the Red Wings collapsed at the incorrect moment.
Which is worse? None of St. Louis’ goals were scored on the power play. Detroit has had a poor penalty kill all season, stopping opponent power plays only 66.67% of the time going into Saturday’s game. Instead, their typically strong 5-on-5 defensive performance was to blame, and they were 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
Detroit allowed just 20 goals at 5-on-5 and 21.1 goals against expected goals (xGA) going into the game. Both were significantly superior to the league averages of 27 and 28.6.
Entering Saturday, the Red Wings have allowed only 25.15 shots on target per game in all circumstances, thus they haven’t allowed many. Additionally, Detroit had given up 239 scoring opportunities at 5-on-5, 46 more than the league average. They allowed 75 high-danger opportunities, which was 25 more than the mean.
While Gibson could have stopped a couple of those shots McLellan mentioned, it is also fair to account for the defense breaking down and failing to make things tougher for St. Louis’ scorers.
Detroit Should Have Learned A Tough Lesson On Saturday
Allowing 15 shots on goal and having decent season-long defensive metrics indicates that the Red Wings are good at shutting down opponents. Or, at least limiting opportunities.
But when they give opponents golden opportunities? Even those few and far between, and those opponents capitalize? Allowing five goals can and will happen.
