Slow start dooms Arizona Coyotes in Detroit against Red Wings

DETROIT — The Coyotes were playing the last game of a five-game road trip on Tuesday in Detroit. It was the second game of a back-to-back set, they were without injured defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson and they were coming off an emotional first win against the Philadelphia Flyers in overtime on Monday.

Those circumstances demanded two basic requirements. Forward Derek Stepan said they needed to simplify their game while they found their legs, and the Coyotes needed their goaltender to hold the fort early.

Neither need was fulfilled. Detroit outshot Arizona 18-7 in the first period and recent acquisition Scott Wedgewood couldn’t deliver an encore performance in goal in a 5-3 loss to the Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena.

“We weren’t ready to start,” coach Rick Tocchet said. “Detroit was. They were a little quicker than us.”

Gustav Nyquist scored on a knuckling wrist shot from the high slot through some traffic at 1:29 of the first period for a 1-0 lead. Luke Glendening scored on a well-placed wrist shot from the right circle that beat Wedgewood high to the blocker side at 2:37 for a 2-0 lead.

Just when the Coyotes had regained some life on a Jason Demers goal at 11:36 of the second period, Wedgewood misplayed a puck, Dylan Larkin stripped Oliver-Ekman-Larsson in front of the net and the puck eventually ended up on Anthony Mantha’s stick for an easy tap-in at 13:03 for a 3-1 lead.

Coyotes defenseman Luke Schenn accidentally redirected Larkin’s crossing pass past Wedgewood and into the net six minutes later and the Wings were on their way to a season sweep of the Coyotes that dropped Arizona to 1-11-1 this season and 1-4 on this now concluded five-game road trip.

“That’s one that you kind of want to have early in a game and not get the guys down,” Wedgewood said of the first Detroit goal. “That’s something I’ve got to clean up.”

Wedgewood settled in and made some strong saves, including a highlight-reel glove save on Glendening. Arizona got third-period goals from Nick Cousins and Clayton Keller’s ninth of the season to cut the lead to 4-3 with 3:17 left in the game, but Darren Helm scored into an empty net for Detroit at 18:38.

Keller had two more points on Tuesday to extend his point-scoring streak to seven games (six goals, five assists). He leads all rookies with 15 points in 13 games, but the Coyotes are allowing a league-high 4.31 goals per game and they allowed 19 goals in the four losses on this trip.

“There is a lot of good things that we did,” Stepan said of the road trip. “I’m a firm believer in staying positive. That’s the way I roll. I’m a positive guy and I’ve got nothing but positive things to take out each night.

“We’ve still got to push for that 60. That’s the biggest glaring hole for me. You can’t have any mental lapses. You’ve got to be sharp for 60 minutes otherwise, as our record shows, you won’t be able to win many hockey games.”

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