Red Wings' Zetterberg calls out teammates after loss to Golden Knights
The Detroit Red Wings lost 4-0 at home to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday and captain Henrik Zetterberg wasn't happy with the performance of some of his teammates.
"There's too much poke-and-hope on a lot of players," Zetterberg told Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press. "If you want to be a solid player in this league, and if you want to win something, you have to learn to play the right way.
"Poke-and-hope might get you 25-30 goals, but you will never win anything."
When Zetterberg first came up with the Red Wings, some of the best two-way players to ever lace up a pair of skates were the team's leaders, such as Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov, Nicklas Lidstrom, and Chris Chelios. He learned from the best, and now he's trying to set an example of the right way to play for his own younger teammates.
"You have to play defense first," he said. "We have guys in here who have enough skill to create chances and get enough chances. You can't force and gamble all the time. You have to do it right and eventually you will get chances. It's not often you get chances when you cheat. Sometimes you will get rewarded, but not in the long run."
The Wings had 12 giveaways in the game - five more than the Golden Knights - including a blatant one by Anthony Mantha that directly led to a shorthanded goal.
Wow.
- Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 9, 2018
Karlsson is on Mantha like white on rice, leading to Eakin strike #VegasBorn #LGRW pic.twitter.com/ZauR6jwgOS
Head coach Jeff Blashill, who unsurprisingly also wasn't pleased with the team's effort, provided further detail as to what poke-and-hope hockey is, and why it's unacceptable.
"Poke-and-hope hockey is called 50-50 hockey," Blashill said. "It's a way to lose tons of games. To me it's a young mistake and we had enough young guys do it for sure. You basically poke and you hope that you get it and if you don't get it they're going to get a chance. Well, that's not the way you win. You want to create chances without giving up chances. When you play poke-and-hope hockey you're done."
The Red Wings will get right back at it on Friday when they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets.
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