Red Wings HC Todd McLellan makes his thoughts clear about team’s shortcomings during first game in charge 

By ARJUN B

Modified Dec 28, 2024 06:46 GMT

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New Detroit Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan made his thoughts clear about the team's shortcomings in their first game under his leadership, a 5-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday night.

McLellan, who took over after former coach Derek Lalonde was fired, saw his team fall behind 5-0 after just two periods before eventually losing by three goals.

The veteran coach did not mince his words when asked about the loss postgame, singling out the team's defensive play as the main area in need of improvement.

"You don't have to be a hockey expert to see that some of our our entry coverage, some of the D zone, parts of the play have to get fixed. I think penalty kill has been obvious for a little while, but that's what happens when the team's not playing role well," McLellan said.

He went on to acknowledge the team's offensive struggles as well, saying the Red Wings would have needed to score six goals to win with the poor defensive effort.

"So we've got to pick one and we've got to get after it. And for me, that's on the defensive side, after what I saw tonight," he added.

The coach did find some silver linings, praising his team's perseverance after falling behind big early on and highlighting positives like the power play creating chances. But it was clear McLellan felt bolstering the defense needed to be priority number one going forward.

Mitch Marner (three goals), David Kampf and Nick Robertson scored for the Leafs. Joseph Woll stopped 23 shots in the win.

Lucas Raymond and Simon Edvinsson scored for Detroit. Cam Talbot gave up five goals on 21 shots, while Alex Lyon stopped two shots in relief.

Todd McLellan's Red Wings debut ends in loss

Todd McLellan was behind the bench for the first time since being fired by the Los Angeles Kings in February. When asked how he feels about his return as NHL coach:

"Well, I think the result always dictates the way you feel at the end of the night. That's really not about how I feel. It's part. Be more important about how the players feel and what they thought about the night as a whole," McLellan said.

He acknowledged feeling rusty being behind the bench again after time away.

"So the game for me was moving fast, and that's because I'm as rusty as rusty can be.But I thought overall it was, you know, for coaching perspective, it was exciting to be back there again, but we've got work to do," he added.

The Red Wings drop to 13-18-4 on the season. They take on the Washington Capitals next on Sunday.