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Free-falling Red Wings get trampled again

Detroit Red Wings v Montreal Canadiens

MONTREAL, QC - DECEMBER 02: The Canadiens celebrate a second period goal by Jacob de la Rose #25 of the Montreal Canadiens against the Detroit Red Wings during the NHL game at the Bell Centre on December 2, 2017 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

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On Friday, the Detroit Red Wings wanted to let their play do the talking. What happened on Saturday night probably isn’t what they intended to say.

It’s an ugly time to be a Red Wings fan, surely.

Not convinced that a six-game losing streak was bad enough back in October, the Red Wings dropped their seventh straight in the most brutal of fashions on Saturday night in Montreal while testing new waters.

The Canadiens scored a touchdown and added a field goal in a 10-1 drubbing of a Red Wings team that looked completely lost and disinterested at Bell Centre.

Their total goals allowed during their current debacle? 36

How many have they scored themselves? 14

In the words of Inspector Gadget: “Wowzers.”

Indeed. It’s been a lacklustre and lackadaisical run for the Red Wings.

Saturday’s game was the kind of game that leads to heads rolling, and surely some changes need to take place in Detroit. Likely in the form of a full-fledged rebuild, perhaps one under a new management from the top down.

According to QuantHockey, the Red Wings are the only team above an average age of 29 years old, and thus the oldest team in the NHL.

That number isn’t changing with some of their declining veterans still commanding big minutes. They have one goal scorer in double digits and only one player with 20-plus points. If you subscribe to plus-minus, Detroit has just three players above zero. If possession metrics are your thing, the Red Wings are sub-50 percent and have the seventh lowest expected goals percentage.

If the Red Wings were looking for any letup in their upcoming schedule, they won’t find it. Despite the respite of playing their next five at Little Caesars Arena, they’ll have to face the top two teams in the Western Conference in the Winnipeg Jets and St. Louis Blues, along with the surging Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs during that span.

That means it could get worse before it gets better in Mo-Town.


Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck