The free-falling Wild are still plummeting.
They were outmatched 4-1 by the Red Wings on Sunday afternoon at Little Caesars Arena to suffer a season-high seventh consecutive loss since their last win almost three weeks ago.
"We've got to change something," Wild coach Dean Evason told reporters in Detroit. "Can't just continue to be, 'Oh, it's good effort. We outshot them. We had lots of chances.'
"We're still losing, so we gotta find a way to win."
How the Wild lost: Detroit's Dylan Larkin capitalized on his own rebound with 3 minutes, 7 seconds left in the second period to snap a 1-1 tie and give the Red Wings a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
"That's on me," Frederick Gaudreau said. "Just a bad read."
David Perron scored his second power play goal only 1:29 into the third against Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson (19 saves), and Shayne Gostisbehere tacked on an empty-netter with 23 seconds to go to polish off a four-point performance. Baudette's Alex Lyon was sharp; the former Yale goalie totaled 37 saves to win his second career start against the Wild.
Almost half of Lyon's stops came in the third period, the Wild outshooting Detroit 18-7 but getting denied on all their attempts.
"The frustration is turning to anger," Evason said.
Turning point: Larkin's game-winner was a deflating way for the Wild to finish a second period that they mostly controlled.
They had plenty of chances to bury the tiebreaker, racking up 14 shots. Marco Rossi had a few tries in tight, including an uncontested one-timer. Jonas Brodin made a cut to the middle seconds before Larkin's goal and after it, Joel Eriksson Ek lost the handle on a breakaway.
That lack of execution was costly, especially after the Wild eked out a tie from a first period in which the Red Wings had the edge.
At 4:06, Perron wound up for a one-timer inside the left circle on the power play — a nearly identical goal to the one he'd tally later in the third after a trip by Pat Maroon in Wild territory.
The Wild would put Detroit on the power play two more times in the first period, Matt Boldy getting whistled twice for holding, but the penalty kill denied both looks.
Then with 12 seconds left, Eriksson Ek deflected in a Kirill Kaprizov shot for his team-leading 10th goal and sixth on the power play. That set up a fresh start in the second period, but the Wild wasted it.
"It feels like the more you go into [this] stretch, the more nervous stuff we do on the ice," Gaudreau said. "But I don't think there's a magic recipe other than play hard and play the right way."
What it means: This seven-game skid is uncharted territory for the Evason-led Wild, and it's the franchise's longest funk since an eight-game swoon Jan. 23-Feb. 13, 2016.
They came close to ending this slump in recent efforts vs. Ottawa, Toronto and Colorado, but the Wild were foiled by familiar problems against Detroit. The power play went 1-for-5, and the Wild were shorthanded five times; the Red Wings converted twice vs. the league's worst penalty kill.
"Same guys are not pulling their weight," Evason said, "and same mistakes that happen most nights don't allow us to have a true, true chance of winning a hockey game."
Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek are beginning to create more offense, but Boldy's goal drought is up to 10 games.
"There's sometimes when a player's gotta step up," Evason said. "I don't care how old you are, and I don't care what's going on. These guys get paid a lot of money to score goals and to play better, and some guys aren't."
The Wild (5-10-4) have sunk to near the bottom of the NHL standings — their last victory coming on Nov. 7 during a 2-8-3 lull overall — and the upcoming week will be telling.
Ryan Hartman will have a hearing on Monday for slew-footing/tripping Detroit's Alex DeBrincat, and starting Tuesday the Wild play three in a row against Central Division rivals — an opportunity to make up some ground or fall further behind.
"We'll do what we can do from our end," Evason said. "But there's gotta be some looking in the mirror, as well."
The Star Tribune did not send the writer of this article to the game. This was written using a broadcast, interviews and other material.
