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Todd McLellan’s harsh admission despite 2nd straight Red Wings win vs. Leafs
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- Todd McLellan’s harsh admission despite 2nd straight Red Wings win vs. Leafs
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The post Todd McLellan's harsh admission despite 2nd straight Red Wings win vs. Leafs appeared first on ClutchPoints .
The Detroit Red Wings earned a second straight big win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday afternoon, utilizing a Mason Appleton game-winner with under a minute left in regulation to secure a 3-2 victory at Scotiabank Arena.
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That came after the Wings beat the Leafs 6-3 on home ice on Saturday night. It's a great start for Todd McLellan's team, who improved to 2-1 following a season-opening loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
But despite the triumph, the head coach believes it wasn't the greatest effort from his club.
"We weren't near as good as we were the other night," the bench boss said afterwards, per NHL.com's Dave McCarthy. "We couldn't get ahead at all; we were always chasing the game as they were the other night. They were a quicker, harder, faster team. We were the slower team.
"Goaltending was huge, obviously. [Cam] Talbot had a superior effort between the pipes to give us even a chance to find some points. But then the resilience. We gave up a two-goal lead; we didn't quit. We didn't look real polished, but we didn't quit, and that's a good sign."
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Talbot has been excellent for Detroit since coming in, in relief of John Gibson against the Habs. He made 38 saves on 40 shots on Monday, sporting a sparkling .950 save percentage in the process. That's his second straight win after also backstopping Saturday's victory over Toronto.
"My mindset is just be ready for whatever opportunities I get to play," Talbot said, per McCarthy. "I feel like I can still play at a high level, and obviously, so can [Gibson], and that's why we brought him in. I feel like this tandem is going to be really good for us, and I feel like the guys are going to be really confident with whoever is in the net."
Red Wings win but potentially lose Lucas Raymond
Despite the win, the Red Wings lost key forward Lucas Raymond , who left the game midway through the second period after taking a hit along the boards from Leafs defenseman Chris Tanev .
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Raymond is one of the team's most important players and a staple on the top line alongside Dylan Larkin , who scored in the win. McLellan didn't have an update on the 23-year-old afterwards.
"We'll have to get him home and evaluate him," he said. "We will know more tomorrow."
Raymond played just a shade under eight minutes before leaving the game, assisting on Larkin's power-play goal late in the opening frame. The Swede is still playing at a point-per-game pace with two goals and an assist over three contests.
The Red Wings will be hoping that the star forward can return to the lineup as soon as Wednesday night when the defending champion Florida Panthers come to town.
Puck is set to drop just past 7:00 p.m. ET on the all-Atlantic Division tilt from Little Caesars Arena.
Related: Red Wings' Lucas Raymond leaves game vs Maple Leafs with upper-body injuy
