Compher and his teammates, along with head coach Todd McLellan, talked about the ramifications of Detroit’s first period, when it took two separate penalties in the opening minutes.
“It’s no excuse, but it’s something that happens,” Compher said. “Once you get everyone out there, after maybe five to six minutes of the game, you should be able to settle in. I don’t think we did that quick enough in the first.”
Spending that much time down a skater early made it difficult for the Red Wings to find their groove against the Sabres as the game progressed, McLellan explained.
“That whole sequence affects how some guys feel, as far as fatigue goes already,” McLellan said. “And then how others feel, like guys are skating around during TV timeouts and stretching on the bench. They’re anxious. They’ve been in the proverbial starting blocks for six, seven minutes. It throws the whole rhythm off. We didn’t recover well. We finally got it going in the second, but by then it’s 2-2 and we take another three penalties. Certainly, hurt us.”
Finishing 4-for-5 on the penalty kill in Buffalo, Detroit is now 16-for-18 (88.9-percent success rate) while shorthanded this season. And while the Red Wings obviously want to avoid the penalty box as much as possible, their PK units have been a bright spot early on.