RECAP: Lack of crispness costs Detroit in 6-3 setback against Nashville 

DETROIT -- Despite holding a one-goal lead through 40 minutes of their annual Thanksgiving Eve matchup, the Detroit Red Wings ended up falling to the Nashville Predators, 6-3, at Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday night.

“I didn’t like our game most of the night,” Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan said. “I thought we were quite casual early in the game. Our passing was horrendous. There was nothing crisp about our game...Then when the third period starts, we gave up four in every different fashion that you could think of.”

Netminder Cam Talbot turned aside 21 shots for Detroit (13-10-1; 27 points), which dropped its second game in a row. Behind 24 saves from goalie Justus Annunen, Nashville (7-12-4; 18 points) snapped a three-game losing streak.

“We put Talbs in bad spots,” Lucas Raymond said. “He played another good game for us tonight and put us in a spot to win the game. For us, we got to have a better sense of urgency. We got to have better game management coming into the third. We didn’t have that tonight.”

The Red Wings went on the night’s first penalty kill at 15:09 of the first period and 39 seconds later, trailed the Predators 1-0 as the result of a tip-in goal from Michael Bunting. Nick Blankenburg, a Washington, Mich., native, fired the initial shot from the high slot and Bunting’s deflection trickled past Talbot.

Finding the back of the net for the third straight game and 12th time this season, Alex DeBrincat’s power-play goal tied it 1-1 at 5:30 of the second period. Lucas Raymond gathered the puck deep in Detroit’s defensive zone and passed it up to captain Dylan Larkin, who skated through the neutral zone before finding DeBrincat along the boards. He deked and dangled to the slot, where the 27-year-old forward roofed one over Annunen.

James van Riemsdyk gave the Red Wings their first – and unfortunately, what ended as their only – lead of the night when he deposited a feed from Patrick Kane in tight for a power-play goal to make it 2-1 at 16:34 of the second period. Nate Danielson also contributed an assist on van Riemsdyk’s second goal in as many games and third of the campaign.

Additionally, Detroit’s second tally was just the fifth time in the past 45 years that the No. 1- and No. 2-overall pick from the same NHL Entry Draft class (2007) factored on a goal together.

Nashville then scored twice in a 15-second span before the three-minute mark of the third period, going ahead 3-2. After Blankenburg received Ryan O’Reilly’s feed and deposited a backhand at 2:05, Roman Josi fired one upstairs from just above the goal line at 2:20.

“Individual mistakes that led to goals,” Moritz Seider said. “We just got to make sure we don’t give up easy offense like that. It’s kind of the turning point in those crucial games lately.”

Answering back less than a minute later to even the score for the Red Wings, Ben Chiarot sent a wrist shot from the blue line that snuck through traffic and into the back of the net to make it 3-3 at 3:04 of the third period. Recording the assists on Chiarot’s third goal of the season were Mason Appleton and J.T. Compher.

The score stayed that way until Ryan O’Reilly broke up the tie at 14:14, then Erik Haula scored another at 14:42 and Steven Stamkos’ empty-net goal with 1:25 remaining wrapped up the 6-3 final.

“I think our intensity wasn’t there [in the third period],” Raymond said. “Throughout most of the game, we weren’t strong on pucks and that really showed in that third period. Not nearly good enough.”

NEXT UP: Detroit will welcome the Tampa Bay Lighting to Little Caesars Arena for a Friday matinee.

WHAT WAS SAID

McLellan on the impact of Simon Edvinsson’s absence in a game like Wednesday's

“Simon’s a real good player. Obviously, he’s going to make a difference. But again, we scored three in Jersey and three here tonight. There are boatloads of teams that win games scoring three. It’s a three-goal League…You don’t need nine to win, but the way we play some nights, we do. Simon does make a difference. He’s a good hockey player. We needed seven to win tonight. I don’t Simon is going to make that much of a difference, sorry.”

Raymond on Detroit’s sense of urgency heading into the third period

“You come into the third at home, and you’re in a good spot to win a game. We got to be better than that. We know it. I think we would love to have that one back.”

Seider on if he shared Raymond’s opinion of the urgency level Detroit had in the final frame

“You kind of go through the whole night – every time there was a crucial battle, we kind of lost it. Obviously, sometimes that’s how it goes but just can’t go into the second or third game. We have an identity. We got to bring that, especially at home. We just have to be way harder to defend, play with a little more swagger and really up our intensity.”