RECAP: McLellan’s debut behind Red Wings’ bench spoiled in 5-2 loss to Maple Leafs

DETROIT -- Todd McLellan believes he has a better understanding of the Detroit Red Wings’ strengths and areas they need to improve coming off his first game as head coach, which was a 5-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Little Caesars Arena on Friday night.

“When you’re not on the bench, you forget how fast it really is,” said McLellan, who was named the 29th head coach in franchise history on Thursday afternoon. “When you begin a season as a coach, even if you’ve been with your team for a long time, you get an exhibition season…So, the game for me was moving fast and that’s because I’m as rusty as rusty can be. But I thought overall, from a coaching perspective, it was exciting to be back there. We’ve got work to do. I think that’s fairly evident. The game allows us a road map we know where we will begin tomorrow in practice.”

Goalie Cam Tablot made 16 saves through the first two periods before he was replaced by Alex Lyon, who stopped two shots for Detroit (13-18-4; 30 points). Joseph Woll was between the pipes for Toronto (22-12-2; 46 points) and finished the night with 23 saves.

“Individually, all of us have to perform better, maybe even get out of our comfort zone a little bit and do something that we don’t normally do,” Ben Chiarot said. “Play a little different style when things aren’t going well, so it’s on us. It’s on the guys in the room. You can have the greatest coach of all time back there, but if the guys aren’t willing to do it or buy into it, it doesn’t matter.”

The Maple Leafs found the back of the net first when David Kampf tapped home Steven Lortentz’s behind-the-goal-line pass from just above the crease to make it 1-0 at 2:29 of the first period.

Mitch Marner scored his first goal of the night at 8:16 of the first period. He was set up by John Tavares, who scooped up a rebound and sent a behind-the-back, between-the-legs feed to Marner to make it 2-0.

Giving Toronto a three-goal lead just before the first intermission, Marner scored on a cross-ice pass from William Nylander for his second tally to push it to 3-0 at 19:28 of the opening frame.

“We give up a goal on the first shot and that can be deflating,” McLellan said. “Obviously, you’re hoping for a good start, and all of a sudden you’re down 1-0. Not that the start was poor, but we just get scored on and then real poor game management skills there at the end.”

Marner completed the hat trick – the third of his NHL career – at 16:23 of the second period, tipping in a shot from Oliver Ekman-Larsson to pad the Maple Leafs’ advantage to 4-0.

Nicholas Robertson followed with a goal of his own just seconds before the horn sounded for the second intermission, one-timing Max Domi’s feed in front to extend it 5-0 at 19:58 of the middle frame.

The Red Wings scored twice in the third period with goals from Lucas Raymond and Simon Edvinsson for the 5-2 final.

Raymond lit the lamp on the power play at 8:17, with Moritz Seider and captain Dylan Larkin picking up the assists on the Swedish forward’s 14th goal of the season. Raymond continues to lead Detroit in goals (14), assists (20) and points (34) through 35 games.

Edvinsson got his fourth tally of the season at 12:08 of the third period when his wrist shot from deep beat a screened Woll. Assisted by Vladimir Tarasenko and J.T. Compher, Edvinsson has tallied nine points (three goals, six assists) in 17 games since Nov. 13.

“I felt like we had a lot of chances throughout the entire game,” Raymond said. “I felt like we got rewarded in the third [period], but they executed a little bit better than us tonight. I felt for sure we had a different jump, which was a good feeling. Obviously, it’s never fun losing 5-2, but it was a different feel and something to build off of.”

NEXT UP: The Red Wings will try to snap their four-game losing streak when they host the Washington Capitals at Little Caesars Arena on Sunday night.

POSTGAME QUOTES

McLellan on his emotions during and after Friday’s game

I think the result always dictates the way you feel at the end of the night. It’s really not about how I feel. It’s probably more important about how the players feel and what they thought about the night as a whole. For Trent and I to get our feet wet with the group, kind of figure out how the bench reacts to certain situations, the emotional level, seeing the team play at a certain pace. When you’re not on the bench, you forget how fast it really is.”

McLellan on his in-game communication

“I’m supposed to be trying to help them. Sometimes, I had to bark. Sometimes, they needed a pat in the back. I had to explain what my language was. We started flipping lines around. I wanted to make sure that some individuals knew they weren’t getting punished because they were maybe moved down a line or something like that.”

Chiarot on how the feeling was on the bench

“Quite a bit different. Obviously, a lot of communication from Todd telling us what he wants and what he wants to see. It’s good. It’ll only speed up the message he’s trying to get across, speed up the way he wants us to play.”