Detroit Red Wings: 4 Things We Learned from Blowout Loss Against Caps

The Detroit Red Wings and Washington Capitals played their highly anticipated matchup Saturday night as the only two unbeaten teams left in the NHL.

To hardly anyone's surprise with any highly anticipated game, the game wasn't even competitive after the first period, ending with a 7-1 Washington win.

Detroit now moves on with a 5-1 record, awaiting their next contest, a road game against Columbus on Tuesday night.

But before playing Columbus, Detroit has some serious work to do on their game as a whole.

Here are five things we learned that must be fixed from the loss against the Capitals.

1. Ty Conklin is Not Immortal

Obviously Conklin is not immortal, but he did post a shutout in the game that he played before this one.

Against the Caps, Conklin's stats dropped remarkably after he put up a stinker in goal last night.

After getting that shutout against Colorado in his first start of the season, Conklin's stats are now a whopping 3.50 GAA and a 87.0 save percentage.

In all fairness, Detroit's team defense didn't help him out much, and a couple of the goals he likely couldn't see at all.

However, a goalie giving up seven goals on only 25 shots does not inspire confidence to your team by any stretch.

Conklin held his team in the game after giving up three goals in just under two periods of play.

But with eight seconds to go in the second period, and Detroit only trailing 3-1 at this point, Conklin could not contain a rebound on a Matt Hendricks shot, and the puck drifted between him and the net and was tapped in by Matthieu Perreault to make it 4-1.

Talk about a momentum killer.

Backup goalies are not expected to go out and put up a gem in net every night, but they have to keep their team in the game.

Conklin could not even do that as he gave up four goals on 14 shots through two periods last night.

2. Detroit's Penalty Kill is Still Terrible

Detroit's penalty killing was a real problem last year in the regular season and the playoffs.

Detroit gave up two power-play goals in four chances against Washington.

That was not totally unexpected against what has been a top power play in years past, but the suprise was how few shots Washington's power play needed to put up their two goals.

Washington needed only had two shots on four power play opportunities.

But it was all they needed to score their two goals.

Detroit gave up numerous opportunities to the Capitals in the first period, and two of Washington's first three goals came on the power play. This basically set the tone for the rest of the game as Detroit was playing from behind after falling behind 3-0 on Washington's second power-play goal.

The ability to kill penalties only really does a team good if they get the big penalty kill when they need it to stay in a game, not when they are up by a large margin already.

Detroit's inability to get the big kills in this game killed them as far as the momentum to the game was concerned.

Their penalty killing is still not where they need it to be going forward in the season, so it is a good thing that they are among the five least-penalized teams in the NHL.

3. Detroit's Power Play isn't Done with Growing Pains Yet

Detroit's power play ranks 12th in the League currently; five goals on 28 chances.

The league rank is not bad, but Detroit's power play is only connecting 17.9 percent of the time.

Detroit had three power-play goals in their win over Columbus, but just one power-play goal against Washington on four straight power plays, including two 5-on-3 power plays. Detroit's power play had a chance to get them back into the game and did so momentarily as Detroit scored on their first 5-on-3.

But Detroit was only down 3-1 at that point, and they failed to capitalize on the next lengthy power play, and the game slipped away from them after that point.

Detroit needs to be better executing when they have such a sizable advantage like the 5-on-3s that they had the other night against Washington.

Detroit got two power-play goals from Johan Franzen in the game against Columbus, but Franzen was minus-three against Washington and was ultimately a non-factor.

Detroit's power play still has a lot of work to do as they continue to gel with Ian White playing the right-handed shot on the point of the power play.

4. Ericsson and Kindl Have a Long Way to Go To Become a Shutdown Pair

Jonathan Ericsson and Jakub Kindl combined to go plus-nine in the first two games of the season.

Against Washington, they combined to go minus-six. That's not counting the power-play goals that Washington scored against Detroit.

Kindl and Ericsson were not expected to be major contributors this season, but Ericsson did sign that big new deal back in free agency, so he should be playing better than he did against Washington.

Detroit's play in the slot has been noticeably sloppier over the past couple games, allowing opposition to get into the slot and screen Howard and Conklin, making it more difficult to make saves.

I said earlier that Conklin wasn't completely to blame for the goals that he gave up, and this is evident when watching how much traffic was in front of him in the Washington game.

Where Do They Stand Now?

Detroit will start Conklin again in their next game in Columbus on Tuesday. They likely will need to clear the front of the net and allow him to see the puck more than the Washington game.

They only gave up 25 shots on goal, but they gave up some very quality scoring chances, and failed to capitalize on their power play while giving up far too much ice to Mike Green, who had four points against Detroit.

Detroit looks strong out of the gate, but their weaknesses in front of their own net, and on special teams have become very noticeable, especially in the Washington game.

Here's hoping they can bounce back against the Jackets and keep them winless tonight.

Follow Isaac on Twitter for more article updates.