Avalanche 4, Wings 2
DENVER (WWJ) - The Wings took a seven game win streak into Denver but come out on the short end losing to the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 on Sunday.
The Wings came out strong in the first period with Johan Franzen getting Detroit on the board first on a power play and the Wings seemed to take control of the game.
The Avalanche responded in the second period - determined to kill the momentum that Detroit showed and scored two goals back to back.
"They took over the second period ... we weren't as good as we can be ... give them (Colorado) credit, but we didn't play as well as we could," said head coach Mike Babcock.
Daniel Cleary scored his fifth of the season - as he tied the game at two all - with an assist by Henrik Zetterberg and Todd Bertuzzi, but the Avalanche's T.J. Galiardi put the game winner in minutes later and Ryan O'Reilly sealed the fate of the Wings with an empty net goal in the final minute.
"We didn't seem to have our legs," said Cleary. "We were on our heels the whole second (period)."
"They are a fast team and when they get momentum - they get rolling," added Zetterberg. "Got to work right - it's not about working harder, it's about working right."
The Wings will play on the road 10 of 15 games in December - Detroit takes on the St. Louis Blues next on Wednesday.
