(Photo credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images)

The Detroit Red Wings had an opportunity to distance themselves from the pack chasing the two wild-card berths in the Eastern Conference. Following three straight losses, the Red Wings need to turn things around quickly to fulfill their goal of ending their eight-year playoff drought.

Detroit, which hosts Utah on Thursday night, dropped a pair of games to Columbus last week. The Red Wings then lost 2-1 Tuesday at home to Carolina.

They were outshot 30-25 and lost 29 of 48 faceoffs.

'We had a tough time skating, so it was really hard for us to make plays,' Detroit coach Todd McLellan said. 'We looked like we were in mud. We couldn't separate real well and then we got hemmed in our zone. A lot of our time and our energy was spent defending and, when we finally got the puck, we had no legs to go the other way.

'There were a few reasons for that -- one, just legs and energy -- I don't know why we didn't have it,' McLellan added. 'Two, we didn't win a lot of faceoffs in our zone, so we started there and they're a volume-shooting team, so they're firing around and we got hemmed in a few times. And then three, I thought they were just flat-out quicker to pucks in our zone.'

McLellan tried to shake things up by making key line changes. He moved 6-foot-8 Elmer Soderblom to the first line with Lucas Raymond and Dylan Larkin. Soderblom scored Detroit's lone goal. Rookie Marco Kasper, who had been playing wing on that line, was moved to his natural center position.

Detroit needs more production from Larkin and Raymond to make a playoff push. Neither has recorded a point in the last four games.

'Two real good, great players to play with, every player wants to play with those kinds of guys,' Soderblom said. 'They create space for you and make you have more time. It's super fun to have that chance.'

The Utah Hockey Club has been playing solid defense recently. They have allowed only six goals in the last four games. Utah had a three-game winning streak snapped by New Jersey on Saturday.

The Devils scored twice in the third period to collect a 3-1 victory. Mikhail Sergachev scored Utah's only goal.

'Obviously, they're a great team,' Sergachev said. 'They're pretty fast, too. So it was like two fast teams out there. They just scored more than we did.'

Clayton Keller had his six-game points streak snapped in that contest. Keller had recorded four goals and eight assists during the streak.

Olli Maatta will see his former teammates for the first time since Detroit traded him early in the season for a third-round draft pick. The veteran defenseman signed a three-year extension with Utah on Monday.

'It means a lot to me,' he said. 'It shows they have confidence and trust in you. At the same time, it does put pressure on you to perform and I think that's a good thing. I think it's a privilege to be in this situation. Now you've got to perform.'

--Field Level Media