“Tough video” showed the Red Wings’ penalty shootout problems

DETROIT – In the spirit of Halloween, the Detroit Red Wings gathered Friday before practice to watch a scary video – their penalty kick.

It was a problem early in the game, and it was exploited on Thursday as New Jersey scored three goals and the Red Wings won 5-3. Here are the highlights before Saturday’s game at Buffalo (1 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network).

“We lacked some details. It was a tough video today,” trainer Derek Lalonde said. “We’re still in a situation where we’re dealing with early in the year. I wouldn’t say alarming, but there were some bad trends with some simple details with solid guys.

“It’s a little bit in the middle, so you lack confidence in it. You’re a little slow in your rotation, you miss a free kick, you miss a throw-in, and if it continues in the back of the net, it builds up. (The meeting) was a bit over-loaded on some details with little attitude to them. Look no further than the urgency we had on the two penalties we had in the last two games to win a hockey game. We probably need a little more of that.”

Ben Chiarot said “the structure, the desperation, the details, the rebounding when we have the puck, being in the right places when we don’t” have to be better.

The Red Wings (4-3-0) are next to last in the league in penalty kill (nine goals on 24 chances, 62.5 percent). They’ve won three straight thanks to strong five-on-five play (they haven’t scored a goal in their last eight periods), which is mostly due to goaltending (they’ve been outscored 97-44 during that stretch).

But it is not sustainable. They need to reinforce the penalty.

“It’s frustrating to talk about it and then not go out there and do it,” Lalonde said. “Three (games) in four (days), we have no chance to repeat that. We’d like to do it again when we get the chance next week.”

It didn’t help that the Red Wings were missing a pair of penalty kickers Thursday in JT Compher and Tyler Mott. Execution still needs improvement, Dylan Larkin said.

“We’re giving the puck to their best players too much,” Larkin said. “We give them too much time. As an active player, you like to play with the puck and it’s amazing what those chances can do for your game and you start to feel good.”

They also charge too many fines and at the wrong time, he said.

“There are penalties that you can kill and there are penalties that are just complete momentum swings,” Larkin said. “But mostly enforcement, not getting our permits, not doing our routes. We have to find a groove and find consistency.”

Lineup changes?

Komfer (flu) was out for the second day in a row, but Lalonde said he was a possibility on Saturday. If he is unable to play, they will again dress 11 forwards and seven defenders.

Mott (upper body injury) has missed three games and will be out for at least the weekend (they host Edmonton on Sunday). He started riding on his own.

Alex Lyon starts in goal.