The Slumping Wings fall behind early and lose to the Storm, but are unable to recover

Saturday's 5-2 loss at Carolina was the latest proof that the Red Wings can use strength.

The Slumping Wings fall behind early and lose to Hurricane, but they can't recover

Raleigh, NC – The NHL trade deadline is Friday and the Red Wings could use some spark.

Saturday's 5-2 loss to the Hurricanes in Carolina was the latest evidence that a Wings team needs a boost.

The loss left the Wings with just two wins in their last seven games (2-4-1).They also only scored more than two goals once in that span (a 4-3 loss against Washington).

There are also many wings who start to falter in the most important part of the season.

"Right now we have some guys that are playing well and strong," Red Wings coach Todd McClellan said."Then we have some guys who are just in jerseys and what I mean by that is they're wearing jerseys and skating around and spending a few minutes, but we need more. We just need more.

“We talk about winning five-on-five and we talk about forechecking, but if you're not forechecking and you're being physical and shooting and backchecking and winning faceoffs, blocking shots, what are you doing?We need more than a few guys.You can't just be on the team this time of year.You have to be efficient at this time of year.”

The Wings recalled Dominik Shane for the first time on Saturday, with Shane replacing Elmer Soderblom in the lineup.Shane played nine minutes, five seconds in 15 shifts and had two good scoring opportunities.

"Dominic Schein stepped up and played really well," McLellan said.He made a breakaway play and got off the goal line, two very good chances to score.

With the loss, the Wings (33-20-6) fell to a wild card position, behind Buffalo (76 points) and Montreal (75).Washington (69 points), the first team out of the Eastern Conference playoff picture, is five points behind the Wings and has played two more games than the Wings.

Carolina (38-15-6) is unbeaten in regulation in 12 games (10-0-2) and leads the Eastern Conference.

"They're Easterners and you've got to come in here at some point and score," Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin said."I didn't think we killed them and let them climb over us and come back into the waves."

Former Wings defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere scored the Wings' 10th goal early in the third period, giving Carolina a 4-2 lead.

Gostisbehere and Jackson Blake made a clean layup, and Gostisbehere skated to the rim and shot Cam Talbot at 2 minutes, 18 seconds.

Gostisbehere's goal caught the momentum that was all on the wing side.

The Wings had seven of 23 shots in two periods in the final seven minutes of the second period.Carolina was dominant at the time, but penalty kicks by Carolina's Ben Chiarot and Andrei Svechnikov tied the score at four.

Box Score: Hurricane 5 Red Wings 2

Simon Edwinsson's shot from the point, his seventh goal, cut the deficit to 3-1 at the 18:26 mark, sparking Krylo.

47 seconds later, Patrick Kane drove in and found a spot near the point, and with Anderson pinning, he scored his ninth goal — ending a 14-game drought — to cut the deficit to 3-2 at 19:13.

But Gostisbe's goal here is to change the look of the game.

“If you look at a pattern, we're not making contact, maybe we're not pinching and covering when we shouldn't, and those are easy fixes,” defenseman Moritz Seider said."Honestly, we played them and beat them. But they're too good a team to play around."

Taylor Hall, Sebastian Aho (power play) and Eric Robinson scored the first three goals for Carolina, Robinson's layup tap gave the Hurricanes a 3-0 lead at 2:52 of the second period.

Hall scored on a breakaway after blocking Edvinsson's shot at the blue line, and Aho scored with eight seconds left in the first period when Edvinsson's stick headed the puck past Talbot.So, despite a fairly even first period, on a field where Carolina starts fast, the Wings found themselves two goals down.

"It's not a disaster, but we're 2-1," McClain said.

The Wings close out a three-game road trip Monday at Nashville (2 p.m., FDSN/97.1).It was a rare game on a weekday afternoon against an opponent that has scored points in eight of its last 10 games and is on the verge of clinching a Western Conference playoff spot.

The Wings need more points, otherwise the talk of another March swoon will start to get louder and louder.

"It's a big game," Seider said."We can win our way there and go home with four very good points. That's our attitude."