After a disappointing overtime loss against the Philadelphia Flyers, Detroit Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan sent a straightforward message to captain Dylan Larkin and the rest of the team.

The honeymoon phase is well and truly over after a rough four-game outing. Now the Red Wings focus on how to move forward.

BOTTOM LINE: The Detroit Red Wings head into a matchup with the Montreal Canadiens after losing three in a row. Detroit is 5-8-1 against the Atlantic Division and 21-21-5 overall. The Red Wings are 3-6-3 in games they serve more penalty minutes than their opponents.

Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin shared his thoughts about the team's impressive resurgence following the firing of coach Derek Lalonde last month.

With the three losses, the Wings are again beginning to drift further away from an Eastern Conference playoff spot, as they did just before the holiday break, which led to the head-coaching change. The inability to gain much positive traction much of the first half of the season put the Wings in a hole that won't be easy from which to dig out.

When you do the math, it simply doesn’t add up to long-term success for the Detroit Red Wings. Sure, it’s great that the Red Wings are sending the NHL’s No.

The Red Wings have scored one goal in each of their past three games. They were averaging 4.3 goals per game in their previous nine (8-1-0). They were 17 for 34 on the power play during that run. Tuesday’s game was the first all season they didn’t get a power play.

Larkin managed an assist and three shots on goal in Sunday's 4-1 loss to the Stars.

Larkin, Jonatan Berggren and Patrick Kane had power-play goals for Detroit, which also got a goal from Marco Kasper. Cam Talbot stopped 40 shots for the Red Wings, who have won eight of their last nine games.

The Detroit Red Wings return home both a bit deflated and encouraged. They take a three-game winless streak against Atlantic Division rival Montreal Canadiens on Thursday after a day off that will allow them to decompress from playing four games on a six-day trip.

“This feels better and better,” Soderblom said. “The confidence just goes up.” For Soderblom to succeed at the highest level, McLellan said the young forward must learn how to use his 6-foot-8, 246-pound frame to his advantage consistently.

The Eastern Conference foes emerged from the first period scoreless, but the Red Wings were outshot by the Flyers, 8-6. Philadelphia broke the ice 5:21 into the second period when Joel Farabee got Sean Couturier’s pass and put it in on his backhand from up close to make it 1-0.