DETROIT — You talk about a game being decided by the special teams, Sunday's Detroit Red Wings' contest certainly was.

And not to the Wings' benefit.

The Chicago Blackhawks scored three power-play goals on its way to a 5-1 victory over the Red Wings.

The Wings continued to struggle on the power play, failing on five attempts, and are now 1 for 20 on the man advantage in their last five games.

The Wings had a four-minute power play toward the end of the second period – former Wing Tyler Bertuzzi was whistled for roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct – and failed to convert, trailing 2-1.

"The whole special teams battle, it was downhill for us, it wasn't even close," coach Todd McLellan said. "The power play, we didn't get in and get established, and we had a tough time entering the zone. We lost faceoffs, so all of a sudden you keep starting in your zone.

"We had 10 minutes on the power play and they had 1:19 and they had three goals off their three shots and we went 0 for 11 (on shots). That's the game."

Bertuzzi atoned to his teammates on a Blackhawks power play, beating goaltender John Gibson alone in front, Bertuzzi's ninth goal, and sixth in his last three games, giving Chicago a 3-1 lead early in the third period.

Connor Bedard (two assists) and Teuvo Teravainen had the other Blackhawks power-play goals, while Andre Burakovsky had an empty-net goal and Oliver Moore scored his first NHL goal with 15 seconds left. Goaltender Arvid Soderblom (yes, brother of the Wings' Elmer Soderblom) made 44 saves.

"We had (offensive) chances," said captain Dylan Larkin, who scored the lone Wings' goal. "Vegas (1-0 loss Tuesday), we didn't have many chances. The last two at home here, we've had chances. We didn't give up much (Sunday) but we lost the special teams battle (but) we had look after look."

Larkin put some blame on himself for not converting several quality scoring opportunities the last two games.

"That's on me," Larkin said. "People look to me to score and look to the big guys to score, and I would point the finger at myself. I have to put the puck in the back of the net in key situations off good plays."

McLellan felt Larkin was the least of the Wings' worries.

"That's noble Dylan is leading that way and stepping in front of the proverbial bullet but you could have lined up a bunch of players tonight asking the same questions," McLellan said.

The Wings (9-7-0) have lost three consecutive games and four of their last five, with the power play a key reason.

Not getting the puck to the net, too much perimeter play, and entering the zone with the puck are all issues that have weakened the Wings' on the power play.

"It's not good enough," Larkin said. "It starts with the faceoff, which I take most of the time, and you have to win the first battle of the two minutes. When we were going good, we were winning those draws and attacking and getting the (penalty) kill on its heels.

"I don't want to make too much out of it. It's not good enough right now, but we have a good power play and we have the personnel. We've shown it, not just over a few games, but over years, and we showed we can be good.

"We just have to figure it out."

A Larkin tripping penalty put the Wings on the penalty kill only 26 seconds into the game.

The Blackhawks quickly capitalized with Bedard whistling a shot past Gibson (15 saves), Bedard's ninth goal, at 59 seconds of the first period.

Now in his third season, Bedard, 20, is further evolving into the offensive force many analysts predicted he'd become, when he entered the NHL.

"(Bedard) is still a really young man and the amount of pressure that was put on that individual those first few years, it's hard for them to handle it," said McLellan Saturday, talking about the 2023 No. 1 overall draft pick. "I see him now, his skills are coming out. He's very confident playing a two-way game. Blash (Chicago coach Jeff Blashill, the former Wings' coach) has done a really good job there with that team and with him in particular.

"When he (Bedard) exudes confidence, everybody seems to pick up on it."

Larkin answered back for the Wings, tying the game 1-1 with his ninth goal, diving to push in a loose puck past Soderblom, at 4:19 of the first period.

But Teravainen broke the tie with his third goal, at 3:22 of the second period, on the power play. Bertuzzi found Teravainen open near the hashmarks and Teravainen snapped a shot past Gibson, putting Chicago (8-5-3) in front for good.

On Sunday the Wings recalled forward Nate Danielson, their 2023 first-round draft pick (ninth overall), and he played 15:16 on 19 shifts with four shots on net.

The move, said McLellan, was made to ignite the Wings' offense.

"We have been struggling offensively," McLellan said. "Nate, had he not been hurt in training camp, he would have started with our team based on where he was when he did get injured. He worked hard to stay healthy. He had an upper-body injury and was able to keep his legs going. He's had a pretty good start in Grand Rapids.

"For his first game, he did some good things on the ice. It's unfortunate he leaves like the rest of the players with a loss. But he, individually, certainly wasn't our problem.

"We want to see him now so we can make a decision based on other players."

Forwards Michael Rasmussen and Jonatan Berggren were healthy scratches.

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