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| Photo by: Dave Reginek.Getty Images |
A heartbreaking loss for the Red Wings started the new home stand at the Joe Louis Arena Saturday night. Alex Galchenyuk won it for the Montreal Canadiens in overtime 2-1 over Detroit. Carey Price won his 13th game of the season in what was a tight game up to the late stages of regulation.
The Red Wings sat on a two-game winning streak that they worked very hard to accomplish. In both instances, Detroit pushed things to limit beating the Devils and the Sabres in overtime situations. Their second meeting against the Canadiens was one where they hoped they wouldn’t get a repeat in their 5-0 shutout against them two weeks ago.
The Habs remain at the top of the Atlantic Division with Carey Price tearing things up carrying a 12-1-1 record in his last 14 starts. He and the Canadiens have been a force that many have fallen under, but the Red Wings will try to change their pace and the future of the 60-minute match.
The Habs started with a strong chance with captain Max Pacioretty going for a wrap around on Mrazek who made his first start in some time. The Czech made the important stop to get his team going on defense. Montreal made their way back with Alexander Radulov coming in for the second rush but it was brought to a halt in the Detroit zone.
Their efforts were not done on the ice as they fought the puck away from Detroit and went back to bringing further heat to Mrazek in net. A huge chance for Artturi Lehkonen arrived when he had a large part of the net wide open with Petr Mrazek laid out flat. He found the energy to get up enough just in time to make an awesome glove save. The save gave the Red Wings offense some energy to bring offensive support and counter Montreal.
They couldn’t up their time on puck possession as the Habs broke apart many opportunities near the blue line despite slowing Montreal down. By the second half of the period, Detroit showed life in their sticks, taking scoring chances on Price. Though it wasn’t enough to make a big statement, they proved their existence in the opening 20 minutes allowing Montreal just four shots more in the final ten minutes.
Detroit improved slowly in the second period but surpassing the Canadiens wasn’t near to the speed that they wanted to be. The Red Wings took five shots through nine minutes while holding the Habs to just a pair. At the halfway point, Detroit earned the game’s first power play but it didn’t help them in the slightest. A cause for concern came where an injury to Brendan Smith took him off the ice in a knee to knee collision near the boards with Montreal left winger Phillip Dannault.
Tyler Bertuzzi became an addition to the injury list as he took a hard check to the boards by Montreal’s Alexei Emelin. The impact from Emelin caused Bertuzzi to get tangled up on the boards that caused him serious pain to the point of nearly needing assistance off the ice. Despite having two men out, the Red Wings did well for themselves with a late power play and outshot the Canadiens 15-5.
The third period saw them stay up 5 on 4 but the Habs killed off the remainder of their penalty with considerable ease. Both teams clearly became incensed on getting the first goal in for their benefit. The Red Wings were forced to play double shifts with Bertuzzi and Smith out of action. The need for consistency seemed the be just the change Detroit needed to put themselves ahead. Justin Abdelkader was responsible for the go ahead shot on goal that was helped out by Frans Nielsen once again. Nielsen delivered a one-time centering shot for Abdelkader giving him his fourth of the season.
The remaining 16:40 of regulation was now in Detroit’s hands to maintain their hold of the lead with solid defense and a shutout from Mrazek required to win. They continued to outshoot the Canadiens showing their want for a progressive winning streak as well as improvements to the offensive side of their game. It nearly became a 2-0 Red Wings lead with Detroit slapping away at chances near and around Price. The Habs net minder got lucky to have the puck stop under his back that brought the whistle from the referee and ended the onslaught.
Montreal got into an aggressive pace to even up the game with Emelin taking his physical play to another level. He got near the boards with Dylan Larkin where a knee to knee contact took the 20-year-old rookie off the ice writhing in pain. He returned to the bench but not before Montreal evened the game. A shot from Tomas Plekanec from the corner redirected off the stick of Brendan Gallagher that gave him his fifth on the year and first in 16 games.
With the Habs back in the game, it was once again a race to the finish where either way, one team would win it. Five minutes remained in the period with Montreal recording shots on the net of Mrazek catching up to the numbers put up by Detroit. Neither they nor Detroit could get the game winner into the net forcing a third overtime period for the Red Wings.
A massive opportunity came for Detroit in the shape of a slashing penalty to Shea Weber giving the Red Wings a 4 on 3 in hopes of winning it. The power play was foiled for the third time in the game with only one way left to win it. After a reset came, the Canadiens were getting warmed on turning over the puck. A bad run came for them as Montreal got the puck to go on a solid 2 on 1 at Mrazek. Radulov skated along with Galchenyuk who was passed the puck below going for a shot that got behind the Czech goaltender.
It was an absolute heartbreaker for the Red Wings who did pick up a point in the battle but came to the realization that they lost a second straight to the Canadiens. While Mrazek had a well-rounded performance, the winner for the 13th time was Price who earned top honors stopping 32 shots on the Red Wings for a .970 save percentage.
It was Mrazek’s second overtime loss this season making 22 saves on the night for a .917 percentage. Detroit picked up a much needed point but wanted more in what wasn’t the end of their home run. Tuesday would resume their fight for points when they host the Dallas Stars Tuesday.
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