The Calgary Flames put their best forward to get a final victory at the Joe Louis Arena. A charge on offense led them to scoring the game’s final goal giving them a 3-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings Sunday night. The loss handed them their third consecutive loss and another that was more painful than the last.
Detroit suffered another one goal loss for the second time with nothing coming from the sticks of their offense. The power play was another major factor that had them struggling to make anything of it. The Red Wings have managed just three of the last 26 attempts with them currently the league’s worst. Howard got the nod once more as his performance in net has been the best thing from the team. With Calgary being a lower ranked opponent, the Red Wings gained their best chance to change the course of their season.
An early penalty from the Flames gave Detroit a power play hoping that they could convert with an ease of setting up in the zone. Their problems riddled the two-minute advantage with Howard saving a shorthanded play from Calgary. The move added some energy to the Red Wings who wanted nothing more than to get ahead in the game.
A lengthy possession in the Calgary zone watched the Red Wings take three attempts at the net of Chad Johnson. A third try began with a drive from Justin Abdelkader that flew into traffic where Tomas Tatar was. The shot went off the Czech where he swung himself around to slide the puck through Johnson for his third of the season giving Detroit their first goal in five days. The success from Tatar got the Red Wings pushing hard to get another one Johnson. Tomas Vanek got back into it after being out 11 games due to an injury. The play he began sent the rest of his line near the crease to create further scoring chances.
Despite the active offense and the lead, they still couldn’t get out of the whole on the power play, they easily handed the Flames another successful penalty kill. Despite dropping a second straight, the Red Wings had their important lead that led to the final minutes being quiet on offense. The period ended in each team notching ten shots on net with the Red Wings holding a heavy edge.
The two went into the second period with a fight for possession rather than increasing the scoring opportunities. For the Flames, it meant a chance to even things up while they had the Red Wings slow on shots to the net. At 3:40 Garnet Hathaway scored his first NHL goal on a Dougie Hamilton one timer from the far end that deflected off the stick to even up the game. The Flames grew on their recent statement and took the lead on shots to the net pressuring Howard to a higher degree.
Detroit countered the actions of their opponents and brought a heavy presence into the Calgary zone where wanting the lead back was essential. The Flames didn’t let them get an inch further on their mission ending the period with them outshooting Detroit 10-6 and maintaining a split to send both into a critical third period.
The Flames played to win starting things off in the final twenty minutes that caused another big concern for the Red Wings. The go ahead went to Matt Stajan who caught a redirect on Hamilton’s drive that gave him his first and a big 2-1 lead for Calgary. The Red wings caught a lucky break five minutes later when a loose puck got into their possession. Anthony Mantha got hold of it sending a shot at Johnson but coming up short. He got the puck back for a second opportunity scoring his first of the season that got them back into it with 12 minutes left in regulation.
With so much time left on the clock, it allowed the Flames to go for the go ahead at any point. On a well conducted skate into the Detroit zone, Calgary’s Mikael Backlund took a spot on the glove side of Howard where he got the puck from Michael Frolik to quickly put it behind the Red Wings goaltender. It was the big statement that held up for six minutes putting Detroit in a bad situation. To make matters worse, they gave up a penalty that left the Flames with an advantage to end the game. Despite pulling Howard for the sixth man, it wasn’t enough to force overtime handing Detroit their third straight loss.
The defeat left the Red Wings suffering the loss of Marchenko who left the game with an upper body injury. Gustav Nyquist gave a cause for concern when the final horn sounded indicating an injury to himself. With injuries and a lack of offense clouding the Red Wings, they would take every game in stride that began with a road trip to visit the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday.
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