The Edmonton Oilers had enough energy to be successful in back to back games. With a vulnerable Detroit Red Wings squad, they waited for the time to overtake them and win 2-1 at Joe Louis Arena Sunday night. Edmonton carried out a two game winning streak that only increased the Red Wings to a five game skid. It was the first time since 2009 that the Oilers won a game in Detroit.
The Red Wings needed to end a lengthy losing streak with a second chance to do it against a vulnerable team. Detroit’s mistakes cost them a chance against the Winnipeg Jets Friday leaving them in a constant tie before they ended things victoriously in regulation. A day of rest and their second straight at home offered Detroit to begin dictating on their own rules that could take down the Oilers.
Edmonton came out with strength in their competition that saw them going for an early lead on the Red Wings. Jimmy Howard made stops on the quickness of the Oilers while Detroit configured their way into the mix. They had troubles right off the start with former goaltender Jonas Gustavsson across the ice in net for Edmonton.
His experience of Detroit, the top net minder dealt with the Red Wings first power play but couldn’t stop them from taking the lead. It came at the drive of Brendan Smith who got the puck near the crease where Justin Abdelkader put the puck behind the net for his second straight and his third overall.
Edmonton didn’t take long to respond and did so with Patrick Maroon getting a solid scoring chance but couldn’t get by the quick reactions of Howard. They remained focused on getting the game leveled at one all but the Red Wings were defending well in front of their goaltender. Six minutes remained in the period with the shots on goal neck n neck between the teams as the activity was alive and well.
With 3:21 left on the clock, the Oilers battled near the boards to get the puck loose. A centering drive from Milan Lucic went to the back of the net where Tyler Pitlick gained possession putting the puck behind the skate of Howard to tie the game and add his fourth of the year. It helped bring them back to level pegging with Detroit dead even at 12 shots each through 20 minutes.
The second period went on just as the first ended with Edmonton really making a statement of their wish to be the ones dictating the pace. After half the period went into the books, the Oilers had the lead on shots to the net firing eight while Detroit only took four. They eventually caught up with Edmonton but getting the go ahead behind was becoming more difficult as the time on ice allowed him to reacquaint himself to the movements on ice.
As the period neared its conclusion, the Red Wings challenged themselves to play shorthanded in their first power play given to a team in more than a game. They took care of business but suddenly gave up another one during the final minute of play. It was there that Edmonton put speed ahead of the time on the clock and set up a play where Ryan Nugent-Hopkins got a piece of Connor McDavid’s drive earning him his second to lead 2-1 after two.
With the losing streak looming over the heads of the Red Wings, something clearly had to be done in order to break out of the trouble they were in. For a majority of the period, it was a challenge form them as the Oilers had control of what they wanted to get done while on the road. They played great defense against the Red Wings who were struggling to find shots on Gustavsson all while trying to play tough to stop the Oilers.
Time fell off the clock that left Detroit scrambling but in the end it was too late to make a huge push. Detroit went for an empty net with one-minute left in the game but blocked shots on the count of Edmonton allowed them to win their first game at the Joe since 2009 handing the Red Wings their fifth loss in a row.
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