Red Wings win over Canucks in OT

Photo by: Jeff Vinnik/Getty Images

The Red Wings had to wait over a week to get a victory Tuesday night. An overtime win for Detroit came at the hands of captain Henrik Zetterberg who made a direct pass to Justin Abdelkader giving him the game winner beating the Canucks 3-2 at Rogers Arena. Frans Nielsen had two goals early on that clearly helped Detroit be on the right track on the last day of February.

The Red Wings took a week off that hopefully would give them a boost to be successful in the final months before the postseason. They opened their lineups with the trades of Tomas Jurco and defenseman Brendan Smith. It clearly put the roster on notice that a push to get offensive would assure them security to play on for the Red Wings. Despite being on a losing streak and the start of a road trip, Detroit’s strategy was to give it their all and make good of what moves they have and will make prior to the March. 1 deadline starting with Vancouver.

The Canucks came off the opening faceoff with some running speed that eventually led to Detroit making an early mistake. They handed Vancouver a power play in the first minute, but the kill gave the Red Wings a chance to make their best response. It came at 4:36 with Nielsen getting the puck in the neutral zone with a quick pass to Andreas Athanasiou. He got it back after flying by the young forward to ring one through the net behind Canucks Ryan Miller for his 12^th.

Things got better for him later on as both teams began to show fight for possession crossing the halfway point of the period. It became time for the Red Wings to gain their first man advantage with things looking better for the Red Wings squad. It was Nielsen for a second time on the night, scoring for Detroit just 16 seconds into their power play that gave them an impressive 2-0 lead.

Despite the Canucks unable to get good scoring chances on Petr Mrazek in net for a fourth time, they did stay close with the Red Wings on shots to the net. The Czech dealt with many of them on his own making big glove saves and movements to keep his eye on the puck. When the period came to a close both Detroit and Vancouver recorded 10 shots each with the Canucks being the more physical team while the Red Wings sat up two goals.

The Canucks cut that in half 1:55 into the second with the Sedin twins playing the support staff of teammate Marcus Grandlund. The six foot center rushed in on the Detroit net scoring his 16^th of the season ending Mrazek’s shutout. They spent the remainder of the period trying to even the game at two while time was on the clock. Vancouver shot, rushed and even ran into the Detroit netminder but their actions were unable to produce them a goal to level the playing field. They began to outshoot Detroit on shots to the net finishing ahead with eight to the Red Wing’s five.

As a lone goal separated the teams going into the third the hunt for Nielsen was even more important to score a hat trick while 20 minutes of hockey remained possible. While he had very few chances, his team was still intent on keeping their lead over Vancouver for as long as they could. The Canucks were hunting to level the game with their best players taking the challenge of beating Mrazek. The 25 year old Czech netminder was still a rock between the pipes denying them on their scoring chances while time was on the clock.

With three minutes left in the game and the fans of Vancouver living on a prayer, they received an answer with Reid Boucher scoring his second of the year on a key shot that tied the game at two all that led to desperate attempts by both teams. Detroit had the lead on shots to the net in their quest to not drop another game no matter what the result. As the last minutes came off the clock, it was apparent that the teams were going to overtime to solve the stalemate in 3 on 3.

The quest for a goal was quickly heavy in favor of the Red Wings who scored a massive power play to go four on three for two minutes. Detroit didn’t need all the time as their veteran stars had the ice looking for the right moment. Zetterberg got thing started along the boards waiting for the right shot to delivering a game winning chance. He found Abdelkader to the right of Miller to give him his fifth and first goal in 23 games. “Last time I scored was before my injury,” Abdelkader said to Fox Sports Detroit’s John Keating. “It felt good to get chances sometimes you need something going on and Z made a great play to me.”

Mrazek’s performance on the night was solid despite giving up two goals on the night. He made 25 saves for a .926 save percentage and his seventh win in overtime. The blocked shots in net and big glove saves assures him of another start which could come Friday against the Calgary Flames.

Tomljanovic blasts Bouchard out of Mexican Open

Eugenie Bouchard was run off the court in a first round stunner at the Mexican Open Tuesday. Croatia’s Ajla Tomljanovic took hold in the second set after fighting back through a first set tiebreaker to win 7-6(4), 6-1 on Grand Stand Caliente at the Acapulco Princess Hotel

The Canadian has been on hiatus since the Australian Open but trained for the tournament in Acapulco ready to get back into the heavy section of the hard court season. With just a week before Indian Wells, the 23 year old and sixth seed needed a good run in the round of 32 tournament facing the Croatian for the first time. Tomljanovic hasn’t been doing well in a responsive way this season losing her only two matches that date back to Melbourne. While they both seem to have huge gaps between tournaments, the Canadian stands as the biggest threat for her demise.

She opened service with a hold on the Croatian but didn’t get the full run of the table. She took things over in the third followed by a second win in a row that gave her a 3-1 hold. Not wanting to let the set get away from her, Tomljanovic fought hard on the break to force deuce with the Canadian. After two breaks, she captured a second win that made things look even. Bouchard had enough of being trailed by the Croatian and put another game between the two serving for the set in the ninth.

Tomljanovic shut Bouchard down in the game where the break saw her gain leverage and control her actions on the returns. It still left the door open for the Canadian but she failed to close it herself allowing the Croatian to force the set onward. The need to be the dominant player was Bouchard’s mission as she served up two game points to take a 6-5 lead hoping for the seventh and get up in the match. She was denied the ease of having an advantage against her opponent who struck back to take the 12^th forcing a tiebreak that made the set dead even for both.

Bouchard felt under the gun with Tomljanovic firing away becoming a very strong adversary for the Canadian. It was a fight she couldn’t seem to win as the Croatian took over and won the tiebreaker 7-4 ending the battle in 56 minutes.

The efforts from Tomljanovic increased after the two held serve on one another to start the second. She took the next two straight with a strong break that followed further success. The 23 year old seemed to have a solid grip on Bouchard who showed signs of struggle at the worst moments. It only turned into a disaster for the Canadian who couldn’t get back into the game as Tomljanovic ran away to victory with three more wins completing the straight sets stunner in 1 hour and 25 minutes. The Croatian finished the second set with an 80 percent success rate on the first serve despite her second serve underperforming. Bouchard barely found chances to do better on serve as she was run off both sides of her game.

While Bouchard wonders what went wrong, Tomljanovic would prepare for her second round bout against Kirsten Flipkens on Wednesday.

Puig wins in straight sets at Mexican Open

Embed from Getty Images

Monica Puig had a tough first rounder against an older foe but came out of it to advance forward at the Mexican Open Tuesday. The 2016 Olympic gold medalist had a fight on her hands against Italy’s Francesca Schiavone coming out with a 6-4, 7-6(4) straight sets win on Cancha Central at the Acapulco Princess Hotel.

Four years surpassed since the players met with Puig easily downing the Italian in straight sets. The Puerto Rican continues to ride on her gold medal win in Rio last year becoming a heavy competitor for just about anyone she faces. The 23-year-old has managed to make it far in tournaments despite losing to big names deep in them. She carried a heavy advantage going into the Mexican Open and would hope to continue her success in the opening round.

Puig led the way into the opening set gaining a lead on the Italian to dictate on her terms. Schiavone struck back to get on the board and made her stance to stay within reach of the world number 23. On serve in the seventh, the Italian held serve at an important point putting her a game down of Puig wanting to get the break to get even. She was denied the pleasure as Puig held firm in the eighth serving for the set.

Schiavone showed signs of defense attempting to stay in the set for as long as her game would allow. The hold of serve she put together in the ninth increased the pressure early for Puig who had to be strong in the tenth if she wanted to end the first with a grip in the match overall. The Italian wouldn’t let that occur easily as she defended her way through rallies that forced deuce. Though it took some effort, Puig got out of a jam through two breaks to win the set 6-4 in 50 minutes. The Puerto Rican was serving better than her counterpart whose percentage was below 40 percent. The returns were the downside to the Italian who dealt with Puig’s well rounded points winners on her serves.

In a need for a fighting chance, Schiavone fired away to start the second with a strong serve. Puig got on the board in the second but the continuance of service remained with the Italian dictating forward. The fourth saw Puig give a huge response that she was not only gonna be tough on serve but wanted to be the frontrunner of the set. In the fifth on the break, she proved with that with her powerful shot that got the best of Schiavone who lost control.

Struggling to convert the returns to Puig, the 36-year-old couldn’t get the job done in the sixth going down another game. Schiavone wasn’t throwing in the towel against all odds as she rallied forward to hold serve once more, trying to change the pace by any means. Adding speed to her returning on Puig’s shots, the veteran found a way to redirect the ball and get out front. The response didn’t last long as the Olympic gold medalist forced deuce not ready to give in. Puig quickly gained the advantage getting lucky with a shot landing outside that wasn’t noticed by the Italian or officials.

With the set at 5-3 for Puig, the Italian needed something big to come from her final chance at staying in the set. She started things off with an ace down the line followed by a winner going up 30-0. Unforced errors erased her margin briefly but somehow came through victorious with her opponent creating errors of her own. It continued at the wrong time that led to Schiavone pulling off a serious comeback that pushed the set forward and opened a chance for the Italian to force a third. She had Puig on the edge taking a 6-5 hold where gaining a full comeback would be on whether she could continue striking at the weakness of the 23-year-old.

She didn’t have any in the 12^th pushing her way to leveling the set at its final point before a tiebreak would truly determine whether the set would come to a close or a finish. The Puerto Rican stayed out front of the Italian gaining two match points in the break before the 23-year-old after 1 hour and 45 minutes.

While most first round matches are tricky, Puig would no doubt put in a stronger stance against Daniela Hantuchova in the round of 16.