Red Wings hang on to win against Coyotes

 Dylan Larkin #71 of the Detroit Red Wings pounds gloves with teammates on the bench following his second period goal during an NHL game against the Arizona Coyotes at Little Caesars Arena on October 31, 2017 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images)

The Red Wings got a scare but came out victorious at Little Caesars Arena. Their push to score goals kept them ahead of the Arizona Coyotes to win 5-3 on Halloween night. Jimmy Howard stopped 30 on the night for his second straight win and one they were glad to maintain.

Detroit’s victory on Saturday ended a very bad six game slide that put them in fifth place in the Atlantic Division. The hard work that got them to a shootout against Florida ended with Gustav Nyquist scoring as the lone player to bring new life to the Red Wings. In their return home, they hoped to bring to life a winning streak against the Coyotes who they have already defeated once. Arizona looked for back to back wins with their 4-3 victory at Philadelphia. With something coming together for a struggling team, winning one in Detroit would be a strong showing for them on the road.

Nyquist had other ideas as he brought his success from Saturday and scored Detroit’s first goal of the game. It came 1:29 in which the Red Wings haven’t been able to do much so far this season. The fourth for Nyquist flew high enough to cleanly get through traffic and under the right arm of Scott Wedgewood. Luke Glendening got in on the fun 68 seconds later with a rush from his fourh-line teammate Martin Frk. The 24-year-old passed the puck back from the boards for a one-timer and Glendening’s third.

By the halfway point, Detroit was already a dozen shots up and Arizona only with two shots on Howard in net for his team. A hi stick on Tomas Tatar gave the Red Wings their first power play but no good scoring chances came from their attempt. Arizona got one shorthanded chance which nearly had Howard beaten.

They bailed him out by surging once again on the offensive side of the puck, increasing their dominance. The Coyotes added four in their efforts and gained an opening power play in the final minute of play. Howard made the necessary stops to kill all but 29 seconds to complete the period.

When the second got underway, Detroit killed off the last seconds of Arizona’s power play but couldn’t get into gear. It left the Coyotes with a great chance at showing strength while they carried possession. Detroit answered with man to man coverage which later turned into their pushback at Wedgewood. They didn’t get much from their tries which allowed the Coyotes to keep trying. It paid off nearly 12 minutes in with Jason Demers driving a shot in for his second ending the shutout for Detroit.

Despite their opponents getting on the board, the Red Wings were not done scoring on the Coyotes. On a loose puck that got to the boards, Wedgewood tried to clear it but put it near Dylan Larkin who went for a shot at the empty net. He got back possession of it setting up a two man play with Andreas Athanasiou and Anthony Mantha. The pass from Athanasiou set Mantha up for his fifth and a recovery of Detroit two goal lead.

Although Larkin got his tenth assist, he still vied for a goal for himself and got the best chance on a bad beat for the Coyotes. Larkin’s backhander went off the stick of Luke Schenn who redirected it right into the Arizona net for a 4-1 lead to Detroit and Larkin’s second. While Arizona outshot them 12-10 in the period, Detroit’s power was well seen giving them 20 minutes more to hold off the Coyotes.

Arizona made a statement two minutes in with Nick Cousin’s scoring his second of the season cutting Detroit’s lead in half. There was still a lot of ground for them to cover which Detroit was well aware of. Both Darren Helm and Frans Nielsen went on breakaways only to miss short of Wedgewood.

The Coyotes closed in on leveling with the Red Wings on shots to the net as their quest to ruin Detroit was possible with half the third left to play. They got within a goal on a freak goal that gave Brendan Perlini his third of the season. In a goal that reminded them of one score against the Los Angeles Kings, the Coyotes shot a goal that popped up high over Howard who never saw it falling which ended up falling behind him to go into the net. They nearly had the tying goal but traffic blocked the shot by Arizona that saved Detroit from having to go into another overtime period to win.

With just one goal separating between the teams, the Red Wings wanted to do whatever it took to hold the lead. Arizona pulled Wedgewood from the net for six attackers but it didn’t help them. Helm got the shot on the empty net for his second with 1:22 left. Detroit got out of trouble with Howard making a good save before scrambling to make a second one with support. Detroit kept it together in the last seconds of regulation to hold on and get a win at home they so desperately needed being back.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Larkin said when asked about the good work put in for Detroit’s winning streak. “I think we would have had a few more tonight. We had good offensive zone play and had the puck down there a ton so it was good team win.” They wouldn’t get time to relax as a road trip resumed going to face the Ottawa Senators Thursday.

Wozniacki wins WTA Championship beating Williams in straight sets

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Caroline Wozniacki had everything come together at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Sunday night. The Dane earned her second WTA title and the most important one to end the season with her first win over Venus Williams winning 6-4, 6-4 on Centre Court at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Despite the amazing comeback that the American nearly pulled off in the second set, the newly crowned world number one held her off in the final moments to win her first Billy Jean King championship trophy. It was the first time in eight matches that Wozniacki defeated the American and the sweetest to conclude the 2017 WTA Tour.

This was the first time both have met at the finals and the eighth overall in their meetings. The American has Wozniacki’s number in each victory since 2005 and hoped to keep the streak alive. The veteran put in a lot of work in order to defeat Caroline Garcia in three sets Saturday to achieve her third consecutive final that to advance in. The Dane went the distance in the opening set against Karolina Pliskova finishing the world number three in straight sets winning 6-3. With less effort in her semifinal, the 27-year-old hoped to have an advantage against Williams and be able to defeat her to become a first time winner.

They came out of the gate serving out each other in the first two games that enabled a quick break from Williams that gave her the brief lead. Wozniacki followed suit to level the score, turning the set around to return to service holds. It went on for another pair of games before the Dane broke Williams to gain a footing in the set. She reached 5-3 in the eighth looking to get the set over and done with.

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The 37-year-old broke back with a key break that avoided the end for a moment. When Wozniacki got back the ball in the tenth, she pressured Williams into producing a couple of errors, gaining two set points to win the set 6-4 in 41 minutes. She had just three errors in the set carrying a lower serve percentage than Williams hose downfall was the errors on the forehand.

The 27-year-old took advantage of her opponent’s weaknesses and was on a sole mission to dominate further. The second set was all Wozniacki who blasted out a strong first serve followed by a break to show her strengths. She continued gaining momentum with a fourth straight win with the strategy of being aggressive against Williams’ serve playing every ball and point.

The American forced deuce on her own serve to try to get back into some kind of contention. The Dane wouldn’t have any of that as she turned the tables and regained control to win her fourth of the set. When the ball was back in her hands, she put down another set of shots that Williams still couldn’t answer much on to play for the title. Williams avoided the shutout in the sixth but had to endure the skills of the Danish star that was on point.

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A frustrating moment came in the seventh as the crowd got out of hand that got the best of Wozniacki. She made her opinions clear and tried coming back from the two-break deficit. It was not meant to be as the veteran got another win under her belt that turned into an amazing statement on court. Williams showed her fight and produced a game that had her leaving Wozniacki helpless on court. The American made it 4-5 in what was nearly a thrilling comeback with the former number one back on serve. She saw her opponent strike back, not wanting to let the entire set get out of her hands.

She forced deuce with Williams after a failed attempt to get match point on the break was stopped by the American. She got Williams to move around just enough setting up a second championship point. On a nine-shot rally, Wozniacki laid out a final winner to Williams’ right that brought an end to the match in 1 hour and 29 minutes.

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“I was up 5-0 and was playing well and all of the sudden Venus starts upping her game and she went for a shot and started serving to my body and I’m just so happy to manage to win this tournament in the end,” the champion said to Andrew Krasny after the match.

With a year full of defeats and continued losses to Venus Williams over the years, the lone victory gave Wozniacki a lot to be thrilled about. "Eight happens to be my lucky number," Wozniacki said. "I was hoping that if I'm gonna beat her at least once in my career, it has to be today and I just went out there and did my best." 

Lightning strike out Detroit's sixth loss

 Steven Stamkos #91 of the Tampa Bay Lightning celebrates his goal with teammates against the Detroit Red Wings during the third period at Amalie Arena on October 26, 2017 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Scott Audette/NHLI via Getty Images)

The Tampa Bay Lightning kept their winning streak alive with successful power Thursday night. Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos made their heavy marks with Andrei Vasilevksiy making big saves to win 3-2 against the Detroit Red Wings at Amalie Arena. The Lightning improved to 9-1-1 and captured their fifth straight win with tremendous surge of pucks to Detroit.

Detroit tries everything in their power to avoid a sixth consecutive loss and might have some help accomplishing that. With his signing finally official, Andreas Athanasiou got the green light Thursday to join his team who he’s spent two seasons with. The 23-year-old known for not only his youth, but his tenacious spirit on the offensive side of the puck, was just what the Red Wings looked for. Their losing streak began with the Tampa Bay Lightning and hope to finish it despite their own streak as well. Tampa has won their last four straight with Stamkos and Kucherov on fire with consecutive game points streaks. Their home advantage would be a great task for Detroit to overcome.

Tampa started with three shots to get ahead of the Red Wings with Howard already feeling the heat. They gave the Lightning their first power play two minutes in but Detroit’s PK avoided going down early on. By the end of the penalty, they got up to speed with pucks to the net where Vasilevksiy was. Detroit’s first power play helped them reach full speed but had yet to find their mark.

By the 14^th minute, Detroit gave up another power play to Tampa but countered at the right moment while down a man. A turnover deep into the Red Wings zone by Frans Nielsen turned into a breakaway for the center man who went in on Vasilevksiy scoring a rifled shot high on the net for his third. Just when Detroit had the lead, the Lightning struck back less than two minutes later. Nikita Kucherov scored during Tampa’s third power play chance giving him his 12^th of the season. The last three minutes of the period saw Tampa back on their surge of power against the Red Wings ending the period with a 14-9 lead on shots on net.

Detroit got a jump on the puck to start the second accumulating four shots on Vasilevksiy but no goal to take over the lead. They had a power play minutes later but the Lightning’s PK unit showed good coverage to leave Detroit emptyhanded. Howard made some key saves on Tampa’s fourth man advantage knowing that he and his team had to minimize every scoring chance the Lightning connected on.

They faced another one in the final five minutes where he had good support completing the penalty kill. Tampa increased their shots which Detroit saw as a need to follow suit. They took their ninth with Athanasiou wristing one only to be robbed by Vasilevksiy with the quick glove. It was the last one they got on net while Tampa picked up two more but remained deadlocked in a tie after 40 minutes.

Detroit had two shots to start the third but as soon as they lost control of the puck, Tampa surged in order to make a run at the lead. It took them time but at 6:22, Kucherov went in, faked the shot and passed to Stamkos scoring his fourth. It once again increased the offense of the Lightning who continued to hunt for their assurance to get a second win over the Red Wings this season.

They got it 2:56 left on a rush that started at the boards with Yanni Gourde taking it in front of the net where Brayden Point was there to get a shot that beat Howard by a mile scoring his fifth. In anger, Howard snapped his stick as it clearly frustrated him. They went for a 6 on 4 when Tampa took a penalty and somehow scored one with a fight in front of the Tampa net where Nielsen scored his second of the night sitting a goal down from tying it. They had time on the clock to do it again with another power play in their favor keeping it 6 on 4.

Detroit didn’t get themselves in a position to shoot the puck through traffic and looked for their best chance. It allowed Tampa to attack for possession which they nearly had on Alex Killorn’s relentless fight for the puck. He took a lot of time from the Red Wings who were desperate but in the end finding another loss to their names. Vasilevksiy gained his second victory over the Red Wings stopping 28 on the night for a .935 save percentage for his ninth win.

While Howard accepted his third consecutive defeat, the loss weighed heavier on his support staff that let Tampa shot 38 times. With no brakes to stop the slide down in the Atlantic Division, the Florida Panthers would get their shot to take advantage of the Red Wings unstoppable troubles on Saturday.

Williams advances to WTA semifinals knocking out Muguruza in straight sets

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Venus Williams  put on a terrific fight to secure her place in the semifinals of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Thursday. The top American took care of business playing tight games of tennis with Garbine Muguruza before capping the night with a 7-5, 6-4 win on Centre Court at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. In what looked to be a possible three setter, Williams found a way to etch out big points at the right moments to gain another day to play for the final title of the year.

It was down to their match to determine who would join Karolina Pliskova in the semifinals. Despite her loss to Jelena Ostapenko, she awaited the winner between this year’s Wimbledon finalist who faced for the first time since Muguruza beat Williams. The American went through a very long fight against Ostapenko two days ago hoping to lessen the effort needed to win this one. Muguruza’s last defeat was to the Czech who beat her quickly, meaning that a lot of fight had to come in order to give her a chance to become world number one again.

She had a tougher opening service game than Williams who nearly threatened but missed on the break point. Muguruza responded with a body serve that got her to deuce before focusing on leveling the score. In order to keep on serve with Williams through the fourth game, the 24-year-old once again battled on deuce and avoided giving her the break. Williams faced her first attack from Muguruza on the break, saving two points including the one on the deuce draw. She held serve possession to maintain the lead but it became quite clear that every point was being fought for.

The first love service hold came for Muguruza who managed to put down a winner and pressure on Williams to falter. She felt the heat with three errors in the seventh giving Muguruza enough room to secure the first break of the set and the lead change. Williams put a lot of aggression into her counteroffensive going into the eighth that also gave her a much-needed break keeping the score level.

The moment came for someone to take the first step to have a chance at winning the set which Williams did in the ninth hoping to break Muguruza. She could not get ahead on the scoreboard to achieve the result she wanted and instead saw a long drawn out battle to an unknown conclusion. Williams got a chance to break the 24-year-old who made a critical error that forced deuce. It left a chance open for the American to make things happen for herself and did so with a winner that gave her the set after 55 minutes. Both played very hard tennis but the edge ultimately went to Williams who had more winners and aces as well as success on the break points.

The second started much differently with Muguruza winning with a break but the pace was still drawn out as they continued fighting hard during every point. It lasted for three games with the Spaniard gaining an edge in the set leading 3-1. Williams fought back to get even with Muguruza through six games that enabled the tug of war for control. It went on through the eighth until a service hold in the ninth gave the American the leverage needed to play for the match. Williams got ahead in her quest for the break against Muguruza keeping the heat high on her opponent. She gave herself two match point attempts, securing the victory on the second that brought a closet to the battle in 1 hour and 41 minutes.

“I played an amazing opponent and she’s had an amazing year, I’m so happy to win the last point.” Williams said to Andrew Krasny after the match. “It’s not easy out here,” she said. “You have to play every point well or else you find yourself losing the game. I had some great coaching going into the match and I hope we can win some more.”