Red Wings hand Golden Knights first loss in 6-3 win

Detroit Red Wings celebrate after Gustav Nyquist #14 of the Detroit Red Wings scored a first-period goal against the Vegas Golden Knights during their game at T-Mobile Arena on October 13, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Detroit hit the jackpot in their first visit to the T-Mobile Arena Friday night. Gustav Nyquist scored two on the night while four others contributing to a 6-3 win over the Las Vegas Golden Knights. Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg gained four points on the night as he assisted in their massive victory of the season. It brought an end to the Golden Knight’s 3-0 start handing them their first loss on their home ice.

The Red Wings got their first chance to face a brand new team with familiar faces on the other side. Their victory against Arizona Thursday set them up to make a good impression against the Golden Knights. Las Vegas remained undefeated with their first home win last week against the Coyotes. Detroit made the decision to give Mrazek a second try and etch out a win with the hope of support from the defense. With good moves from them the other night, the Red Wings wanted to end their short road trip with another victory.

Detroit got it started with a three man rush with Zetterberg getting hold of a bad turnover from the Golden Knights. The 37 year old took off with possession getting close to goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury on his glove side before quickly passing Nyquist the puck and first of the season. “It was a nice play,” Nyquist said to Fox Sports Detroit reporter Trevor Thompson. “A good bounce that jumped over their Dman for an odd man rush and Zetterberg made a real nice play.” Las Vegas came alive and nearly had Detroit fumbling their stance on the defensive side of the play. Mrazek was out of the net giving the Golden Knights scoring chances but couldn’t get a good shot.

They had an opportunity come to them near the midway point of the period to set up with a man up on Detroit for two minutes. They failed to record a shot on the power play as Mrazek was tight between the pipes and the Detroit PK on top of Las Vegas to knock it out. The Golden Knights were still full of confidence getting some pressure back on Detroit where Cody Eakin took the puck at Mrazek on a few occasions.

Brendan Leipsic nearly has his team leveled up with a very close scoring chance that livened up the rest of the team. They began outshooting the Red Wings with plenty of time on the puck. Though they didn’t even up the score, Las Vegas finished 20 minutes with a 9-6 shots on goal lead of the Red Wings holding their opponents from getting any more on the board.

They both came out to begin the second a little slower on pucks to the net as possession played a role in the first several minutes. During the time, Las Vegas seemed to be getting ready to make a play against Detroit but one came to them instead. A bad turnover by Xavier Ouellet was picked up by Reilly Smith who found Jonathan Marchessault to score his first of the season.

Though they evened the score, play was still lively in the hands of the Golden Knights but they nearly suffered a loss of their goaltender due to a collision near the net. Anthony Mantha ran into Fleury delivering a knee to the head of the Vegas netminder. After being checked by the trainer, it was determined that he was okay to play on.

The Golden Knights charged on nearly getting a puck on Mrazek who at one point didn’t know where it was. Stopping it was a relief to him and the Red Wings as they wanted to be the ones to make the next move. They did with the captain scoring a backhanded slider through the five hole for his third. The big block by Darren Helm that gave Zetterberg wide open ice gave Detroit a 2-1 lead.

It was short lived as Las Vegas worked the puck around the boards behind Mrazek, getting it out front where James Neal scored his sixth just 32 seconds later. A point shot from Luca Sbisa got tipped by the stick of Erik Haula earning his first for Las Vegas that came 1:27 after Neal’s goal. The last three minutes were tense between the teams as another collision with Fleury occurred with Justin Abdelkader being the one responsible. It led to a team fight that didn’t last long but also didn’t change the pace. Las Vegas picked up another couple shots to outshoot the Red Wings 12-9.

Detroit knew that being a goal down was at times tough but the veteran captain had plans to level the game. Nearing the fifth minute, Detroit had the puck behind the Vegas net with Zetterberg turning over the puck before getting into a pass play with Nyquist. He returned it to the Detroit captain before a backhanded pass to Anthony Mantha finished with a turnaround shot to score the tying goal and his third of the year.

Zetterberg wasn’t finished contributing to his team’s success on the night. When the Vegas power play concluded, Frans Nielsen got on the puck with the captain skated hard to join the fun. It was there that he returned the puck to Nielsen scoring his second. It not only broke the tie but also gave Zetterberg his fourth point of the night which hasn’t been done by the team leader in some time.

The Red Wing’s first line once again contributed to scoring on Fleury in the halfway point of the period. A turnover in the neutral zone got to the stick of Mantha who flew toward the Vegas net in hopes for a second. Despite his shot not hitting its mark, the rebound got to Nyquist who notched his second of the night for a two goal margin.

A big hit between Tomas Tatar and Haula occurred when he flipped the Las Vegas forward up and over on open ice. Haula wanted a piece of Tatar and got it only to be hit down before referees ended the bout in the Detroit zone. When play resumed, the Red Wings continued where they left off when it came to their offensive surge. Luke Glendening got his name in the books with a 45 foot drive that zipped past the shoulder of Fleury making it a 6-3 run for Detroit. It was all said and done in the final minutes that made it a night to remember in America’s playground.

“We played decent in the first and second periods but we had some simple mistakes that we really took care of,” Zetterberg said after the game. “We knew that if we kept playing in the third we’d have a chance.”  

With a two wins out of three on the road, Detroit had plenty to be happy about spending the weekend off before going back home to host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday.