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.