Canadiens blow by Red Wings 6-3

Alex Galchenyuk #27 of the Montreal Canadiens celebrates his second period goal with teammates while playing the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on November 30, 2017 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Montreal was on a mission to get in front of the Detroit Red Wings two different ways at Little Caesars Arena Thursday night. The Habs scored five unanswered to take full control of the score to win 6-3. The Canadiens victory overtook the Red Wings in the Atlantic Division and handed them a sixth consecutive loss and second straight loss in regulation.

Detroit’s woes get even harder to deal with against a division rival who has found their groove in the season. The Habs have won their last three with Carey Price coming back just in time to enjoy the streak of positivity for his team. This would be his second back to back this season helping Montreal to a 2-1 win against the Ottawa Senators. The Red Wings would try to avoid their longest losing streak of the season dropping a tough match against the Los Angeles Kings who scored unanswered goals consecutively. Howard who is 0-3-2 in the last five would start once more to try and cash in against their Original Six rival.

The Canadiens made their first move on a power play to start the first period. Brendan Gallagher scored for Montreal with a shot that Jimmy Howard thought he was ready to block but instead watched it zip past his right side. It was Gallagher’s 11^th but was soon matched by the Red Wings. Anthony Mantha took a chance with a side shot that deflected off Victor Mete going top shelf at Carey Price for Mantha’s 12^th to even it up.

Detroit got on the power play once again but weren’t able to convert another goal to up their score against the Habs. Montreal had their chance but it didn’t help them increase the shots on Howard who only saw four through 13 minutes of play. Man advantages were coming out of the wood work with four having been split evenly. On Detroit’s second chance, Tomas Tatar got his eighth on a well-rounded play by the Detroit second line. He finished the pass play with a shot while Justin Abdelkader blocked Price from seeing it come at him. The Red Wings move ahead well on shots to the net that gave them a 13-6 run after twenty minutes of play.

The Canadiens clearly showed that they can pick up the pace as they ran the second period with significant strength. They overtook Detroit on shots to the net in the second period that led to a lot of pressure in the Detroit zone. At 4:46, the Canadiens tied the game on Charles Hudon’s scoring chance that gave him his third of the season ending the offensive barrage. Montreal gained the lead on Andrew Shaw’s drive that came just 43 seconds later giving them the lead 3-2.

Detroit attempted to get back into contention and recover the lost ground that was in the hands of the Canadiens. They kept the heat on the Red Wings and added a third unanswered on a second chance shot for Alex Galchenyuk that saw him shoot into an open net for his sixth with two minutes to go in the period. They held Detroit off for the remainder of the time left that also saw Montreal outshoot them 13-9.

The third period was a fight from Detroit to hold Montreal to very little opportunities with the puck. After eight minutes of play, only five shots were taken with Detroit leading the shots. Just when it looked as if their strategy to hold Montreal would work, a scoring chance from the blue line only increased the gap in the score. Jacob de la Rose fired the puck from the blue line that redirected off Gallagher for his second of the night. It then redirected off Detroit’s Niklas Kronwall before going by Howard and into the net.

Half the period was left to play and with a three-goal deficit, it didn’t look good that Detroit could overcome the gap and win. Montreal continued to make it even better for them as a sixth goal went into the Detroit net with Jeff Petry getting the puck on its way, Howard did get the glove on it but the whistle never blew giving Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty a stick on it to score his eighth and first in nine games. Detroit somehow found a way to respond on offense as their shots on net were coming up short.

Frans Nielsen made his attempt count 1:37 after Montreal’s fifth unanswered to make it a three-goal deficit. While Nielsen gained his seventh of the year, the inevitable was closing in as the Canadiens held off the Red Wings in the last two minutes to get the two points that put them in third place in the Atlantic Division and Detroit further down the standings. They would get another chance at the Habs on Saturday that would take them north of the border to face them at Centre Bell.

United States Olympic Committee announces winners at the 2017 Team USA awards

The best of Olympic competitors in both summer and winter sports, both Olympic and Paralympic athletes were honored at the 2017 Team USA Awards presented by DOW at Royce Hall on the campus of UCLA Wednesday night. The show hosted by Mark McGrath of the band Sugar Ray was recorded to be televised on Dec. 23 on NBC. Presenters of the show included Olympic legends Carl Lewis, Janet Evans and Michelle Kwan.

The show kicked off with a tremendous video of past Olympic Athletes competing in the Olympic games as far back as Jesse Owens at the 1936 Berlin games. The five-minute montage sent chills through the live audience that attended the show.

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The first award given out was for best Male Paralympic Athlete Of The Year.  Middle distance runner Mikey Brannigan who won gold in the 1500-meter final at the Rio Games was chosen for the award. His accomplishment at the Paralympic Games helped him become the first American with Autism to win an Olympic medal.  

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Tatyana McFadden who is considered Team USA’s most decorated Paralympian won the award for a third time. McFadden became the most decorated wheelchair marathon champion in history taking her fourth consecutive grand slam title at Chicago and New York Marathons. Since winning six medals in Rio with four of them gold, McFadden finished the year with 17 medals in total over the span of four Paralympic games.

Katie Ladecky took the honor for best Female Athlete Of The Year but was unable to attend due to her studies at Stanford University. The two-time winner of the award and five-time gold medalist sent a video expressing her honor of receiving the award twice for her accomplishments in the swimming pool. The then 19-year-old star won gold in the 200, 400, and 800-meter freestyle events at Rio and also helped bring home gold in the 4x200 meter freestyle relay and silver in the 4x100 meter freestyle relay.

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The Jesse Owens Olympic Spirit award went to Track and Field star Allyson Felix for her dedication to her sport and the community. The Six-time gold medalist at Beijing, London and Rio gave her time at six different foundations for children in the Los Angeles area where she grew up. The 32-year-old gave her time to children who looked for hope, for encouragement and the want of success that she has had. She went on to thank her coach Bob Kersee and family for their support and push to continue to make her successful on and off the track.

The United States Olympic Committee also acknowledged the hard work of the coaches of Olympic athletes. Wrestling coach Bill Zadick was honored for his achievements of the past year where US Wrestling won two gold and a bronze in both women’s and men’s freestyle.

Eileen Carey took the award for Paralympic Coach Of The Year for her work the Nordic Skiing program. Since 2002, Team USA Nordic Skiiing has won eight medals including two gold medals.

Kyle Snyder who took home gold in Rio was awarded best Male Olympic Athlete Of The Year. The then 20-year-old Woodbine Maryland native lost just two points on his way to the final against Khetag Gazyumov of Azerbaijan winning 3-1 to take gold in the men’s 97kg weight class.

USA Hockey took home two awards for best Olympic and Paralympic teams on the night. The women’s hockey team was chosen for winning their fourth consecutive World Championship. They too sent a video expressing their honor and thanks for winning the award. The men’s sled hockey team was awarded the Paralympic team of the year which captain Josh Pauls accepted on behalf of his squad. Team USA has won the world championship three times since 2009 and gold three times at the Paralympic Games.

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The Highlight of the night was the award ceremony for Chaunte Lowe who placed fourth in the women’s high jump at the summer Olympics in Beijing. Due to Russia’s substance abuse cases at the Olympics, The International Olympic committee in connection with the USOC and USA Track and Field awarded Lowe with her bronze medal from the 2008 Olympics.

Kings smash Red Wings hopes in 4-1 win

Anze Kopitar #11 of the Los Angeles Kings celebrates his second period goal with teammates Alec Martinez #27 and Marian Gaborik #12 during an NHL game against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on November 28, 2017 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images)

Jonathan Quick made the Red Wings night a very tough one Tuesday night. The Kings top goaltender allowed one goal having stopped 23 shots while Anze Kopitar scored two in a 4-1 win at Little Caesars Arena. Los Angeles had 36 shots in their quest to add a second straight win to begin a new road trip.

Both Detroit and Los Angeles looked to get themselves on the plus side of being victorious. The Red Wings suffered their fifth loss in their overtime loss to the Devils on Saturday. While it gave them a consecutive point, the need for a regulation win remained elusive. The Kings rivalry win over the Ducks at home was a confidence booster to begin their week-long road trip. They have been trying to overcome a bad slide when they started hot at the start of the season. Their 1-2-1 record over the last four leaves them vulnerable to give Detroit a chance on home ice.

The game began with the Kings trying to get the best of Detroit early on. Detroit tried to push the game into the Kings end but Los Angeles had them deadlocked in the neutral zone. The Red Wings eventually got their time offensively with an early power play. While it didn’t produce a goal, they were very much ahead of the Kings who had only two shots in the first 11 minutes. They picked up the pace with Detroit but a change in score game just a few minutes later that gave the Red Wings an edge.

On a play to move the puck deep, Darren Helm put some speed into the neutral zone where he found Mike Green ahead and alone. Green took his time and score top shelf on Quick for his second of the season. Detroit got a power play eight seconds later but an interference call to Justin Abdelkader handed the Kings a chance to respond. Detroit killed the penalty with Howard putting together good blocks on scoring chances by Los Angeles and a near shorthanded breakaway by Helm. While the Kings outshot Detroit 14-11, getting the opening goal was key to move ahead with focus in the second.

They got some good shots at Quick where many of them took place directly in front of him making the saves. Howard also had some close ones fired at him including a shot from Drew Doughty that slammed on the side of his mask. While it didn’t cause Howard any harm, the Red Wings were seeing a push from their rivals in an attempt to level the score. Detroit denied them during a huge chunk of the period giving them chances to turn the tide of puck possession.

With a lot of effort in his attempts, Dylan Larkin had two chances on Quick even when he was laid out on the ice. Despite not being able to get his name on the scoreboard it was frustrating for the team who were being outshot in the period. It gave Quick a lot of energy to get saves on point blank shots that got the best of Gustav Nyquist as well. The surge of the Kings push on offense led to a wrister from Dustin Brown that caught the inside corner for his tenth to tie it all up. Detroit tried to answer with another centering shot at Quick but was stopped in response.

Before the second period came to a close, the Kings got a man advantage that helped them tally another with six seconds left. Right off the faceoff, a three man pass play ended with L.A. captain scoring his 11^th for a 2-1 Kings lead. It was a 13-9 run for the Kings who with Quick pressuring Detroit had a good look forward going into the third.

They added a third unanswered 52 seconds in where an unprotected part of the net allowed Adrian Kempe to notch his eighth. The Los Angeles defense was playing tight from start to finish that helped them deal with a penalty kill. They gave Detroit very little room to set up the perfect shot that they needed in order to beat Quick in net. To put the game away with seven minutes left, Kopitar rifled a high shot that went in for his second and a three-goal gap in play.

Detroit couldn’t get it together having shot just three on goal in the period as a sign that they were about done. While that seemed to be the case, the Kings weren’t letting off the gas as they stayed close to the Red Wings making the final minutes of the game tough for them to produce anything else. When the horn sounded, it was yet a disappointing end adding a fifth straight loss and first regulation since Nov. 22.

Detroit needed to find a way to start winning as they began a home and home series with the Montreal Canadiens that would begin Thursday evening. 

Anze Kopitar #11 of the Los Angeles Kings celebrates his second period goal with teammates Alec Martinez #27 and Marian Gaborik #12 during an NHL game against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on November 28, 2017 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images)