Red Wings shut down Oilers 4-0

Martin Frk #42 and Anthony Mantha #39 of the Detroit Red Wings celebrate after a goal during the game against the Edmonton Oilers on November 5, 2017 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images)

Detroit’s timing and pace got them a solid victory early Sunday evening. The Red Wings kept the heat on their stick scoring four unanswered against the Edmonton Oilers; holding them for a 4-0 shutout at Rexall Place. Detroit goaltender Petr Mrazek earned his first victory since Oct. 13 stopping every shot his way to put his team back on the plus side.

Mrazek earned his first start in seven games to be in net for the Red Wings who are looking to get a win on an early start. The 25-year-old had just four starts so far in the season with many of them not ending well. The second stringer hoped to prove his worth against Edmonton who have a young speedy squad. The Oilers won their Friday night match against the Devils Friday with a winning streak to keep together at home. Andreas Athanasiou has two points so far in his return and would challenge the skills of Oilers captain Connor McDavid who leads his team in that category.

Before he could get on the board for Edmonton, the Red Wings beat him 3:23 into the first period with Frans Nielsen going in on the puck behind the Edmonton net. He got it to the blue line where Nick Jensen delivered a one-timer that Nielsen got on. It was his fifth of the season during his milestone 700th career game. Jensen took a penalty later on that gave the Oilers a chance to even up but the Detroit PK came through.

The Red Wings went on the man advantage shortly after where they also came up short but didn’t give up. As time ran out, Detroit was still hot on shooting the puck at Cam Talbot in net. They took every chance they were given and scored on a slap from Gustav Nyquist for his fifth on the year. Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg got a much-needed point for his bottom line making it the 11^th of the year and seventh assist. Nyquist left the ice with a hard fall on the ice and didn’t return to play the remainder of regulation.

Detroit held their ground with strong offense and solid defense between them and Mrazek. When it was all said and done, the Red Wings kept the Oilers scoreless with just eight shots while they produced a lot of positive moments and nine shots on goal.

The second was a much more even game that left the two running neck and neck on shots to the opposing nets. Mrazek was still playing tremendously for the Red Wings not allowing anything behind him. After half the period went into the books and a tight game in play, Detroit changed things up with a good turnover the Oiler’s offensive end. It was there that Athanasiou got possession to send it out to Martin Frk. He and Anthony Mantha push into together before he sent the puck over to Frk for his fourth and an important 3-0 lead.

The Oilers found a way to push in a threatening way and nearly had the Red Wings beaten with strong pressure close to Mrazek. While the netminder was laid out on the ice, he and his defense somehow avoided one going in, clearing the puck out of the way. They kept up the pace they had from the first period and finished strong to shutout the Oilers once again. Edmonton showed they were in the game with 12 shots on goal but Mrazek’s flawless moves and good support had them 20 minutes away from their best at the start of November.

It only got better for the Red Wings as they continued their offensive and defensive pace that ruined the Oilers more. On Detroit’s second power play, a full team effort that saw Frk shooting the puck came back to rebound off Talbot that Mantha got a piece of. The young forward scored the second chance for his seventh of the season and a huge margin of victory for them.  The Oilers surged on shots but their efforts came up short against Mrazek as he left very little opportunities to score one on him. Desperation was showing in their lines as time fell off the clock.

Edmonton didn’t pull Talbot from the net as they came to the realization that Detroit’s four goal lead was not gonna be broken helping them to secure a win. It was the first time in 18 games that McDavid was held scoreless in a game. They took 36 shots on Mrazek who picked up his second win of the year and 11^th career shutout. They would celebrate the win before moving west to take on the Vancouver Canucks Monday.

“I thought we played good in our D Zone,” Justin Abdelkader said to Fox Sports Detroit’s Trevor Thompson. “We were quick, we made stalls when we had to and our D got the puck moving, got skating. We stayed above them, hard on them and hung onto pucks.”