Detroit snaps home losing streak in shootout against Sharks

 Trevor Daley #83 of the Detroit Red Wings celebrates his goal with teammates during an NHL game against the San Jose Sharks at Little Caesars Arena on January 31, 2018 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Jennifer Hefner/NHLI via Getty Images)

The Red Wings had to go the distance to achieve victory at Little Caesars Arena Wednesday night. The struggling Detroit squad saw themselves in a draw that went all the way to a shootout where Justin Abdelkader scored the winner to give them a 2-1 final over the San Jose Sharks.

Detroit’s 5-1 defeat due to Alex DeBrincat’s hat trick left the Red Wings sour for quite some time during the All-Star break. Now that business was ready to resume, their hosting of the San Jose Sharks left the need to win big and not fall into another long losing streak. So far, Detroit has lost five straight at home (0-4-1) since winning Jan. 5. The team received good news with Darren Helm, Abdelkader and Trevor Daley coming back to the lineup. With a two-game slide in motion for them, they hoped that Petr Mrazek could pull out another win to get the team on a better path.

The Red Wings were slow coming out in the first period and had to deal with adversity from the Sharks. They got a power play 3:49 in but the Detroit PK did work in their zone to keep them from getting the opening lead. They stayed tight with them through ten minutes with each team notching three shots apiece. The game began to pick up after the Sharks held off the Red Wings power play to go on a shooting spree. Detroit followed along with the pace and finished with a fight that did not lead to a lead change. They outshot San Jose 12-11 while they had more scoring chances than the home team but gave away the puck 11 times.

The second saw another slow start for the teams as the fight for possession continued on. Both teams looked for opportunities to fire the puck but both Martin Jones for San Jose and Petr Mrazek for Detroit were flawless between the pipes. As the minutes fell off the clock, the Red Wings kept ahead by a small margin but couldn’t put it into a new gear against them. Detroit suffered another power play but the PK continued to save them from seeing the score being changed for the worst.

When they returned to even strength, Detroit tried getting ahead on shots to the net but as close as they were coming to Jones, he denied them a lead with the second period coming to a close. They gained a huge chance on a late power play in the final minute. It helped the Red Wings increase their firepower but, in the end, no goals were scored. The Red Wings led once more 13-9 becoming most important to make something happen with one to go.

The third was a clear indication of both teams trying to make a big difference with opportunities decreasing in regulation. The Sharks and Red Wings fired away with some coming very close through the first several minutes. The moves of Detroit came together in the sixth minute where Daley took a scoring chance with a backhander. The puck somehow got between the five hole of Jones before getting into the net that secured the goal for the Red Wings to lead. It was Daley’s fourth of the season and the one that completely changed the course with 13 minutes remaining.

The Red Wings were well ahead outshooting San Jose 9-5 with six minutes left on the clock hunting down a chance to nail in a second puck. Before they could do that, the Sharks found a way to tie things up with five minutes on the clock. With a player out of luck with a broken stick for Detroit, San Jose made use of the advantage and gave Kevin Labanc a great point shot. He tore the puck through traffic hitting the top shelf behind Mrazek to level the situation and record his sixth of the season.

The final minutes were a desperate attempt to score the game winner while chances were still around to do so. San Jose had a heavier presence in the Detroit zone but Mrazek and the defensive support in front of him kept the threat clear. They played out what was left of the third period to move into overtime for 3 on 3 action.

The first half saw the Red Wings trying to end the night and get the win with some attacks but getting ahead of the Sharks was difficult. Frustration came to Dylan Larkin who got hooked by Brent Burns but was not awarded a penalty shot. They played on a 4 on 3 power play but Jones was still heavily focused on not being the goalie to allow a goal. The Sharks had a long shift during the Detroit man advantage but got fortunate to clear out the puck. San Jose didn’t get any chances to put a real play into motion ultimately leading the teams to a shootout.

Sharks captain Joe Pavelski got things started after Frans Nielsen was stopped by Jones to take the lead for them. It was secured even better by Logan Couture who made it 2-1 after Nyquist kept Detroit alive. Andreas Athanasiou tied things up that saw them in a tie through three rounds. After going scoreless in the fourth and fifth, Tomas Tatar got things going again to take the lead.

San Jose responded with Chris Tierney scoring. Justin Abdelkader came into action to score a goal that held strong. “I wanted to give him a good shot fake there,” Abdelkader said to Fox Sports Detroit reporter Trevor Thompson after the game. “I thought I could get him down and then I always like to come on the right side to have more options. I just pulled it to the backhand and got lucky and put it in.” Mrazek dealt well with Tomas Hertl to end the game and give Detroit a very well-deserved win.

The 25 year old Czech had a strong night in net stopping 30 of 31 for a .968 save percentage while denying four of six from the Sharks in the shootout. While he’ll have plenty of momentum to continue on the rest of the week, the Red Wings victory and snapping the losing streak at home allowed them to prepare for a Friday night matchup in Carolina against the Hurricanes.