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| Carter Hutton #40 of the St. Louis Blues blocks a shot from the Detroit Red Wings at Scottrade Center on February 28, 2018 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Joe Puetz/NHLI via Getty Images)
The St. Louis Blues had nothing to lose and came out winners at Scottrade Center Wednesday night. With a heavy push at the start, the home team pulled the third period together that beat the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 ending their seven game losing streak. Carter Hutton earned the victory against their opponents who fell for the first time in two games.
Detroit had a different look when vying for their third consecutive win. With the sudden departure of Tomas Tatar, it left the Red Wings significantly less on scoring as the Slovakian had been lighting up the lamp recently. They came into St. Louis as they are on a worse course having traded off Paul Stastny and lost their seventh straight. This gave the Red Wings a shot to keep their road positivity alive with the hunt close for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
They got started with leading the Blues in the first four minutes of the period before getting a power play. While nothing came of the two minute man advantage, the Red Wings had leverage for themselves. They had a 6-3 run through eight minutes of play when the first break came into play. Another moment of frustration reflected from the Blues to the Red Wings but Detroit remained firm in their mission to score. With nine minutes left, Detroit got three shots at Hutton but he blocked each one trying to keep his team’s opportunities alive.
St. Louis got a power play with six minutes left in the period, but despite efforts from Vladimir Terasenko at Detroit netminder Jimmy Howard went unanswered keeping the game scoreless. They had time left on the clock to get pucks in the Detroit zone but saves from Howard got his defense out of trouble ending twenty minutes dead even. Detroit outshot them 15-8 but with no real show of force, it left the home team with chances to get in front.
They did so early in the period with a lot of fight against the Red Wings that soon led to an offensive rush. Kyle Brodziak took off with the puck with three defenders on him. He did not let that get to him as a shot to Howard bounced off with St. Louis there to get the rebound. After Colton Parayko’s failed attempt, Scotty Upshall came to the puck to get it through Howard for the goal and his seventh of the season.
It lit a fire under their offense to battle the Red Wings and compete with half the game in the books and the lead theirs. The agenda of holding the Red Wings to very little had them bettering on the faceoff and putting as many pucks as they could on Howard. A kill of Detroit’s power play was one that took the Red Wings for a flip as they were coming up short and running out of ideas with less than three minutes left in the period. When the horn sounded to end the second, the Blues had 12 shots on goal outshooting Detroit who were still trailing in the game.
The third was tight for both teams involved as every shot on goal was one that would change the tide of the game. The Blues took their shots at making the margin bigger for themselves. While usually on the offensive side of the stick, Anthony Mantha was playing defense with his body that blocked a shot in front of Howard that took him back to the bench in considerable pain.
Despite his injury and the one that Andreas Athanasiou suffered, the Red Wings pushed the envelope on shots to Hutton in order to level the game with less than eight minutes in regulation. The situation became hopeless for them as a fight for possession in the Detroit zone cashed in for the Blues. Jaden Schwartz gained control behind Howard finding captain Alex Pietrangelo out open. The team leader delivered the one-timer straight at Howard’s right to score their second straight goal.
The Red Wings had only one option to them and pulled Howard with 3:39 left in the game needing a miracle to overcome the deficit. It took time for them to make something happen with half the time left. With two opportunities, Detroit cut the margin in half with Athanasiou getting on the board with his 13th. The Blues almost got it back to a pair with a one on one that almost went their way but Howard right there to make the save. He came back out of the net but it put them 5 on 4 for the duration of regulation due to matching penalties.
The game ended with the Blues holding on as they had the Red Wings beaten to bring an end to their long losing streak. Although coming so close to his fourth shutout this season, Hutton had a reason to be pleased stopping 35 shots for a .972 save percentage and first win since Feb. 8. With the Blues back on the right track, the Red Wings gap from a wild card spot got bigger as the loss made getting into the postseason farther away as the season closed in on its conclusion.
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Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Blues beat Red Wings ending seven game slide
Sunday, February 25, 2018
Daley brings home game winner to beat Rangers in OT
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| Henrik Lundqvist #30 of the New York Rangers skates off the ice as the Detroit Red Wings celebrate the win on February 25, 2018 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.The Detroit Red Wings defeated the New York Rangers 3-2 in overtime. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) |
Trevor Daley did it again for the Red Wings Sunday night. After his game winner Saturday against the Carolina Hurricanes, he got it done in overtime to beat the New York Rangers 3-2 at Madison Square Garden. It was the first time in a while that Detroit managed to get back to back wins gaining two huge points that put them back in the hunt. Jimmy Howard was also a big help for Detroit as he got another win stopping 36 on the night.
Detroit’s much needed victory on Saturday had them on the path to making something of their quick run to New York after their team leader set a milestone in Franchise history. Henrik Zetterberg scored a goal that put him in fifth all time to deal strongly against Hurricanes. The Rangers sat on a six-game losing streak and with the trade of Rick Nash hitting Rangers fans across the country, the future did not look pleasing in another home game. New York was in the middle of a sell off and hoped that despite the current situation, they could get through Sunday night with the deadline fast approaching.
A first strike from the Rangers ended in the glove of Howard who got the reach just fine to make the stab of the puck. His team got on the puck firing one at Henrik Lundqvist who wanted very much to end his losing ways. He dealt with a lot from the Red Wings over the next 12 minutes but denied them with blocked shots on the pads and those of his teammates. They battled back a Detroit power play and later earned one themselves where they nearly buried the puck on two scoring chances.
Howard made another good save when play returned to even strength denying Kevin Hayes with a chance to score for New York with 4:44 left. They began to outduel the Red Wings in the final minutes threatening Howard but remained focused to stop the Rangers along with Luke Glendening who helped out on a loose puck situation.
The final minute passed with the Rangers still in the hunt but in a last ditch possession of the puck where Andreas Athanasiou took off firing the puck between the legs of both Rob O’Gara and Lundqvist for his 12th of the season. It came with 6.7 seconds left to get the momentum running their way to lead. “Getting that goal definitely eases things a little bit,” Athanasiou said to Fox Sports Detroit’s Trevor Thompson. They were still outshot by New York 13-11 playing them nearly even on the faceoff.
Through four minutes of the second period, the Red Wings had already put six shots on Lundqvist hungry to add to their scoring margin. It came on a slip by Pavel Buchnevich who lost the puck at center that quickly got onto the stick of Detroit’s Darren Helm. The speedster took off at Lundqvist to score his eighth of the year.
The fun was over for the Red Wings as they handed New York a power play which they made good on finding the open spot. J.T. Miller found the ice open with Trevor Daley firing the puck scoring his 13th. Just when he got the shutout done, Tomas Tatar helped the Red Wings get back their two-goal lead. Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault challenged the goal for off-sides which went their way negating Tatar’s goal.
Despite the loss of the 3-1 lead, the Red Wings had plenty of time to make up for it. They were up 10-5 on shots to the net with five minutes to go getting their third man advantage. While it did not produce the result they wanted, Detroit concluded the second period maintaining their lead with the Rangers way behind 11-6.
Gameplay between the two in the third period was tight as the shot attempts were fought to get on the respective goaltenders. Only five pucks were logged between the teams through six minutes of play with a goal still separating them. The Rangers were running out of time and made a stab at getting the game leveled with 11 to go. Mika Zabinejad was next to Howard as New York slapped the puck at him to get one in. The Rangers thought they got it done but a distinct kicking motion from Zabinejad was caught on tape negating their scoring chance.
The play was reviewed by a challenge from the Rangers but the call stood thereby losing their timeout. They got over it when three minutes later came the tying goal that had Howard ultimately beat in net. A shot to the Detroit netminder’s glove side by Kevin Hayes shot wide but got to Jesper Fast who was there for the rebound. He quickly got rid of the puck sending into the net for his tenth.
The shots on goals belonged to the Rangers who outshot the Red Wings 13-5 with only six minutes left in regulation. With their pace at a higher rate than Detroit’s the defense by the visiting team needed to stick to solid coverage for a chance at a goal or overtime. Howard held his ground as the Rangers surged for the game winner but could not get it. Detroit was being cut off from attacking Lundqvist. One opportunity came to Tatar with 30 seconds but his shot hit the post instead of its intended target.
As time ran out, it became the first time since Jan. 6 the Rangers went to overtime gaining a point in their quest to end the massive slide they carried upon them. The game got tense on three on three hockey that saw many shifts and opportunities come together but no goal scored. It got down to the nitty gritty with less than a minute to go. Detroit went for one more chance with Frans Nielsen and Daley on the line on defense.
It would be his response that ended the game for the Red Wings with a shot going through the five hole of Lundqvist to give him the game winner in consecutive games; something not done since 2006. “I heard the bench saying there was ten seconds left so I knew we had to get it to the net, so I got to the net and Nels made a great play and just got lucky putting my stick on it and it went in,” said Daley after the game. “When the D get to step up and help out it’s a big help.”
The victory was huge for the Red Wings who were three games from a wild card spot and just starting on their road trip to visit the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.
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Pyeongchang Olympics: Pyeongchang 2018 concludes with awesome closing ceremony
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Pyeongchang finished with a bang at the 2018 Winter Olympics Sunday night. The
Koreans capped out the 18 days of exciting moments with a fantastic closing ceremony
at the Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium.
The ceremony began with another countdown that finished with
fireworks before skiers and skaters entered the stadium to a dance under
digital imagining. They completed their skit with the shape of the Olympic flag
before the president of the Olympic committee and the president of Korea took their
place in the stadium.
The national flag was raised while the anthem was sung by
Jang Se-ik and a children’s choir
before Yang Tee-hwan on guitar rocked out playing a modern
piece of Classical music before a number of women were shown on center stage
playing traditional Korean stringed instruments. A band came out with a
drummer, guitarist and a woman playing an èrhú. A Pagoda took place above the
band before dancers came in surrounding a woman in traditional dress.
A video was then shown of the athletes competing in the 16-day
competition before the flags of the participating countries flowed in carried
by athletes voted to walk in with them. The athletes then walked in to the
stadium as one showing unity from the beginning to the end of the Winter
Olympics.
Intel’s drones made an appearance once again in the sky
taking shape of the mascot of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics where they
took the shape of a heart. As the athletes took their seats in the stands, the
performances continued with a group carrying what looked like snowflakes and
large puppets including the figure of a turtle with its shell lit up. The turtle
was moved around in its natural form before it took a digital appearance on the
ground.
The medal ceremony for the women’s 30km cross country skiing
classic and the men’s 50 km classic were given out on stage to the gold, silver
and bronze medalists of each event. Thomas Bach, President of the International
Olympic Committee and Gian Franco Kasper, president of the International ski
federation gave out the medals to the competitors.
A dance montage proceeded the ceremony with seconds counting
from 30 to 60 before men dressed in black and white took stage with a pole
rising vertically. Digital graphics were once again a notice in their performance
before they finished in front of the pole. Two new members of the International
Olympic Committee’s athletes commission came out with four members representing
the volunteers of the Olympics.
Korean pop musical artist CL took the stage and energized the
crowd before the flags of Greece and Olympics were raised during their anthems.
The IOC president returned to the stage with the mayor of Pyeongchang and the mayor
of Beijing in the Olympic flag handover. Beijing will hold the next winter
games in 2022. The Chinese national anthem was played followed by the presentation
of the next winter games. The Chinese put on a show with a lit up panda bear and
dancers accompanying it.
Futuristic elements played their part in the show with video
graphics showing whales, deer and geese. The performance finished with images
of people around the world on giant moving screens that then showed the logos
of every winter games before videos were shown of Chinese workers, athletes,
women and children were inviting everyone to come to their country’s capitals
in 2022. President Xi Jinping sent a message of welcome to China in four years
to celebrate the XXIV Olympiad.
The president of Pyeongchang 2018 came to the podium with
IOC President Bach to make a speech to the crowd on how well the Olympics went
and their success and permanent place in history. Bach called the 2018 games as
“the games of new horizons” with new events and digital imaging taking precedence
during the 16 days of competition.
After officially closing the 2018 Winter Olympics, the
ceremony continued with two men coming out to entertain the crowd with
traditional Korean dancing a with the banging of a brass drum. A DJ came out and
a number of off road vehicles rolled onto the stage lighting up the center.
They were followed by Korean boy band EXO who danced away while singing one of their
popular song “Growl”. They then sang “Power” which saw the stands light up with
the vehicles doing the same. Fireworks blasted outside the stadium during their
performance in a grand finale.
The children from the opening ceremony returns with a large
box following them while each carried a large ball lit in white. The box opened
up showing a snow globe which then set up a finish to extinguish the Olympic
flame and get the party underway. All the athletes came out to dance the night
away with a DJ and guitarist going at it.
Martin Garrix took over playing his hit song “Forever” that
go the crowd on its feet while the athletes continued to party with their teammates
and other athletes from other countries around the world. The ceremony lasted
over two hours in what many considered to be the best ending to the XXIII
Winter Olympics.
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