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| Tomas Tatar #21 of the Detroit Red Wings celebrates with his teammates after scoring the game-winning goal in overtime against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on February 11, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images) |
Friday’s wild game against the New York Islanders saw Detroit score six goals with Anthony Mantha getting two but letting the game get out of hand was something they could let happen again. While they got a point from the previous game, earning even one against the Capitals would be a serious challenge. While the Red Wings had trouble playing early games, getting an early start in the opening minutes would be critical to overpowering the Metropolitan division leaders.
A power play went to the Capitals in the first few minutes where Alexander Ovechkin scored just over a minute into the man advantage. The Washington captain got his 33rd with a lot of room in front of him that got through Howard on his right. The Capitals held their ground for some time after scoring early holding Detroit to just three shots. It wasn’t until 13 minutes had elapsed that the Red Wings made something happen getting on a loose puck in the neutral zone. He skated ahead of the Washington defense to aim his shot at Braden Holtby to score and tie things up gaining his ninth while unassisted.
Detroit slowly gained shots on goal but it wasn’t much as the Capitals were playing man to man coverage while also hunting for a chance to regain the lead. A second power play came but the Red Wings penalty killing unit did work to stop them from adding another to their bottom line. When things returned to even strength, the teams finished the final minute to close the first period with Washington outshooting Detroit 8-6.
Detroit opened with an attempt at catching up with the Capitals on shots to the net of Holtby. They caught an opportunity to take the lead on a power play but the Capitals protected the defensive zone to maintain status quo. A shot from Dylan Larkin later on had the Capitals scrambling where they made the stop right before the puck was about to cross the goal line. His scoring chance was Detroit’s 11th of the game getting out front for the first time.
They kept the shots at Holtby in net but he wasn’t ready to give Detroit another goal to lead. While they managed to increase their shots on net, they continued to limit what Washington produced. A power play that Capitals Brooks Orpik thought was questionable made good of it with a lot of play happening in the Washington zone. After the completion of the penalty, Darren Helm’s drive to the net got to Luke Glendening who delivered the rebound into the net notching his eighth. Detroit made it 3-1 nine seconds later with Anthony Mantha adding his 19th with a quick offense that beat Holtby again.
Before the period came to a close, the Red Wings made one last statement in the final seconds of the second period. Larkin’s attempt to get ahead was foiled but with Tatar right on his tail, he passed it back to the Czech star who shot it to the back of the net making it 4-1 for Tatar’s 13th. Detroit completely took Washington out of it outshooting them 17-2.
In what they hoped wasn’t a precursor to Friday’s escapade of goals scored, the Red Wings allowed the Capitals to gain ground on Brett Connolly’s goal from the short side that gave the 25-year-old right winger his 14th. It helped Washington build up an offense to take the lead on shots in the third period against the Red Wings.
Detroit had a chance to return a three-goal lead but saw the Capitals PK unit do work to avoid the score being changed. While two goals were a big obstacle to overcome, Washington did a lot to play hard against the opponents and pressure Howard. The New York native was very focused on his ultimate goal of helping the Red Wings bring home a win with seven minutes left in regulation.
Washington put their offense into a new formation that resulted in sitting a goal down thanks to Jay Beagle who got possession of the puck before setting up Dmitry Orlov with his eighth of the season. The Red Wings saw the Capitals rush heavily into the Detroit end desperate to tie the game with four minutes to go. The Red Wings knew what had to be done and got the whole line to work as one clearing the threat away while killing time.
With two to go, Holtby got the call to come out of the net giving the Capitals six men which put a lot of pressure for Detroit to hold the score. The situation took a turn for the worse as Detroit suffered a penalty with 1:15 left and down two men for the duration. Just when it looked as if Detroit would avoid giving up everything, it happened with 16.7 seconds with veteran Nicklas Backstrom getting the puck before firing one on the glove side of Howard to take the game into overtime.
Backstrom got his 13th while Howard and the Red Wings gave up three in a row seeing the shadows of Friday return to their eyes. Washington outshot Detroit 15-5 making a big move to go for the sixth man that worked out to fight for the second point. As the five-minute period got underway, every chance to get a scoring chance was huge. Howard and Holtby were tense but after 2:40 the Red Wings got one with Larkin and Tatar in play where he got another pass from the Michigan native to score his second of the night and the game winner.
“As I passed the puck to Jensen, I saw the two guys jump on his so I was hoping he made that play,” Tatar said to Fox Sports Detroit reporter Trevor Thompson. “I was hoping for a 2 on 1 to pass to Dylan and he made a beautiful play through the legs to set up a beautiful goal.” “I thought he would get the back door,” Tatar continued to say. “I was trying to go to the back and I was hoping he would slide and I just tried to push it in there.”
It was another wild finish for Detroit who outshot Washington 29-27 with Howard getting his first win that snapped a long losing streak spanning five games. His efforts were saved by the offense making 23 saves in the process for a .852 save percentage for his 15th win and first since Jan. 9.
With the monkey off his and the Red Wings backs they’ll take it all in stride, clean up the defense and prepare to host the Anaheim Ducks Tuesday.
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