Red Wings smash Predators 5-3

Goals from players who hadn’t yet made a statement this season did so leading to a third straight victory for the Red Wings. They had both sides of the game working that led to a 5-3 win over the Nashville Predators at Joe Louis Arena Friday night.

The Red Wings have Jimmy Howard to thank for their two game winning streak. The veteran goaltender deal with plenty of challenges against the New York Rangers that led to their 2-1 victory at Madison Square Garden Wednesday. His 32 saves earned him his first win and plenty more games in the future.

Coach Jeff Blashill gave Howard the night off putting Petr Mrazek back in net to face a slightly new Predators team that he’s 3-0 against. P.K. Subban joined the team during the offseason in a trade for former captain Shea Weber. With his powerful defensive power, it was likely that he would bring together a top line to challenge Detroit.

The Red Wings took off on shots to the net after Mrazek made two big saves to start the first period. By the time five minutes went into the books, Detroit had shot seven times on net while holding Nashville to three. They gained more time with the puck in the Detroit zone hoping to be first to score in the game.

Nashville began to even with the Red Wings on scoring chances but were still unable to put one behind Mrazek. The same was said for Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne whose large stature allowed very little chance for Detroit to score on the net. At the end of 20 minutes, both teams shot 15 times with not one going in for a game leading goal. The Red Wings fared better on the faceoff but took plenty more hits than they delivered to Nashville.

The stalemate continued into the second period for the first three and a half minutes. A holding call to Filip Forsberg allowed the Red Wings a second power play chance to change the pace of things. It came at the hands of rookie Ryan Sproul who fired a shot that went off Justin Abdelkader to score one for Detroit.

Nashville coach Peter Laviolette challenged the call that Abdelkader interfered with Rinne in net. The video showed that no interference occurred on the play and awarded the goal to the Red Wings. Sproul picked up his first career point while Abdelkader got credit for his first of the season.

The Predators gave Detroit another man advantage but did work killing it to prevent the Red Wings from running away. With seven minutes left, Nashville got their chance and nearly let it get out of hand. Detroit caught hold of the puck while shorthanded where Luke Glendening went in alone nearly beating Rinne.

The Red Wings took 50 seconds of the man advantage away from them but soon found themselves two men down for the remainder of the first penalty. It was enough for them to get a heavy advantage where Subban made Detroit pay. He delivered a centering drive that went five whole on Mrazek giving him his second of the season and both on power plays.

A second power play goal ended the penalties but gave Nashville a 2-1 lead. It came 18 seconds later on a bad rebound that Mrazek couldn’t secure that Mike Ribeiro got hold of to easily put in. The Red Wings had to quickly recover from their slip up and gained a chance to do so with another power play for them. Though they didn’t convert in the two-minute penalty, Detroit got heavily offensive in front of Rinne with Glendening taking his scoring chances on the net minder.

His line got into the fun until a shot from Drew Miller put their troubles in the rear mirror with the Michigan native picking up his second of the year on a shot hitting the top shelf. The late charge to level back on the scoreboard turned into a 19-10 lead on shots to the net in the second period. With just 20 minutes left in regulation, it was going to be a sure fight to the finish between the two former Central Division rivals.

Detroit took the first big step in the third period scoring 1:10 where Tomas Tatar put some great stick work between the Nashville defense. He lined the puck up firing an accurate shot flying over the stick side leg pad of Rinne for his first of the season. Dylan Larkin continued to have trouble on offense but his fighting was more than active on the night. After taking a high stick from Yannick Weber, he took it to heart going after him taking some shots to Weber’s head. The fans lost their minds in the stands cheering the 20-year-old who took it to the Predators defenseman.

“After that high stick I reacted to it and he crossed checked me, it just happened,” Larkin said to the media after the game. “It’s something I don’t really want to do but its my first every fight.”

Larkin’s fight helped energize the Red Wings to a higher degree of performance and proved it midway through the period. Gustav Nyquist made it 4-2 on a bad turnover from Nashville going quick on Rinne to get his first. The Predators were doing everything to get the best of Detroit with Subban getting rough with Abdelkader. The Detroit forward was ready to take on Subban but the Nashville defenseman denied him the pleasure sending boos down to the ice.

The Predators responded with a big goal from new captain Mike Fisher who drove one through traffic getting the puck through the leg of Mrazek putting them down by one with four minutes left. A big mistake by Nashville cost them with two minutes left. A pair of unnecessary penalties allowed the Red Wings to play 5 on 3 for the remainder of the game. They more than took the leverage and played out all the time keeping the puck away.

Rinne left the ice putting a fourth man on for Nashville, but it wasn’t enough in the end. Detroit kept the puck in their zone before a chance to push came with 30 seconds on the clock. Darren Helm picked up his third of the season getting one in the empty net. The last 22 seconds came to a finish for Detroit clinching their third victory in a row and Mrazek’s third win of the season.

He made 30 saves on the night for a .909 save percentage and plenty to be proud of with his team taking the puck to the net quite a bit. They outshot Nashville 43-33 in regulation despite being two for seven on the power play. “It’s nice to score one and good to see the other guys get one too but most importantly getting two big points for us and keep it rolling,” Nyquist said to Fox Sports Detroit reporter Trevor Thompson. They’ll have time to work that out when they host the San Jose Sharks Saturday night.

Photo by: Dave Reginek/Getty Images

Red Wings get 2-1 victory over Rangers

Jimmy Howard’s first victory of the season was a key to Detroit’s win at Madison Square Garden Wednesday night. Goals from Tomas Vanek and Drew Miller allowed the Red Wings to beat the New York Rangers 2-1 for their second win in a row. The Detroit goaltender made 32 saves on the night including an incredible performance in the second period.

Monday’s home victory for the Red Wings got them in shape to be consistent as they got back on the road. With Mike Green scoring a hat trick along with Darren Helm’s two goals, the remainder of Detroit’s lineup hoped to bring the heat against their Original Six rivals. For the first time this season, Howard got the start ending Mrazek’s three-game streak for the Red Wings. The veteran net minder had put in plenty of practice during the preseason and expected to do better than Henrik Lundqvist in net for the Rangers.

Howard was immediately challenged in the opening minutes where Kris Kreider helped out the Rangers keeping the play alive. He found Ryan McDonagh near the blue line firing a shot on the net where Mika Zabinejad stood to get the rebound scoring his second of the season. Being in a whole was not what the Red Wings wanted and they responded by bring an even keel to their offense taking their scoring chances on Lundqvist.

The Swedish goaltender did plenty of work to avoid a sudden tie with Detroit which led to a struggle for the Red Wings. New York’s win on the face-offs were taking their toll winning 73 percent. New York put worry into the eyes of Detroit’s defense as they nearly had two more unanswered goals in net. A shot from the Rangers line went off the post and later took another close shot that went off the opposite post. By the time the horn sounded, the Rangers had outshot the Red Wings 14-7 with plenty of time to continue their early success.

The Red Wings earned a power play to start the second but got into trouble fast. Michael Grabner caught hold of the puck in the neutral zone going on a breakaway at Howard while shorthanded. Grabner rushed the puck to the Detroit goalie but failed to get it behind him. They continued their rush on Howard with Rick Nash, Mats Zuccarello and McDonagh getting a run ahead of the Red Wings but couldn’t get the puck behind the Detroit goaltender.

To give their teammate a break, the Red Wings pulled things together on offense with Vanek putting a screen in front of Lundqvist. It allowed Frans Nielsen to aim a shot from the blue line watching it go into the net that leveled the score. Vanek got a piece of the puck on its way in giving the Austrian his third of the season.

The Rangers made it their mission to get back out front by any means. For the rest of the period, they took everything they had at Howard but came up empty. Through the last 14 minutes, the Detroit net minder used his newfound energy to making big saves on shots from point-blank range to deep in the Detroit zone. By the time the period had come to a close, Howard made 13 saves in what was a great performance on his part and just another reason for the Red Wings to keep getting better.

Miller got the message just one minute into the third period where the Detroit veteran got an easy pass from Luke Glendening to score his first of the season. Glendening went after Lundqvist in the back of the net leaving it vulnerable for Miller to shoot on it. They used the lead to increase their shots on net in the Rangers zone while New York looked for their first of the period. They got the chance with a power play but watched at the Red Wings launched into shorthanded breakaways. It was enough time with the puck that killed off the penalty bringing things to status quo.

Time was quickly falling off the clock with Howard still at his best hoping to get the win at the end of regulation. Efforts from the rest of his team did everything they could to play man to man coverage and fight for possession at every opportunity. Two minutes were left on the clock for the Rangers who decided to pull Lundqvist from the net. Six men went at the Red Wings in their attempts to score the tying goal.

New York head coach Alain Vigneault took a timeout with 44.5 seconds left hoping that his setup would help send things into overtime. The strategy didn’t work out for them as their final shots were all blocked off giving Detroit another big victory. For Howard, getting the first win was very important for the 32-year-old as he accumulated for a .969 save percentage and plenty more to come this season. “I just enjoy playing here,” Howard said when asked about his success at MSG.

They’ll take the much-deserved win before returning home to begin a three-game home stand that begins with the Nashville Predators Friday night.

 Photo by: Jared Sllber/Getty Images

Red Wings win home opener on Senators 5-1

The Red Wings redeemed themselves for a bad start to the season. Mike Green scored a hat trick along with Darren Helm’s pair of goals that helped beat the Ottawa Senators 5-1 at Joe Louis Arena on opening night Monday. Petr Mrazek made 31 saves on the night that gave him his first win in three starts with many more to come.

Detroit needed a much better performance on opening night after a dismal run in Florida. The Red Wings showed talent from a few while the rest had lackluster nights allowing power plays to do in the hands of their foes. Detroit has been outscored. 10-5 while on the road needing a serious change if they wanted to have their fans support. It became especially important as it would be the last time Detroit would have a home opener at the Joe Louis Arena. With it being very important to find success, the entire Red Wings squad needed to be at their best.

They had some trouble getting shots on Ottawa goalie Andrew Hammond who earned the start. He dealt with two shots from Detroit before his team were awarded the opening power play. Mrazek saw action right away with the PK unit looking a little off key on defense. They changed things up with Jonathan Ericsson challenging a fight with Dion Phaenuf. The Detroit defenseman got in some shots on the former Toronto captain before officials broke up the fight.

The action only added energy to the Senators who increased their shots to the net on Mrazek. He kept the puck out during their offensive surge giving Detroit time with the puck. The Red Wings nearly had a scoring chance when Hammond lost his stick and skated away from the net. The Senators got lucky with a blown whistle that brought play to a brief halt. During the break, the Detroit Red Wings delivered a tribute to Mr. Hockey Gordie Howe who passed away back on June. 10.

Kind words from Wayne Gretzky and Steve Yzerman were followed by all the fans holding up the number nine in celebration of his long life and career. When play resumed, the Red Wings might have gained energy from the video as they scored minutes later with Green scoring a goal on a great turnover taking the opening lead. “I thought the guys did a good job coming out of the gate creating a lot of pressure on their D and some turnovers,” Green said to Fox Sports Detroit’s Trevor Thompson. “Vanek made some great plays out there and I was just shooting the puck. Those guys made great plays.”

Detroit made it 2-0 just two and a half minutes later with Helm earning his second of the season putting in a lot of speed in the period. After getting another turnover in their zone, Captain Henrik Zetterberg set up Helm who took off with the puck firing a snap shot to the stick side. Adding another chance to widen the gap, Detroit got on the power play and let the Senators have it. They spent the entire two minutes in the Ottawa zone with Tomas Tatar trying to get a piece of the net.

For the second time, Tomas Vanek helped out with a great pass out front to Green who fired the puck from the blue line down the line to get his second of the night. With so many good things occurring in the first 20 minutes, it allowed the Red Wings to outshoot Ottawa 13-9 and have the power play come alive for them.

The Senators were well aware that something better had to come to light at the start of the second period. They began by getting more chances on the Detroit net that inevitably got them dead even on shots on goal. The Senators put Detroit on the power play but a bad transition worked against them.

Ottawa took off into the Detroit zone shorthanded where Ryan Dzingel fired a shot at the stick of Riley Sheahan which sent the puck into the net. Kyle Turris got credit for the goal that gave him his third of the season while Dzingel and captain Erik Karlsson getting the assists. The Senators spent the rest of the period outdueling the Red Wings who lost some of their speed to end 40 minutes. Ottawa outshot Detroit 14-5 in hopes that they could close the gap that Detroit had going into the third.

Both teams got chances on the power play with neither able to convert a goal during the man advantage. The scuffles were more than active on ice with the Senators using their frustration to break Detroit. Justin Abdelkader got his chance for a one on one with Chris Neil getting a great hit to the head of the Ottawa Forward.

Things calmed down a bit but with plenty of time on the clock, Green still had a chance to get it done. Waiting patiently for a shot, the defenseman skated backward eyeing a line drive where he flew through the traffic hitting the top shelf for a hat trick. It was the second time that Detroit scored a hat trick with Abdelkader being the last to pull off the feat.

The game was becoming a clear victory for the Red Wings as Helm added his second on the power play. Full control by Detroit led Vanek to set up the Detroit native to make it 5-1. The remaining time quickly fell off the clock that gave the Red Wings a well-deserved win in front of their fans to begin their fight on home ice.  “It was imperative that we get off through this start here at home and establish some energy and I thought we did a good job at that.”

Ending the two game losing streak was a relief to the entire team including coach Jeff Blashill who saw major improvements in their victory. “It’s a hockey game that we had to win for sure, he said to the media. “I would also say that we want to leave our mark in this organization and it was great to get a big win here in the last home opener.”

While they wished to keep things at home, the Red Wings schedule would take them away from Detroit facing the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden Wednesday.

Photo by: Dave Reginek/Getty Images

Allertova advances in win over Bouchard at Luxembourg Open

Denisa Allertova put her best on court at the BNP Luxembourg Open Monday evening. The Czech tennis star put in plenty of work in a three set match against Eugenie Bouchard

winning 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 on Centre Court at the CK Sport Center S.A. It was a third straight loss for Bouchard who lost momentum at critical points allowing her opponent to run by.

The two got together for a second time this season with the Canadian up a match win on the Czech. Bouchard’s straight sets win in Doha gives her positive vibes to do well again. With the season coming to an end, the world number 46 hoped to get a positive start after losing in the first round at Linz last week. Allertova got to the third round in Austria before losing out to Spain’s Carla Suarez-Navarro. The Czech’s recent success could help her get the best of Bouchard or find herself struggling to manage Canada’s strongest tennis star.

She stayed ahead the 22-year-old Canadian after the second game taking a 3-1 lead. A break from Bouchard came to light that helped her recover from the deficit. The second serve of Allertova completely disappeared committing double faults and unforced errors in the process. Bouchard jumped on her opponent’s vulnerabilities, took back control at the right time to gain leverage, winning the next five straight to win the set 6-3 in 27 minutes.

The Czech star reeled in her earlier problems from the set and took two in a row from Bouchard that included an impressive fight in the first game. Game three saw the second serve coming back to put a damper on Allertova’s progress. It opened the door for the Canadian to get on the board and in position to level in the second set.

Bouchard put the pressure back on Allertova to make her serve work for the best or suffer a bad mistake that could cost her. She picked up another two games that allowed her some room on the scoreboard and push Bouchard to a breaking point. The Canadian picked up another win but couldn’t overtime the margin that handed the Czech the set sending both to the distance in the match.

The players got into a neck and neck race to the finish line with a second round spot waiting for one of them. Bouchard had the lead at one point but soon found her second serve causing her trouble. It allowed the Czech to counter on her opponent’s problems and take back control in the set. She moved out to 4-3 following it up with a second win that had the Canadian on the ropes. Bouchard showed a sense of urgency but was forced to deuce in the ninth. It was there that she struggled to keep up with the big hits from Allertova who put all her might to close out the match in 1 hour and 53 minutes.

Panthers blast Red Wings to second straight loss

The Panthers out played the competition in every aspect Saturday night. Their response in the first period carried over into the third where they put the beat down on the Detroit Red Wings winning 4-1 at the BB&T Center. Goaltender Roberto Luongo made 21 of 22 saves in net in a team effort to victory.

Detroit’s rough outing on the road required them to adjust fast going into just the second game of the season. Playing the Panthers wasn’t going to be any easier as they continued to carry a strong team that has shown serious competition in recent years. Jagr had a chance of reaching a milestone sitting on 749 career goals. Scoring his 750^th goal would put him as the third player in NHL history to reach that feat.

With everyone in the NHL trying to get into the groove, the Red Wings had to consolidate their best to score goals. Tomas Vanek and Frans Nielsen proved themselves well and hoped to watch the rest of their teammates do the same to prevent going 0-2. Things didn’t go so well for Detroit as they were quickly down 1-0 just 1:10 into the start of the game. Vincent Trocheck took off with the puck going for a wraparound chance that hit the skate of Dylan Larkin and into the net for his first of the season and fifth in the last eight games playing the Red Wings.

The Panthers picked up a power play where they took things to Petr Mrazek where he made three stops on Florida with the Detroit PK unit in crisis mode. The Red Wings had yet to take a shot in the opening eight minutes of action. They took a shot on Luongo but watched Florida regain a grip on possession bring the heat back on the Detroit net minder. Florida’s tenacity was too much for the Red Wings as they took off setting up a 2 on 1. A beautiful pass from Jonathan Marchessault put Colton Sceviour in a great spot to fire the puck cleanly into the net.

By the halfway point, Florida outshot Detroit 9-3 as the game was becoming quite lopsided. Detroit needed more effort from their veterans and on their fourth shot, an answer arrived. Detroit played man to man coverage deep into the Florida zone before a stick on the puck gave Darren Helm the chance. He delivered a one timer in front of the goal that ended Luongo’s shutout. Detroit spent the remainder of the period trying to reel things in but couldn’t cover the spread with Florida outshooting Detroit 16-9.

The second period saw things slow down with Florida taking a calmer approach to their offense taking six shots through ten minutes of play. Detroit took just a pair on the Panthers net but more had to be done in order to level the playing field. Florida gained the only power play of the period but saw Detroit and Mrazek take care of business in their end holding off any further surge.

The shots to the net continued to increase for Florida who took the challenge to Mrazek but came up short against the Czech goaltender who made huge saves in the late stages of the second. The horn sounded with the Panthers leading 12-4 and with a majority of their second straight power play to be played in the third.

The Red Wings made a good response by killing off another penalty and running their way to getting back to level pegging with the Panthers. Detroit was pushing their lines to increase some energy on offense and got to a degree that matched the power of Florida’s. It remained a one-goal lead for the Panthers with five minutes left, but a critical power play for the Red Wings had Detroit searching for the tying goal.

The Panthers PK unit fought well in their zone slapping away the puck from the Red Wings that killed off the two-minute penalty. When the game returned to even strength it was a big move from Jagr that gave the Panthers another step in the right direction. His steal off of Danny DeKeyser allowed Aleksander Barkov a shot at the net scoring his first of the season for a 3-1 lead.

Detroit pulled Mrazek from the net hoping that it could make a difference with six attackers. It only got worse as Florida powered their way back into the Detroit end where Marchessault scored on the empty net to end the game.

Despite being 0-2, Mrazek had another good performance stopping 34 of 37 but his team allowed too many scoring chances with key players still underperforming. They’ll hope to get things in shape before Monday’s home opener at the Joe Louis Arena when the face the Ottawa Senators.

 Photo by Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI via Getty Images

Lightning take opening night win over Detroit 6-4

Embed from Getty Images

Six different scorers contributed to Tampa’s opening night victory at Amalie Arena Thursday night. For the seventh time on their home ice, the Lightning was able to overcome an early deficit to beat the Red Wings 6-4. Four unanswered goals came in the third period for Tampa that sent the Red Wings into a dead spin.

Detroit began their season against the same team that defeated them at the tail end of the 2015-16 season. Though things look much different with the loss of Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit opened room for Frans Nielsen and Tomas Vanek to join the squad and bring goals to the team. It also left the door open for Detroit’s coaching staff to take a different approach to the way they play the game and hope that they can start the season with a victory on the road.

The Red Wings fought early on making their stance known before their first rush on goaltender Ben Bishop. Further opportunities had Tampa scrambling on defense keeping the scoring chances difficult for Detroit. They gained their first power play of the season on a holding penalty to the Lightning. The Detroit veterans opened the power play unit with Nielsen joining the offensive line.

There were plenty of shots near the Lightning net with captain Henrik Zetterberg getting a piece. Though he wasn’t able to score on the six foot seven net minder, Vanek was. He went on the stick side of Bishop where he got hold of the loose puck scoring his first of the season. Nielsen picked up an assist on the play making it clear that the new Detroit stars were doing their jobs.

Tampa earned a chance to level the playing field with a penalty just seconds after the Vanek goal. They made it 5 on 3 for 13 seconds that was plenty of time for Tampa to make something happen in the Detroit zone. Detroit managed to get out of trouble early with Petr Mrazek doing work in the net. He made big saves on Lightning captain Steven Stamkos with two shots coming at point blank range. He continued with the fast glove that saved the Lightning from scoring thereby ending the man advantage.

All the hard work paid off for a second time as a bouncing puck got off the sticks of Tampa and into the possession of Gustav Nyquist. The Swedish veteran found Vanek behind him setting him up for an easy goal on Bishop. It was his 27^th career goal against the Lightning which gave the Red Wings a heavy advantage just halfway through the period.

Tampa began to show signs of concern as they struggled to bring the same degree of strength that Detroit brought on the ice. Tampa began to see more chances at Mrazek but couldn’t yet break one through him battling against a strong Red Wings defense. They shot four times while holding Detroit from any during the second half of the period. They were outshot 9-5 by Tampa but the leverage was well in favor of Detroit who hoped to keep things in check going forward.

The Red Wings were finding chances on the net with Brendan Smith and Dylan Larkin getting their opportunities on net. They regained the lead on shots to the net after six minutes where the scoring chances on Bishop were putting them close to widening the margin further. Tampa took their second shot at the power play where they ended the shutout for Detroit scoring with 47 seconds left on the man advantage. The Lightning set up Jonathan Drouin with a shot from the faceoff to Mrazek’s left cutting the margin in half.

Detroit returned their two-goal lead with a great steal on the stick of Larkin, the sophomore stole the puck away in the neutral zone before a shot from Mike Green was taken. To Bishop’s left stood Nielsen who got on the rebound to score his first as a Red Wing. The Lightning began showing signs of aggression as they wanted to keep Detroit within reach. After five minutes the Lighting got a second in on Mrazek with Cedric Paquette scoring big with his first of the season on a tight-angled shot that went through the legs of the Red Wings goalie. It was clearly the momentum that they were looking for and matched Detroit at 12 shots each to end the second period.

The third got underway with Tampa on the remainder of their power using the time to their advantage. Though they didn’t get much on them, it allowed the Lightning to gain some serious confidence with the score close. A huge opportunity came to them in the neutral zone where Detroit loss control of the puck watching Brian Boyle take off with the puck. He came in on a 2 on 1 with Paquette where his shot rang off the inside of the net leveling the game.

Patience was working for the Lightning who waited for the right time to strike and take the lead. It was a two-man play between Stamkos and Tyler Johnson where the young forward scored on the power play with the puck going through the pads of Mrazek to lead 4-3. Detroit was underperforming that carried along troubles of getting the best of Bishop like they did earlier.

Time became the Red Wing’s second enemy which frustrated them against a team that was once again controlling the important part of the game. Detroit had a power play in the late stages of the period but getting through Tampa proved too difficult. Their PK unit took care of business before earning another power play. They pushed forward with such ferocity that gave Tampa their fourth unanswered with Alex Killorn getting in on the fun.

The Red Wings were in real trouble becoming so desperate that Mrazek was pulled out to bring on a sixth attacker. While it didn’t work, they got very lucky on a shot that came from center ice and took quite a bounce to get into the net due to a second bounce off the stick of Bishop. Danny DeKeyser received credit for the goal putting Detroit within a goal. The Red Wings went for the empty net again and paid the price with Tampa pressing in the zone for Valtteri Filppula to score easily.

It was the goal that put the game to bed with the horn sounding another victory over Detroit and a milestone for Bishop. With 28 saves on the night, the first stringer became the all-time leader in saves for the Lightning in franchise history. He would no doubt enjoy that as well as picking up where he left off by troubling Detroit.

They would continue their four-game home stand while the Red Wings tried to turn things around facing the Florida Panthers Saturday.

 Photo by: Mike Carlson/Getty Images