By Stefan Kubus –
DETROIT – For the first time since Oct. 15, the Red Wings found a way to capture two points on home ice. And on a night where Brendan Shanahan was honored for his Hockey Hall of Fame induction, it was the new No. 14 that sparked the offense early.
Perhaps it’s Detroit’s new lucky number.
Gustav Nyquist made his season debut Thursday night and, starting the game as part of a five-Swede unit, he didn’t waste any time making an impact. The recent call-up from the Griffins scored a pair of goals – including the game-winner – to electrify the Red Wings’ offense.
Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg said Nyquist brings some invaluable skills to the ice – skills the team desperately needed after dropping the last seven games.
“Well, obviously, he’s a big factor in this game, scoring right away in the first shift,” Zetterberg said. “He creates a lot of speed, a lot of energy and it looks like he has confidence.”
Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock praised Nyquist for his abilities.
“He’s obviously got skill, knows how to play and he’s going to be an important guy going ahead,” Babcock said.
That Oct. 15 game, by the way, was a 2-1 win over Columbus, back when Detroit held a 5-2 record. With Thursday night’s 4-3 win over Carolina, the Red Wings improve to 10-6-7.
“Obviously, we’re happy that we won tonight,” Zetterberg said. “Tomorrow, we’re going to focus on the next game. It’s just a win, but it’s a nice win. We’ve just got to keep doing the good things here. I think the special teams were good, all four lines had speed and Gus was good in net.”
Nyquist certainly made a strong case to stick around in Detroit full-time now. The 24-year-old Swedish forward had 21 points in 15 games – tied for fourth in the AHL – with Grand Rapids before being called up.
“We’ll see, we’ll see what happens here,” Nyquist said. “Obviously, this is where I want to play. I want to be a part of this team and hopefully we’ll be able to work that out.”
Just 17 seconds into the game, Nyquist corralled a rebound in front of Carolina netminder Justin Peters and shot the puck through the five-hole for the early 1-0 lead.
“It was a lucky bounce there,” Nyquist said of his first goal. “It was an important game for us to win at home here today in front of the home crowd. I thought they were great and gave us a lot of energy.
“I thought we played real good; we put a lot of pucks on net and a well-deserved win I thought.”
Early in the second stanza, Justin Abdelkader dropped his shoulder and drove to the net from the right circle. The puck was poked loose, but Helm was right there on the spot to pick it up and bury it past Peters for the 2-0 lead, his third of the year.
At 5:49, former Plymouth Whalers defenseman Brett Bellemore cut the Detroit lead to one, burying a one-timer on a nice passing play for the first NHL goal of his career.
The Hurricanes evened it up not too long after on a goal from defenseman Andrej Sekera. Sekera took the puck from his own end and skated to the Red Wings blue line. Todd Bertuzzi went for the poke check, missed and Sekera made a nifty move right around him. Left alone with Gustavsson, Sekera lit the lamp to tie things up, 2-2.
Around the halfway mark of the third, Detroit cashed in on a huge 5-on-3 power play opportunity, as defenseman Niklas Kronwall tallied his second of the season after Jordan Staal accidentally kicked his rebound into his own net. That goal came right after the Red Wings had a 5-on-3 of their own to kill off.
“It was huge, obviously,” Babcock said of the momentum swing. “So you put yourself down 5-on-3, put yourself in a huge hole, especially when a team already has two on you. I thought it was a huge kill for our guys, a real positive thing.”
Nyquist added a second goal on a breakaway at 15:58 to extend the lead to 4-2, with a beautiful forehand-backhand move before slipping it through Peters’ five-hole.
“I called for it there and the ‘D’ made a great play up the wall,” Nyquist said of the play. “He knew I was coming in down the middle and just chipped it out for me to skate into. I tried to make a move on the goalie and fortunately it went in.”
Sekera added a second goal on the penalty kill in the final seconds to make it a 4-3 final.
“Over this winless streak, we don’t think we’ve been that far away and yet as time goes on, and as you build pressure on yourself, you tighten up and then you don’t play very good,” Babcock said. “I thought we played good tonight.”
Shanahan honored
For the second-straight game, a former Red Wing great was honored before the opening puck drop. This time, it was current NHL Director of Player Safety Brendan Shanahan. Shanahan won three Stanley Cups in Detroit throughout his 10-year stint in Detroit, spanning from 1996-2006.
Nyquist said after the game that he tried his best to follow in the old No. 14’s footsteps.
“I did my best,” Nyquist said with a smile on representing No. 14. “It’s a special number to wear and obviously he was a big player for the Red Wings. It was great to see him out here tonight and congrats to him; he had a great career.”
Notes: Jeff Skinner made his return to the Hurricanes’ line-up after being sidelined since Oct. 30 with an upper-body injury. The 21-year-old former first-round pick had nine points in the 10 games he played this season.