By Stefan Kubus –
DETROIT – They hadn’t done it since early October when the season was young, but the Red Wings managed to do it again Friday night against the Canadiens.
A 4-1 victory for Detroit against Original Six rival Montreal secured the team’s second consecutive win at Joe Louis Arena to match its longest winning streak of the season on home ice – wins against Philadelphia and Columbus produced the last streak on Oct. 12 and Oct. 15, respectively.
Captain Henrik Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall and Gustav Nyquist scored for Detroit, while Riley Sheahan potted the game-winner. Daniel Alfredsson recorded an assist in his first game returning from a back injury, and Jonas Gustavsson made 30 saves for his 13th win of the 2013-14 campaign and second in back-to-back starts.
“That’s a step in the right direction no doubt, but I think just the way we played, it’s because we’ve been working smarter and doing the little things right,” Kronwall said.
The 29-year-old, Sochi-bound Gustavsson has won his last five games in goal, dating back to Dec. 19 against Calgary.
“I knew if we played the same way we did against Chicago, we’d have a good chance to win against any team, and that’s what we did tonight,” Gustavsson said. “That’s something we’ve got to keep doing, keep working this way, because that’s going to cause a lot of frustration for them.”
At 12:27 of the opening period during a 5-on-3 advantage, Alfredsson set up Zetterberg for a one-timer that whistled past Price from just above the left circle to open the scoring. Sheahan’s second of the year at 11:48 of the second period extended the Detroit lead to 2-0, as he skated in and unleashed a quick snap shot high over Price’s glove.
“I just saw the puck come off the wall pretty hard and I know their D were caught in their zone and I just took the lane that I had, I got some good wood on the shot and just put it in,” Sheahan said of his goal.
Sheahan said he’s “definitely” gaining more confidence with each passing day up with the Red Wings.
“You get to know the guys better, you get more confidence, definitely get more comfortable in the locker room. I think that’s the biggest things because then it can translate onto the ice.”
And it’s not just Sheahan growing more confident in himself, either.
“Sheahan, a pro shot there, heavy body, knows how to play,” head coach Mike Babcock said. “I played him right down the stretch in the last minute there. I just thought he had played well tonight and earned the opportunity.”
A little over a minute after the Sheahan goal, Brendan Gallagher walked out in front of the Red Wings’ goal on the power play and tucked in the puck underneath and past Gustavsson to cut the Habs’ deficit to one.
With 3:31 remaining in the middle frame, Nyquist’s pass from the side boards out toward the middle of the ice was tipped by Gallagher, and the puck redirected right to Kronwall, who wired home his sixth of the season from the high slot. That extended Detroit’s lead to 3-1 after 40 minutes.
After beautifully hooking up for a goal against Chicago on Wednesday, the line of Zetterberg, Nyquist and Justin Abdelkader produced another gorgeous goal. A three-way passing play by the trio coming down on the rush saw Nyquist pot his eighth goal of the season with just 1:19 to play in the third period to seal the win. With a goal and an assist for the second-straight game, Nyquist extended his point streak to four games – he has three goals and three assists in that span.
Detroit has recorded wins in three of four games on this current home stand – the longest of the season – and has the chance to extend its home-winning streak to three games against Florida on Sunday.
“Some years, you win lots of games at home and some years you don’t; some years you’re good out on the road and some years you’re not and can never really figure out why, but we have an opportunity here on Sunday to keep things going and we’d like to,” Babcock said.