By @StefanKubus –
DETROIT – It had been a while, but the Red Wings importantly proved they could close out a game Thursday night at Joe Louis Arena, despite losing a pair of forwards to injuries.
Holding a 4-1 lead after 40 minutes, the Red Wings added one for a 5-1 victory over the budding Arizona Coyotes, stopping a streak of five consecutive games in which the team went to overtime after having blown a third-period lead. Justin Abdelkader, Niklas Kronwall, Gustav Nyquist, Danny DeKeyser and Darren Helm all scored for Detroit, while Jimmy Howard made 26 of 27 saves in the win.
Detroit has recorded a combined 90 shots on goal in two games now, much different than the team that was last in the league in average shots per game not long ago, and something head coach Jeff Blashill said his team can build on moving forward.
“Early on in the season, we were having a little bit of an issue there clicking offensively and getting shots on net, and the last couple games we’ve gotten 40-plus, making other goalies work, so it’s good,” Howard said. “When you’re getting those opportunities, more often than not, you’re going to find the back of the net, and that’s going to lead to (wins) for us.”
Just 1:22 into the contest, Arizona defenseman Klas Dahlbeck came off the Coyotes bench, jumped into the play and took a pass just inside the blue line before stepping into a slap shot that beat Howard clean. However, after a challenge by Jeff Blashill, the ruling was overturned on the basis of the zone entry being offside and the game stayed scoreless.
“It was a good job by our video coach, Dave Noel-Bernier; he was real positive that it was offsides,” Blashill said. “Obviously it was a big moment in the game. I think when you’re able to have successful ones like that, it’s a positive.”
At 6:19 of the opening period, Coyotes forward Martin Hanzal took Teemu Pulkkinen hard into the boards from behind, resulting in a boarding minor. It was later announced in the period that Pulkkinen would not return due to an upper-body injury. And after Drew Miller (East Lansing) left the game from a Dahlbeck hit, it was announced that he, too, would not return. Miller was Detroit’s iron man with a streak of 190 consecutive games played.
After the game, Blashill said that the two were still being evaluated, but that it looked like they would be out “for a while.”
Despite a shortened bench, the Red Wings had no problem finding their offense Thursday night.
“I thought our forwards did a great job of digging in at that point, once we got down,” Blashill said. “Sometimes guys like it, it keeps you flowing a little more, maybe even get a little more ice time. The way it worked out, the guys were able to dig in and keep playing.”
First, Abdelkader (Muskegon) potted his third goal in two games on a feed from Waterford native Dylan Larkin at 12:30 of the period, a backhand shot in close.
Veteran forward Brad Richards, who scored the shootout winner against Buffalo on Tuesday and has had a number of chances in recent games, found the crossbar with Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith down and out.
With 41.7 seconds left to play in the opening frame, Kronwall – in his 700th career game – worked a beautiful give-and-go with Tomas Tatar, stepped down the middle and wired a wrister home for just his second of the season to make it 2-0.
Then, just seconds later, as Nyquist broke down the ice, he flipped a puck on net from just past center ice, the puck dipped and bounced in front of Smith and squeaked by to extend the Wings’ lead to 3-0. Just 18 seconds apart, that marked the fastest consecutive goals by Detroit this season, besting a previous mark of 1:12 on Oct. 12 against Carolina.
With six seconds left in the frame, Brendan Smith and Kyle Chipchura dropped the gloves in a lengthy, spirited bout.
“First of all, I thought Smitty’s game was very good, I thought he had a real good hockey game overall and obviously the fight at the end of the first, he was going toe-to-toe with a real tough guy there, so it was impressive and showed a lot of guts,” Blashill said. “He has that ability for sure.”
“It shows that everybody’s got your back, and I think if you’re going to go deep in the playoffs and make a deep run, you’ve got to know everybody’s there for you,” Smith said of his fight and sticking up for Zetterberg last game. “If you’re in a foxhole, you want to know that Helm’s got your back or Abby or whoever it is on the ice, and that helps you make better plays because you know somebody’s going to be there to help you out.”
Anders Lindback replaced Smith in the Coyotes’ net to start the second period.
The Coyotes got on the board at 5:52 of the second period, as Steve Downie made a great feed from behind the net to Jordan Martinook out front and he buried it, cutting the Wings’ lead to 3-1.
DeKeyser regained the three-goal lead for Detroit shortly after on a one-timer from the point through traffic. That also marked the third goal that Larkin had been on the ice for Thursday night, bringing him to plus-three on the evening and plus-17 on the season, good to stand alone at first in the NHL. Larkin entered the game at plus-14, trailing Los Angeles Kings forward Jeff Carter (plus-15).
Unlike their previous five outings and despite a shortened bench, the Red Wings held onto their third-period lead. Helm would add an unassisted goal, picking off a Lindback pass behind the net, for his first of the year to make it 5-1.
“They’re uncharacteristic, there’s so much parity in the league, it usually comes down to a play here or a save there, so to be able to have a night like this where the offense was rolling was nice,” Howard said.
