The Detroit Red Wings will return on Saturday afternoon against the Tampa Bay Lightning. They will bring in a seven-game winning streak, including sweeping their four-game road trip. I covered the beginning of the road trip saying they needed to come away with a minimum of five points. I mentioned if they did that, they’d have a chance at a playoff spot when they faced the Tampa Bay Lightning. Well, they are returning home in a playoff spot after getting eight points on the road trip. They may not be in a playoff spot come Saturday due to being off until then. The Bruins and Lightning are each playing a game before then. Both teams are one point back of the Red Wings. So how did they win on the road trip?
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Game 1: at Edmonton Oilers
The Red Wings fell behind quickly to the Oilers as Edmonton took a 2-0 lead in the first period. The goals were scored by Leon Draisaitl and Jeff Skinner. Detroit would tie the game in the second period getting goals from Michael Rasmussen and Dylan Larkin. Neither team would find the back of the net in the third period. The game would go to overtime where once again neither team scored. In the shootout, Connor McDavid went first and was stopped by Alex Lyon. Lucas Raymond would score in the following attempt. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would miss his shot giving the Red Wings a chance at the win. Captain Dylan Larkin would bury his opportunity to solidify the win. Alex Lyon finished with 45 saves on 47 shots.
Game 2: at Calgary Flames
The Red Wings in this one took an early lead and never looked back. Dylan Larkin got the scoring started giving them a 1-0 lead just under 8.5 minutes into the game. Later with six seconds left in the period Simon Edvinsson scored his fifth goal of the season. The goal would make it 2-0 Detroit after 1. Neither team scored in the middle period. In the third Nazem Kadri would score his 18th of the season to make it a one-goal game. The Flames would end up pulling their goalie. With under a minute left Andrew Copp scored the empty netter to seal the win 3-1. Cam Talbot got the start in net stopping 33 of the 34 shots he faced.
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Game 3: at Vancouver Canucks
The Red Wings fell behind just over four minutes into this one as old friend Pius Suter scored. It was Suter’s 14th of the season. Just under two minutes later Alex DeBrincat tied the game at 1-1. It was DeBrincat’s 22nd of the season. In the second period the Red Wings took the lead behind a Ben Chiarot goal, his third of the season. In the third period, the newest Canuck Filip Chytil scored to tie it at 2-2. The game would go to overtime. With 42 seconds left in overtime, Alex DeBrincat scored his second of the game to win it for Detroit. Alex Lyon stopped 25 of the 27 shots he faced in the win.
Game 4: at Seattle Kraken
Last night in the final game of the road trip. The Red Wings got the scoring started with a goal from Lucas Raymond, his 21st of the season. Just under midway through the first period, Matty Beniers tied it for Seattle. Moritz Seider would score with 30 seconds left in the first to give the Red Wings the lead back. In the second period, the back-and-forth continued. Shane Wright would score his tenth of the season to tie it back up. The goal came following a sequence in which no call was made on a play against Michael Rasmussen. Jonatan Berggren would give Detroit the lead back with his ninth of the season making it 3-2.
Onto the third where Elmer Soderblom added to the Red Wings lead with his second of the year. Just over halfway through the third period the Kraken scored. Making it a one-goal game as Shane Wright scored his second of the game. With under three minutes left the Kraken would tie it at four. Chandler Stephenson would score his tenth of the season. The game would go to overtime where neither team scored. In the shootout, the only goal scored was a beautiful backhanded shot by Patrick Kane to give Detroit the win.
Three Goals
Todd McLellan has had the mantra of the first to three. Over the Red Wings’ seven-game winning streak, they’ve scored three-plus goals in six of their seven games. They are now 15-4-1 under McLellan. They’ve scored three-plus goals in 15 of those games. One of those 15 games was a loss and the other win was a 2-0 shutout over the Lightning. This Red Wings team has been a must-watch and really has a chance to end their Stanley Cup playoff drought.
ITR 47: Then There Was Nothing – Inside The Rink
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