Detroit headed to New York to take on the Rangers on Sunday. Alex Nedeljkovic got the start between the pipes, and all Red Wings fans held their breath.
Surprisingly, Alex did a fine job tonight. He stopped 27 or the 29 shots he faced. The only goals the Rangers could get passed Ned were in the first were a shot by Kaapo Kakko and a power play goal by Mika Zibanejad.
The Wings would not give up after being down two goals. Early in the second period, Matt Luff cut the lead in half with a tip-in shot past Rangers goaltender Jaroslav Halak to make it 2-1. Then, Pius Suter put one in the net around the halfway point in the period to tie it up.
After a scoreless third, we headed to overtime. After a K’Andre Miller holding penalty put the Wings on the power play it only took 59 seconds for Dominik Kubalik to score the game-winner for the Wings.
Red Wings – 3
Rangers – 2
Three Stars:
1. Dominik Kubalik (1 goal)
2. Pius Suter (1 goal)
3. Alex Nedeljkovic (27/29 saves)
The Wings were back home at LCA on Tuesday to take on the Canadiens. These are two storied franchises that have fallen off recently. Montreal is the most successful franchise in NHL history winning 24 Stanley Cups. Detroit is the most successful United States team winning 11 Stanley Cups.
So it is only fitting that this game goes to a shootout after the Canadiens Mike Hoffman got two goals in the first sandwiched between a Detroit goal by Austin Czarnik. After no goals in the second period, Lucas Raymond tied the game halfway through the third and that’s where we stood at the end of regulation.
After the overtime period saw no winner, we go to a shootout. The Wings David Perron was the only player to score in the shootout, while Montreal had goals from Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki to pick up the shootout win. The Wings get one point here.
Canadiens – 3
Red Wings – 2
Three Stars:
1. Lucas Raymond (1 goal)
2. Austin Czarnik (1 goal)
3. Ville Husso (27/29 saves)
On Thursday, the Rangers came to LCA looking for a little revenge after Sunday’s loss to the Wings. And well, revenge is exactly what they got.
The game started normally for two periods. The Rangers and Wings traded goals through two periods and they were tied 2-2 heading to the third period.
Everything was normal for the first six-plus minutes of the third period. Then, all hell broke loose when in just three minutes on the game clock the Rangers four goals and then added two more later in the period. In the end, Ville Husso had his worst game as a Red Wing giving up six goals in the third and eight total.
Rangers – 8
Red Wings – 2
Three Stars:
1. Lucas Raymond (1 goal)
2. Joseph Veleno (1 goal)
3. Dylan Larkin (1 assist)
For their last game of the week, the Red Wings traveled to Los Angeles to take on the second-place Kings.
Alex Nedeljkovic gets the start tonight and with his GAA over four and the Kings averaging over three goals a game you could see what way this game would go.
And just nine seconds into the game Carl Grundstrum snuck a wrister past Alex and that set the tone for the game. Domino Kubalik tied the game a few minutes later. However, winger Kevin Fiala put the Kings back in front later in the period.
In the second period, Sean Durzi scored two goals to put L.A. up by three and the Wings had no answer in the period. The Wings tried to come back in the third with goals by Larkin and Hronek (first goal of the season) pulling the Wings within one but that is as close as they could get.
Red Wings – 3
Kings – 4
Three Stars:
1. Filip Hronek (1 goal)
2. Domino Kubalik (1 goal)
3. Dylan Larkin (1 goal)
Detroit (7-5-3) are tied for third in the Atlantic Divison with 17 points, continue to grind and learn as a young team. They have been competitive in most games and are still trying to find their identity at goaltender. The fans know who should be named the starter…say with me Ville Husso. However, the Wings are being cautious.
The Wings are on the road all next week as they travel to Anaheim, San Jose, and finally on to Columbus to play the Blue Jackets.
David Masters