It’s the preseason. And it’s over.
Time for the real games to begin.
- Xavier Ouellet was defending Brad Marchand on a Red Wings power play, and Marchand put a move on the young Zavier before taking the puck to the net for a scoring chance. On a Red Wings power play in the third, Zack Ouellet was in the exact same situation and stopped Marchand before the Bruin could put a move on him and take it to the net again. He even stopped Marchand again in overtime!
- What I’m really saying is that I want someone who can play in the NHL and improve as a player on the roster for opening night.
- Kyle Quincey actually had a pretty stellar game. If he can translate tonight’s preseason performance into regular season games, he can actually live up to his contract. And as I type this, he’s late to cover David Pastrnak who almost gets what would have been the game-winning goal late in the third. Never change, Quincey.
- The special teams preseason bonanza continued as the Red Wings scored two power play goals. The penalty kill didn’t quite have the same success, giving up a power play goal, but hey, it’s nice to finally get some power play goals. I’d like to see that continue on Thursday night and through the season, yeah yeah?
- Other players who’ve earned roster spots: Petr Mrazek and Andrej Nestrasil. Mrazek looked solid in this game. None of the three goals were gimmes, and he played his position to a much greater comfort for Red Wings fans than Gustavsson would have. Meanwhile, Nestrasil had a power play goal and a shootout goal in this game, and he’s definitely earned a lower line job on the NHL roster from his preseason play.
- Concerning even though it’s preseason was the play of Gustav Nyquist. He had a boneheaded turnover that led to Boston’s first goal, and he generally didn’t have a good time handling the puck until he scored in the shootout. Until it actually becomes a real problem, I’ll just chalk it up to the preseason being the preseason.
All that’s left is the waiting for the rosters to be turned in by the Tuesday, 5:00pm ET deadline. We’ll know more as players are put on waivers before then, but it’s only a few more days before we know who our 2014-15 Detroit Red Wings are.
Did they make it through the game without another injury? Yes they did, folks. Yes they did.
See you all on Thursday night.
