Normally we’d go period by period and describe some of the things that happened. But to save time because we’re all busy people with important things to do on this the most holy of last days of the months, here’s a quick synopsis: Pavel Datsyuk stole pucks, Riley Sheahan did good things with the puck, and special teams were a factor, particularly the penalty kill.
There was eventually some goal scoring. A Brendan Smith pass was in the skates of Drew Miller, and Joe Whitney pounced on the puck and rifled a shot top corner for his first NHL goal. All was thought lost but Darren Helm came to the rescue. His wraparound attempt went in off a Devils defenseman and past Cory Schneider, breaking an 11-game scoreless drought and erasing the Devils lead.
The third period was more of the same, but with Henrik Zetterberg and Darren Helm providing the go-ahead and insurance goals that allowed the Wings to end 2014 on a high note with a 3-1 win over the Devils.
Here are tonight’s points of observation.
- Riley Sheahan has become an integral part of the Wings as their de facto second line center. His ability to move the puck was not something I thought to be a strength, but he surprises me in every game.
- Somehow someway, Xavier Ouellet needs to be a Red Wing all the time.
- When Jaromir Jagr touches the puck, I become afraid. That’s incredible at his age. I hope he gets a shot at another Cup after he gets traded at the deadline.
- I like him in every other situation, but I don’t get Danny DeKeyser on the power play. If the Wings are going to only play 1 defenseman and 4 forwards, why not Brendan Smith?
- That was one of the dullest games I’ve watched in a very long time.
- Welcome back to the land of offense, Darren Helm. That second goal was a thing of beauty, and he didn’t get hurt on the play. It really was the best we could have hoped for on a play involving Helm and him falling down.
- 2014 was a heck of a year for the Red Wings. It started with a record-setting event, saw the Wings extend their playoff streak despite their roster made up of 54 Griffin players, whiff on every free agent they wanted except for Kyle Quincey, keep Dan Cleary, get off to a hot start, and sit 3rd in the division heading into 2015. It was a wild, exciting ride where more good than bad happened, and we can only hope that 2015 sees the Wings continue to do the good things and eliminate the bad.
- Have a happy NYE everyone. Go out, stay home, do whatever you want, but no matter what you do, be safe.
