After a couple of disappointing losses at the hands of the Sharks, and Bruins – The Red Wings looked to bounce back and scoop up two important points in the early-season standings race.
While they played a dominant game, the Wings weren’t able to put this one away in regulation. It’s a bit disappointing, but at the end of the day, two points is two points. Plus we got another look at how awesome three-on-three overtime is.
Gustav Nyquist was my player of the game. He played a monstrous two-way game, providing potent offense, and stout defense. I’d argue it might be one of his best games so far in his career. Let’s break it down. I’ve provided GIFs for you all!
1st Period:
Both teams came out a bit low-event in the opening minutes. A couple of blown odd-man rushes by the Wings due to some very lame hesitations at the blue line, which caused them to go offsides. It took the Red Wings just a shade under 10 minutes to get on the board first, on a great goal from Dylan Larkin for his 5th of the season (assist coming from Danny DeKeyser):
And yeah, that’s former Norris-winning Erik Karlsson that Larkin ruined on that play.
About two minutes later, the good guys struck again on a tic-tac-toe play which setup Gustav Nyquist for his 7th of the year. WARNING – this play is NSFW, and could be considered “pornographic”:
Great play by Mike Green and Justin Abdelkader on this play.
Dylan Larkin took a penalty for interfering with Kyle Turris at 14:13, and the Sens answered with a power-play goal from Mike Hoffman in the closing seconds of the man advantage. That sums up scoring for the first period.
At the end of 20, Wings hold the edge in shots 9-8. Raw shot attempts are even at 16 a piece. Ice time leader for Detroit is Alexey Marchenko with 6:55 (what?!).
2nd Period:
The Wings continued the same play as they had in the first period, controlled zone entries, and possession. More goofs from Kindl with carrying the puck into the zone, which is a bit of a concern, but on the other hand, his partner Alexey Marchenko has been absolutely lights out up until this point in his own zone. I really love his ability to break up plays along the boards, and clear the puck out of his zone. Andreas Athanasiou is at the tail-end in terms of ice time, but don’t let that deceive you – His speed and puck-control makes the best out of every single shift he gets, even if it is few and far between.
The Wings were given a chance on the power-play when Erik Karlsson slashed at Justin Abdelkader, but Detroit came up with nothing to show of it.
It took just a shade over 16 minutes for a goal to be scored, which fortunately came from the Red Wings. It was one of those classic “greasy” goals, by Riley Sheahan to make it 3-1. Assists coming from Luke Glendening, and Mike Green:
At the end of 40, Wings still hold the edge in shots 21-15. Detroit has taken control of raw shot attempts, 40-35. Ice team leader for Detroit is Niklas Kronwall with 14:21.
3rd Period:
Detroit played a very aggressive period, and did a good job at sustaining their dominance with puck possession. The Sens were able to roar back within one on an unassisted goal from Chris Wideman. That’s where the fun started. Detroit had another look on the power play, but again, came up flat. That might be their biggest flaw currently is the inability with special teams.
Wouldn’t you guess, that the Senators were able to tie this game late in the 3rd period, on a highlight-reel goal from Bobby Ryan. Absolutely dreadful coverage by Luke Glendening here, and while Mike Green didn’t do much to contribute, for being such a defensive specialist, this is awful stuff by number 41:
Looks like we have to do this in overtime, which sucks because I didn’t really want to give Ottawa the points in this game.
WHOAVERTIME:
We won the game, because of an amazing play by Gustav Nyquist, who had an absolutely dominant game in both ends. Tomas Tatar got sent on the breakaway after two minutes of overtime play. I’ll let EuroTwins 2.0 take it from here. Watch the goal, and Tatar’s hilarious celebration:
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Great win! Detroit edges the Sens in overtime, and did it in aggressive fashion. Even-strength shot attempts end at 52-48, and shots 37-25 in favor of Detroit. Bring on the Capitals.
