Playoffs?!?? Playoffs (for now).
First Period
Hey we started on time. Anthony Mantha had a nice chance early after the puck hit the ref. Riley Sheahan with a chance in front too. The Red Wings seemed to respond in this one after their shit-tastic start in Philly. Some good chances and good puck possession. Four shots in the first three minutes eclipsed their entire shot total from the 1st period Tuesday. The Wings first power play in the period… Datsyuk’s unit did alright. Zetterberg’s was hot garbage.
But who the hell needs a man advantage? It’s St. Patrick’s Day, so naturally Sheahan appeared to score a goal on the shift immediately following the PP. Andreas Athanasiou used his speed, made some space and dropped the puck to Sheahan. He ripped it past Sergei Bobrovsky from the top of the slot. Cue the Irish jig!
Not so fast.
New awesome net front presence Luke Glendening with a solid screen and the puck deflected off him. He gets credit for the goal. According to Ken Daniels, it’s the first time in six games the Wings had scored a 1st period goal… lol that’s bad. But we have the lead, so suck it. A second power play was powerless. Not surprised. Mantha had another good drive to the net, lost an edge and went crashing into the post.
Shots: 9-5 Wings
Score: 1-0 Wings
Standout Players: Athanasiou, Mantha, Sheahan
Tough Period: Quincey, Smith
Second Period
Wings killed off an early penalty, then Zetterberg got called for interference in the offensive zone and it was right back to the PK. They killed that off too though. It wasn’t until there was 9:41 left in the period that the Wings got their first shot on goal in the period. My analytics tell me that’s #bad. I’m bored this period, so there’s that. There was a late power play for the Wings… Zetterberg got moved to the point in place of Tomas Tatar on the first unit. It was bad still. This is a short paragrpah because that period was dull. If you re-watch the game, just skip to the 3rd period.
Shots: 17-16 Jackets
Score: 1-0 Wings
Standout Players: Smith, Abdelkader
Tough Period: Zetterberg, Datsyuk
Third Period
This is the first time they’ve taken a lead into the 3rd period since February 20th vs. Ottawa. Span of 11 games. They blew that lead
— Prashanth Iyer (@iyer_prashanth) March 18, 2016
Great! Thanks for the confidence, Prashanth!
Pretty lackluster period overall until about the seven minutes in. That is until Dylan Larkin, deep in the Wings own zone, flips the puck up towards the blueline. Justin Abdelkader picks it up, carries the puck up the near boards and drives to the net. The puck ends up on Zetterberg’s stick and he actually scores a goal. The Wings scored a goal. This is not a typo. They actually added to their lead late in the game. How about that, eh?
The goal was Zetterberg’s 309th. That means he’s tied with Brendan Shanahan for 8th all-time in Red Wings history. Fitting he did it on St. Patrick’s Day. Cue the Irish jig!
As I was typing the above stuff, Darren Helm scored a goal. Awesome. I’m not even going to explain it. Just watch:
How many Blue Jackets does it take to stop Darren Helm from scoring? More than three, apparently. pic.twitter.com/a3ZxBsKgLu
— Kyle WIIM (@KyleWIIM) March 18, 2016
Cool.
Oh hey I wrote “shutout” below in the bullets with about 1:11 left in the game. Brendan Smith took a penalty. Jimmy Howard got scored on… my bad, everyone. Sorry.
Shots: 28-22 Jackets
Score: 3-1 Wings
Standout Players: Helm, Abdelkader, Smith
Tough Period: Smith, Hancock
Closing Thoughts
- Ken Daniels mentioned on the broadcast that the Wings got goals tonight from #40, #41 and #43. Somewhere in Europe, Mattias Ritola is kicking dirt.
- Man, it sure is nice to just get a win where, as a fan, you’re not stressed or angry. I don’t feel like there was any one true dominant player.
Jimmy Howard got a shutout, but this is the first time we’ve mentioned his name. I don’t even remember Jonathan Ericsson in this game… and that’s a good thing. - I’m over Brad Richards. I’d rather play Tomas Jurco.
- I haven’t done a recap in about 13 months give or take. So if this was terrible, blame JJ. He made me do it. Jerk.
Player of the Game: Brendan Smith Justin Abdelkader (solid PK work, essentially created GWG)
Next game is Saturday in Sunrise, Florida.
Let’s Go Red Wings.
