Desperate for points, it was another “gut-check time” for the Red Wings in an early afternoon game against the Florida Panthers.
The last time Detroit played Florida, it was ugly as hell. This game was too, but Detroit brought a little more physicality and managed to squeak out one point. Here’s the quick recap…
1st Period
Not even 30 seconds in and the Red Wings are dealt a devastating blow — Jeff Petry ripped a shot from the blue line that ended up hitting Dylan Larkin on the side of his knee. Larkin needed to be helped off the ice — he would return to the bench a short time later but was in obvious discomfort and went back to the locker room. Larkin would return in the second period and finish the game.
The Wings opened scoring with a power play goal — David Perron hit Robby Fabbri with a ridiculous pass and Fabbri ripped it past Bobrovsky:
Lucas Raymond continues to play hockey like the stud that he is. He had a breakaway chance but couldn’t get it in net on the backhand. I couldn’t tell if he blew a tire when he tried to shift directions or if he and Bobrovsky collided. Grade-A chance, though.
Alex Lyon looks like he has bounced back from recent shakiness. He had a couple of key saves, and you can tell that he’s seeing and tracking the puck better.
After 20 minutes, Red Wings lead 1-0
2nd Period
The Wings managed to get some good pressure on Florida early on in the second period, but after that, it was all Panthers. Credit to Detroit, though… They blocked a ton of shots (a couple of which had players like JT Compher and Ben Chiarot wincing in pain).
Alex DeBrincat had a breakaway chance off of a slick outlet from Dylan Larkin, but Bobrovsky had his number. Kind of a tough period for DeBrincat, he also blew a tire late on a scoring chance.
Detroit would get a power play chance with the closing minutes of the period (with some minimal carryover into the third), but the best scoring chance came from Florida. Alex Lyon made a huge save to keep the score where it was.
The Wings clearly aren’t the better team here, but they are playing the better team like they should be right now.
After 40 minutes, Detroit leads 1-0
3rd Period
Talk about a chippy 20 minutes of hockey. Florida was the most penalized team in the game but it could have easily been more if the refs didn’t get so lenient with them.
It was pretty much all Panthers again. Alex Lyon made some huge saves to keep it tight.
Things started to go REAL south at 12:21 when Aaron Ekblad would create a scoring chance for Aleksander Barkov to make it 1-1. Less than a few minutes of play later, an unfortunate bounce for Moritz Seider gave Barkov another goal, 2-1 Panthers.
Four minutes left, Red Wings are on a power play when none other than Dylan Larkin would score the game-tying goal off a pass from Patrick Kane:
The Wings clinch a valuable point and head to overtime at 2-2 after 60 minutes.
Detroit got some power play time in OT and it was really messy. Perhaps the most frustrating part was Alex DeBrincat missing on a couple of prime scoring chances. You would think the puck luck would start to catch up with the guy, but nope. He’s getting chances at least.
After the power play, it was all 4-on-4 hockey and then onto the shootout, where Detroit would fall short.
Florida wins 3-2 in the shootout.
A lot to like, a lot not to like in this game. Detroit doesn’t get a point without Alex Lyon, so that’s an overall positive to see him back to form. Dylan Larking escaping without a serious injury and picking up a goal that earned his team a point. Still, you hate to see how much Florida got away with in this game.
Time for scoreboard watching. Detroit needs Boston to beat Washington tonight. The Wings are in Tampa Monday night before a few days off.
