Welcome to the end of week three of the 2017-18 NHL season. We said coming into this week that we would start to learn more about this team as they faced three teams who expect to play beyond Game 82 this year, and we did.
Game 6 – Tampa Bay Lightning @ Detroit Red Wings
3 Stars
1st Nikita Kucherov (2G)
2nd Justin Abdelkader (1G, 1A)
3rd Tyler Johnson (1G)
Quick Recap
As has been the case whenever the Red Wings face Tampa Bay it seems, the Lightning got off to a quick start scoring two goals within the first 11 minutes of the hockey game including a shorthanded goal by notorious Red Wings dispatcher and general pain in the rear Tyler Johnson. Second period goals by Justin Abdelkader and Mike Green evened the score heading into the final period but other notorious Red Wings bane Nikita Kucherov fired home his second goal of the game just two minutes into the final stanza and ultimately downed the Red Wings 3 – 2 for their first official loss in Little Caesers Arena (because of course it would be the Lightning).
Box Score
| Skaters | G | A | PTS | PIM | S | SHFT | TOI | CF% | CRel% | ZSO | ZSD | oZS% | HIT | BLK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justin Abdelkader | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 22 | 18:13 | 58.1 | 1.6 | 11 | 3 | 78.6 | 0 | 1 |
| Trevor Daley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 19:46 | 59.4 | 3.7 | 7 | 11 | 38.9 | 0 | 0 |
| Jonathan Ericsson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 25 | 17:35 | 61.3 | 6.5 | 5 | 12 | 29.4 | 1 | 0 |
| Martin Frk | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 13:32 | 72.2 | 18.9 | 6 | 4 | 60 | 1 | 0 |
| Luke Glendening | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 9:57 | 26.7 | -36.1 | 3 | 9 | 25 | 1 | 0 |
| Mike Green | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 28 | 22:28 | 66.7 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 60 | 1 | 0 |
| Darren Helm | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 14:49 | 39.3 | -25.3 | 7 | 4 | 63.6 | 1 | 0 |
| Nick Jensen | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 14:52 | 37.9 | -27.7 | 5 | 5 | 50 | 0 | 0 |
| Niklas Kronwall | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 19:38 | 66.7 | 13.1 | 11 | 5 | 68.8 | 0 | 1 |
| Dylan Larkin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 24:33 | 62.2 | 8.6 | 7 | 8 | 46.7 | 2 | 0 |
| Anthony Mantha | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 24 | 20:35 | 72.4 | 22.4 | 5 | 6 | 45.5 | 3 | 0 |
| Frans Nielsen | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 22 | 15:47 | 50 | -10.3 | 8 | 5 | 61.5 | 1 | 0 |
| Gustav Nyquist | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 23 | 17:00 | 80 | 31.5 | 7 | 4 | 63.6 | 0 | 0 |
| Xavier Ouellet | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 16:27 | 33.3 | -31.9 | 6 | 5 | 54.5 | 0 | 3 |
| Riley Sheahan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 6:01 | 37.5 | -21.3 | 2 | 4 | 33.3 | 2 | 0 |
| Tomas Tatar | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 22 | 16:57 | 69.2 | 17 | 11 | 4 | 73.3 | 0 | 0 |
| Luke Witkowski | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3:22 | 25 | -33.4 | 2 | 3 | 40 | 2 | 0 |
| Henrik Zetterberg | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 26 | 20:53 | 75 | 25.8 | 7 | 5 | 58.3 | 0 | 1 |
| Goalie | GA | SA | SV | SV% | TOI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jimmy Howard | 3 | 26 | 23 | 0.885 | 58:55:00 |
Game 7 – Detroit Red Wings @ Toronto Maple Leafs
3 Stars
1st Morgan Rielly (1G, 1A)
2nd Nazem Kadri (1G, 1A)
3rd Nick Jensen (3A)
Quick Recap
As was the case with Tampa, the Red Wings found themselves down early as Toronto scored four first period goals, three on their first four shots that would chase Jimmy Howard from the game. The Wings would show some resilience in the second with goals by Tomas Tatar and Jonathan Ericsson bringing them within a goal at 4-3. Unfortunately they were not able to even the score before a Morgan Rielly power play goal just past half way in the second period would take the momentum back from the Wings and William Nylander would score in the third to salt the game away and give the Maple Leafs the 6-3 victory.
Box Score
| Skaters | G | A | PTS | PIM | S | SHFT | TOI | CF% | CRel% | ZSO | ZSD | oZS% | HIT | BLK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justin Abdelkader | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 20 | 17:52 | 70 | 13.2 | 4 | 1 | 80 | 4 | 0 |
| Trevor Daley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 29 | 17:49 | 60 | 0.6 | 5 | 4 | 55.6 | 1 | 0 |
| Jonathan Ericsson | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 28 | 18:08 | 60 | 0.6 | 4 | 4 | 50 | 2 | 0 |
| Martin Frk | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 12:26 | 76.5 | 20.7 | 10 | 1 | 90.9 | 3 | 0 |
| Luke Glendening | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 10:17 | 64.3 | 5.5 | 3 | 5 | 37.5 | 2 | 1 |
| Mike Green | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 29 | 22:49 | 55 | -8 | 12 | 3 | 80 | 2 | 2 |
| Darren Helm | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 15:00 | 70 | 13.2 | 6 | 3 | 66.7 | 1 | 0 |
| Nick Jensen | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 18:05 | 68.2 | 11.3 | 5 | 6 | 45.5 | 2 | 1 |
| Niklas Kronwall | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 26 | 19:29 | 62.9 | 5.3 | 12 | 2 | 85.7 | 1 | 0 |
| Dylan Larkin | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 17:48 | 64 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 75 | 1 | 0 |
| Anthony Mantha | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 24 | 18:04 | 35.7 | -43.1 | 9 | 5 | 64.3 | 1 | 0 |
| Frans Nielsen | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 16:20 | 65.2 | 7.5 | 9 | 3 | 75 | 2 | 0 |
| Gustav Nyquist | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 26 | 17:49 | 55.6 | -6.5 | 10 | 3 | 76.9 | 0 | 0 |
| Xavier Ouellet | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 18:47 | 45.8 | -18.5 | 4 | 7 | 36.4 | 2 | 0 |
| Riley Sheahan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 9:47 | 66.7 | 8.2 | 3 | 5 | 37.5 | 1 | 0 |
| Tomas Tatar | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 23 | 18:21 | 90.9 | 40.9 | 7 | 2 | 77.8 | 1 | 0 |
| Luke Witkowski | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 7:05 | 54.5 | -5.7 | 2 | 3 | 40 | 3 | 0 |
| Henrik Zetterberg | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 28 | 20:07 | 57.9 | -2.8 | 10 | 3 | 76.9 | 1 | 0 |
| Player | GA | SA | SV | SV% | TOI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petr Mrazek | 2 | 21 | 19 | 0.910 | 43:53 |
| Jimmy Howard | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0.250 | 15:46 |
Game 8 – Washington Capitals @ Detroit Red Wings
3 Stars
1st Alex Ovechkin (1G)
2nd Tomas Tatar (2G)
3rd Petr Mrazek (37SV)
Quick Recap
Returning back to Detroit, the Red Wings looked to salvage any points as they welcomed Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals to LCA for the first time. Unlike the first two games this week, the Red Wings did not find themselves down multiple goals early on as they took a 0 – 0 tie into the first intermission. Darren Helm would break the scoreless tie with a shorthanded goal five minutes into the second. It looked like the Red Wings would take that lead into the locker room until Andre Burakovsky beat Petr Mrazek to even the score with 50 seconds left in the period. Washington kept that momentum out of the intermission and a Jay Beagle tally gave them the lead just two minutes into the third. As has been the theme of the Red Wings so far this year though they would not give up and were rewarded with a back to back goals by Tomas Tatar, including one of the finest redirects you will see, to put the Wings up 3-2. A couple of late penalties would be the undoing for the Red Wings though as T.J. Oshie scored on the man advantage with a minute to go in the game off of a Dylan Larkin delay of game penalty and Ovechkin would win it in OT after a Tevor Daley tripping call.
Box Score
| Skaters | G | A | PTS | PIM | S | SHFT | TOI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justin Abdelkader | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 19:45 |
| David Booth | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 4:55 |
| Trevor Daley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 24 | 23:16 |
| Jonathan Ericsson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 22:18 |
| Martin Frk | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 12:53 |
| Luke Glendening | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 13:02 |
| Mike Green | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 25 | 23:07 |
| Darren Helm | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 22 | 15:31 |
| Nick Jensen | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 13:48 |
| Niklas Kronwall | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 18:06 |
| Dylan Larkin | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 25 | 20:07 |
| Anthony Mantha | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 21 | 19:01 |
| Frans Nielsen | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 16:16 |
| Gustav Nyquist | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 21 | 16:48 |
| Xavier Ouellet | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 12:11 |
| Riley Sheahan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 10:32 |
| Tomas Tatar | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 23 | 16:44 |
| Henrik Zetterberg | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 20:28 |
| Goalies | GA | SA | SV | SV% | TOI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petr Mrazek | 4 | 41 | 37 | 0.902 | 61:14 |
Atlantic Division Standings (CAO 21 Oct 2017)
| Atlantic Division |
GP | W | L | OL | PTS | PTS% | GF | GA | SRS | SOS | RPt% | ROW |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tampa Bay Lightning | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 0.813 | 29 | 23 | 1.29 | 0.54 | 0.813 | 6 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 0.857 | 34 | 22 | 1.57 | -0.14 | 0.857 | 6 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 0.563 | 26 | 25 | 0.27 | 0.14 | 0.438 | 3 |
| Ottawa Senators | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 0.643 | 24 | 18 | 0.67 | -0.19 | 0.5 | 2 |
| Boston Bruins | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0.5 | 20 | 21 | -0.55 | -0.39 | 0.5 | 3 |
| Florida Panthers | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0.333 | 20 | 24 | 0.25 | 0.91 | 0.333 | 2 |
| Buffalo Sabres | 8 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 0.25 | 20 | 32 | -1.85 | -0.35 | 0.188 | 1 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 8 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 0.188 | 13 | 33 | -2.43 | 0.07 | 0.063 | 0 |
Red Wings Seasonal Statistics
| Even Strength | Power Play | Short Handed | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skaters | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | S | SAtt. | Thru% | S% | BLK | FF% | oZS% | dZS% | TOI | CF% rel | TOI | CF% Rel | TOI | GA/60 |
| Justin Abdelkader | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 16 | 20 | 65 | 12.5 | 5 | 48.4 | 50 | 50 | 18:14 | -5 | 2:49 | 9.9 | 0:59 | 0 |
| David Booth | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 100 | 0 | 0 | 57.1 | 85.7 | 14.3 | 4:56 | 3 | 0:00 | 0:09 | 0 | |
| Trevor Daley | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 23 | 43.5 | 0 | 8 | 48.1 | 51.9 | 48.1 | 22:21 | -2.7 | 2:00 | 4.5 | 3:21 | 7.6 |
| Danny DeKeyser | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 27.3 | 53.1 | 46.9 | 19:30 | -20.5 | 0:08 | 4:16 | 4.7 | ||
| Jonathan Ericsson | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 14 | 64.3 | 11.1 | 4 | 52.2 | 34.4 | 65.6 | 19:03 | 2.2 | 0:11 | -40.8 | 2:45 | 6.1 |
| Martin Frk | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 17 | 24 | 54.2 | 17.6 | 2 | 57.9 | 70.9 | 29.1 | 12:12 | 11.7 | 2:23 | -1.1 | 0:01 | 0 |
| Luke Glendening | 8 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 58.3 | 28.6 | 5 | 47.8 | 33.3 | 66.7 | 11:01 | -6.6 | 0:11 | 10.9 | 2:59 | 0 |
| Mike Green | 8 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 18 | 32 | 46.9 | 5.6 | 7 | 52.2 | 64.4 | 35.6 | 22:51 | 2.4 | 2:33 | -9.3 | 0:16 | 0 |
| Darren Helm | 8 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 15 | 53.3 | 7.7 | 2 | 49.2 | 55.4 | 44.6 | 15:09 | -3.4 | 0:08 | 10.8 | 2:17 | 14.7 |
| Nick Jensen | 8 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 14 | 57.1 | 0 | 7 | 55.1 | 47.3 | 52.7 | 15:19 | 4.8 | 0:06 | 10.6 | 1:55 | 4.4 |
| Niklas Kronwall | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 75 | 0 | 2 | 52.3 | 80.7 | 19.3 | 18:59 | 0.3 | 1:45 | 10.5 | 0:05 | 0 |
| Dylan Larkin | 8 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 26 | 61.5 | 5.9 | 1 | 54.5 | 56.7 | 43.3 | 19:18 | 7.4 | 2:11 | -8.9 | 2:28 | 0 |
| Anthony Mantha | 8 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 23 | 36 | 50 | 13 | 2 | 51.9 | 55.2 | 44.8 | 17:13 | 3.6 | 2:27 | -12.7 | 0:06 | 0 |
| Frans Nielsen | 8 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 15 | 22 | 63.6 | 13.3 | 4 | 47 | 57.9 | 42.1 | 15:18 | -3.9 | 0:53 | -6.1 | 2:20 | 14.4 |
| Gustav Nyquist | 8 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 22 | 29 | 65.5 | 9.1 | 1 | 49.1 | 60.5 | 39.5 | 18:21 | -1.6 | 2:48 | 3.9 | 0:01 | 0 |
| Xavier Ouellet | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 23 | 43.5 | 0 | 9 | 55.1 | 43.9 | 56.1 | 16:23 | 2.4 | 0:02 | 10.6 | 1:54 | 4.5 |
| Riley Sheahan | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 36.4 | 0 | 4 | 49.3 | 38.7 | 61.3 | 9:03 | -4 | 1:33 | -2.7 | 0:08 | 0 |
| Tomas Tatar | 8 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 23 | 39 | 43.6 | 13 | 1 | 51.4 | 57.3 | 42.7 | 18:21 | 2.8 | 2:51 | 6.6 | 0:02 | 0 |
| Luke Witkowski | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 100 | 0 | 1 | 40 | 29.4 | 70.6 | 4:50 | -14.2 | 0:00 | 0:00 | 0 | |
| Henrik Zetterberg | 8 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 20 | 31 | 61.3 | 20 | 4 | 49.4 | 60 | 40 | 20:46 | -1.3 | 3:04 | 6.6 | 0:02 | 0 |
| Goalies | GP | GS | W | L | GA | SO | MIN | GA%- | GSAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jimmy Howard | 5 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 260 | 87 | 1.7 |
| Petr Mrazek | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 222 | 111 | -1.2 |
Top 3 Red Wings Goals of the Week
3rd Nick Jensen makes a nice play to glove the puck down to Henrik Zetterberg who shows he still has a bit of speed left as he cuts around the defense, behind the net and tucks the puck into the net before Curtis McElhinney can get there to put the Red Wings on the board in their 6-3 loss in Toronto.
2nd Justin Abdelkader shows off his hands on a penalty shot by dekeing forehand backhand to open Andrei Vasilevskiy up before sliding the puck between his pads for the Red Wings first goal in their 3-2 loss to the Lightining
1st – Dylan Larkin throws a loose puck towards the net and Tomas Tatar displays some incredible hands as he redirects the puck up and over Braden Holtby’s catching glove and just inside the far post to tie the game up at two in the Red Wings OT loss to Washington.
Additional Red Wings News
In case you somehow missed it, the Red Wings have agreed to a 1 year $1.387M deal with restricted free agent Andreas Athanasiou. In order to make room the Red Wings traded Riley Sheahan to the Pittsburgh Penguins and Ryan Sproul to the New York Rangers. With the cap situation solved, aside from some paperwork, it is likely Athanasiou will see the ice as soon as the Red Wings feel he is game ready (and with him skating over in Switzerland that could be soon).
Red Wings Schedule for the Upcoming Week
A full slate of games this week for the Red Wings with four games on the schedule. They have an opportunity to bounce back quickly with games against Vancouver and Buffalo before they head down to Florida (a place that has not been kind to the Red Wings in recent years) to try and exact some revenge on the Lighting before finishing the week against the Florida Panthers. Five points out of a possible eight would be a very good week and within the realm of possibilities.
Game 9 – Oct 22, 2017
Vancouver Canucks @ Detroit Red Wings
Game 10 – Oct 24, 2017
Detroit Red Wings @ Buffalo Sabres
Game 11 –Oct 26, 2017
Detroit Red Wings @ Tampa Bay Lightning
Game 12 –Oct 28, 2017
Detroit Red Wings @ Florida Panthers
*All statistics were compiled from hockey-reference.com. The TOI and possession statistics for the Washington game were not available the tables were created.
