How about the Detroit Red Wings?
The Wings walked into a tough matchup on Saturday night, as they hosted the reigning Stanley Cup champions, and walked out with another two points. That’s right, after what was a disastrous December, the Wings are red-hot to start 2024, with a record of 9-2-1 in January. Here’s a quick recap of last night’s win.
1st Period
The first period was busiest of the game in terms of scoring. Detroit would get the party started about five minutes in when Dylan Larkin would pick up his 21st goal of the season, and his 200th career NHL goal:
Some two minutes after Larkin’s goal, it was Jake Walman with his 10th goal of the season. Perron and Seider both picking up assists while Walman put it in the net with the ol’ “grip it and rip it” strategy:
A minute after Walman’s goal, Ivan Barbashev would pull the Golden Knights within one, and Paul Cotter notched the game-tying goal about three minutes afterward. So, tied at two a piece, Detroit found themselves on the power-play in the late stages of the first. Enter Joe Veleno, who would tuck the puck underneath Thompson (is this one of those goals he wants back?) to make it 3-2. Seider picked up another assist on this goal:
2nd Period
No scoring to tell you about in the middle frame. Detroit controlled possession for the most part and both goalies played tight to keep it close.
Only one penalty came in the second period, a two-minute minor to JT Compher for high-sticking. Overall, a bit snoozy of a period, but you have to tip the cap to Detroit for keeping Vegas contained and out of the game.
3rd Period
A one-goal lead going into the third is always cause for some concern with the Red Wings… However, as we have all seen this season, this team is different than years past. There is a sense of urgency and resilience that we never saw with Jeff Blashill’s teams. Maybe it’s coaching, maybe it’s talent.. or it could be both. Perviously, a one-goal lead in the third period usually meant an impending tie game or overtime loss. Not with these Red Wings.
The team dug in and made it hard for Vegas to get to the high-danger areas. In fact, the majority of VGK’s shots came from the point.
Around the 11:45 mark, Michael Rasmussen would find Andrew Coop for a clutch goal, his 10th of the season to make it 4-2:
Copp already has more goals than he scored all of last season. Is he starting to heat up? He has been meshing with that bottom-six quite well, which has provided some critical secondary scoring for the Wings.
Dylan Larkin would deliver the dagger with an empty-net goal in the final two minutes, sending the Red Wings to another win against a tough opponent.
FINAL: 5-2, Red Wings.
What more is there to say about Moritz Seider, Dylan Larkin, and Alex Lyon? The three have played their asses off during this stretch of home games, among other players. I put the emphasis on Seider’s play, because of all the discourse I’ve been reading on social media about the advanced statistics painting him as a bad player. Not going to entertain those arguments. Without Seider, the Red Wings are not the same team.
Just one game left for the month of January: The Wings will host the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday, January 31st at LCA. Detroit will be gunning for their 10th win of the month and more momentum as they try and mount a run to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Fun team we have here. LGRW… and of course, GO LIONS!
