Detroit Red Wings Win Thrilling Original Six Contest To Earn Mike Babcock 500th Career Victory
By John Curran
Tonight the Detroit Red Wings hosted their fellow Original Six member the New York Rangers at The Joe. The Rangers who have been off since Monday evening, have won the last 5 meetings against Detroit dating back 2011. The Red Wings came into tonight’s game posting the second best offense in the NHL since November 5th by averaging 3.64 goals per game.
The first few minutes of play were fairly uneventful until the Red Wings got the first power-play of the game when Carl Hagelin was called for a high-sticking double minor on Brendan Smith. The first half of the double minor penalty didn’t produce much offense but the Wings really poured it on during the last-minute of the penalty. The Wings were able to keep the puck in the zone and put the pressure on Cam Talbot but were ultimately unable to find the back of the net. The Rangers opened the scoring after Kevin Klein was able to catch Jimmy Howard out of position and bury a backhand shot for his 5th goal of the season.
Shortly after Klein’s goal the Rangers got their first power-play opportunity after Niklas Kronwall was called for hooking against Mats Zuccarello. The Wings were able to kill off New York’s man-advantage chance but shortly after that an offensive zone turnover by Detroit led to a Rick Nash breakaway and Nash easily put the puck top-shelf over and behind Jimmy Howard to put the Rangers up 2-0. The Rangers continued to buzz after Nash’s goal and the Red Wings continued to leave Jimmy Howard out to dry forcing him to stand on his head to keep the game at 2-0. It wasn’t a terrible first period for Detroit, it was just a better first twenty minutes for the Rangers.
The second period started with the Red Wings getting another power-play chance early on after Mats Zuccarello was called for interference on Darren Helm. The Wings were unable to capitalize on the man-advantage chance and you could really sense the frustration starting to build. Detroit’s frustration became visibly apparent when Johan Franzen was caught walking down the hallway to the Wings’ locker room and began violently smashing his stick against the wall. The Wings continued to struggle trying to sustain any type of pressure against the Rangers but were able to kill off another New York power-play opportunity.
Detroit’s luck began to turn around the 14 minute mark of the second period when Riley Sheahan put the Red Wings on the scoreboard with a beautiful backhand shot that was set up by the frustrated Franzen. The goal was made possible by Detroit taking advantage of a broken New York Ranger’s stick at the other end of the ice. Sheahan’s goal sparked both the Joe Louis Arena crowd and the Red Wings’ team alike. It only took 61 seconds later for the Wings’ fourth-line to find the back of the net once again. Luke Glendening was able to knock in a loose puck behind Talbot. The second period ended with the Red Wings on the penalty-kill after Brendan Smith was called for holding with less than a minute left in the period. Jimmy Howard kept the game tied at 2 by making a huge save on Rick Nash. The second period expired feeling like a playoff game.
The Wings started the third and final period by killing off the remaining time on the Brendan Smith penalty. You could really sense the energy and the momentum that Detroit created in the second period had carried over into the third. Darren Helm broke the 2-2 tie just shy of 8 minutes into the period by netting a beauty snap shot from outside. Helmer and the rest of the Wings’ third-line continues to look energetic and impressive.
After Detroit went up 3-2 on Helm’s go-ahead goal the game really took on the feel of an exciting playoff series style hockey game. Shortly after Helm’s goal Drew Miller appeared to get cut by Dan Girardi‘s skate and began to limp off of the ice. While Miller struggled to get to the bench the Wings were caught and penalized for too many men on the ice. With 47 seconds left on the too many men penalty Kyle Quincey was called for a double-minor high-sticking penalty. The Rangers called their timeout and attempted to bandage up the bloodied Derick Brassard and the Wings were (thankfully) able to regain Drew Miller for the ensuing 47 seconds of 5 on 3 play. Detroit was able to kill off the 5 on 3 with some great PK work from Glendening and Miller but with 1:50 left on the Quincey double-minor Jonathan Ericsson and the Red Wings were called once again for high-sticking.
So back to the 5 on 3 kill for Detroit. Drew Miller’s stick breaks early on in the penalty-kill attempt and the Rangers essentially find themselves on a 5 on 2 situation. New York tried to take full advantage of the stick-less Drew Miller by continuously feeding it to Martin St.Louis but luckily none of his shots made it behind Howard. After a Ranger sent the puck over the glass the play was brought outside the Detroit zone and Miller was able to get a new stick and help the Wings kill off all of the remaining penalty time. Detroit’s superb penalty-killing ignited the Joe Louis Arena and allowed the Wings to hold off the Rangers and get the victory as well as getting Mike Babcock his 500th career win.
It was a great hockey game from two legendary teams. Once again the Red Wings found a way to come back from a deficit and win the game in exciting fashion. Jimmy Howard made some great saves early on and kept the team in position to come back. The Wings were able to generate some great secondary scoring while players like Zetterberg, Datsyuk and Nyquist were held scoreless. And I can’t say enough great things about the Detroit penalty-kill unit. Luke Glendening and Drew Miller are two of the most unsung heroes in the NHL and I’m glad that we as Red Wings fan’s are able to have them on our side. The whole team battled back and rallied to win a game that was deserving to be Mike Babcock’s 500th career victory.
This is Hockeytown. And this is what we do. Congrats on a great game and 500th win Coach Babcock!