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Detroit Red Wings Overcome Rough Start, Beat Edmonton Oilers

By Patrick Wixson

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On this night, the Detroit Red Wings came in on the second half of a back-to-back situation playing 5-4-1 hockey in their previous 10 games. Still, they are locked up in a tight race down the stretch for home ice advantage in the playoffs with the top seed in the Atlantic Division still within reach.

Their opponent, the Edmonton Oilers, had played to the tune of 2-6-2 in their previous 10 games and are still locked up in a tight race down the stretch for the worst record in the NHL. Despite having actual aspirations and optimism (again) this season, the Oilers are only four points better than a team that has been actively trying to lose hockey games for over a year.

Back-to-back? Against a bad team? When the night started, I did not like our chances.

1st Period

The Red Wings’ play in the opening minutes did little to assuage my concerns. In fact, by the time the Red Wings registered their first shot on net they had already played nine minutes and 21 seconds, including a two-minute power play. During that time, the Oilers struck first after Rob Klinkhammer (totally a fake name) banged in a rebound on a Matt Hendricks shot.

It would get it better (it had to right?).

Justin Abdelkader was his regular self, causing havoc in front of the net and almost notched another goal after a slick pass from Henrik Zetterberg. He also had a great opportunity when Dan Dekeyser threaded a stretch pass springing him on a breakaway but he lost the handle of the puck and could not get it on net. Zetterberg would get a great opportunity himself as he found some space near the slot and whistled a wrister off the crossbar.

Overall, the Red Wings seemed to have the puck in the Oilers’ zone a lot even though they were outshot 14-7 for the period. It was odd in that it seemed as though the Red Wings had the puck a lot but the Oilers ended up getting more shots and shot attempts (15-7). War-On-Ice had the even strength scoring chances even at 6-6 despite the Oilers holding a 1-0 lead.

2nd Period

Someone fired up the boys during the intermission because the Red Wings came out for the 2nd period looking a like a team with renewed focus. They made it count on the first shift when Zetterberg found Erik Cole with a pass as he was streaking across the blue line creating a 4-on-3 rush. Cole cut up between the circles and dropped it for a trailing Niklas Kronwall who walked freely into the high slot and fired a firm wrister over Ben Scrivens’ glove-side shoulder. Tie game.

The Red Wings controlled the play through most of the period despite not getting any power play chances until the end. Teemu Pulkkinen got us excited when wound up for a one-time feed from Gus Nyquist though he missed the sweet spot and sent the puck fluttering into the boards in front of him.

Tomas Tatar made his presence felt with some slick moves on three Oilers defenders in a 1-on-3 situation that saw him get a tricky low shot in on goal. Later on, Jonathan Ericsson would lead Tatar with a beautiful bank pass off the boards sending him on a 1-on-1 rush against Oilers defenseman Oscar Klefbom with an avenue to the goal. Klefbom tried to cut Tatar off but the Red Wings forward made a power move on 6’3″ 210 lbs. Klefbom and tried to lift the puck over Scrivens but the Oilers goaltender made a great save.

The Red Wings would take the lead when Riley Sheahan tipped in his 11th of the year with just under six minutes to play in the period. Pulkkinen fired a shot on net from a sharp angle in the corner and the rebound found its way right to Nyquist who made a short behind the back pass to Sheahan across the goal mouth for the tip in goal.

The second period saw the Red Wings take control of the possession game by controlling 65% of the even strength shot attempts for the period. They also dominated in scoring chances 10-4 and were rewarded with a pair of goals and the lead after 40 minutes.

3rd Period

With a one goal lead, the Red Wings seemed to revert back to their first period malaise. They took a handful of penalties and put a lot of pressure on Jimmy Howard to stand tall in net and earn his win. He came through with a big save during an early penalty to Luke Glendening that set the tone for the entire period.

The Oilers would direct 17 shots on net throughout the 3rd period including seven shots on power plays. An Ericsson tripping penalty followed soon after by a cross-checking penalty to DeKeyser put the Red Wings down two men for 22 seconds. With two key penalty-killing defenders in the box, Mike Babcock opted to go with a two forward set with Glendening, Drew Miller up front and Kronwall on the back-end.

Despite losing the faceoff, the Red Wings held the Oilers to just two shots and one serious scoring chance off the stick of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Howard stoned Nugent-Hopkins on an uncontested walk-in wrister and held up just long enough for Ericsson to get back on the ice and clear the puck for relief. The Red Wings would kill off the balance of DeKeyser’s penalty to end a key threat.

Despite the Oilers controlling the puck for most of the period, the Red Wings found some time for offense. At the halfway point of the period, Pavel Datsyuk fired a spin around backhand that was blocked off the stick of Mark Fraser. With the puck rolling near the net, Pulkkinen won the race to the puck, found himself with some space, and fired the puck top shelf to extend the Red Wings lead to 3-1.

With just a few minutes remaining and the goalie pulled, Zetterberg had a very forgettable shift. After two failed attempts to clear the puck from the zone, he inadvertently batted the puck over the glass in the defensive zone and received a delay of game penalty.

On the ensuing power play, Nail Yakupov found the back of the net on a feed from Jordan Eberle that was one-timed through a heavy screen and past Howard. The Oilers had pulled the game to 3-2 but that was as close as they would come. After two Oilers collided at center ice, Abdelkader found himself alone in front of the net and took a feed from a hard forechecking Riley Sheahan for the empty net goal. 4-2.

Not to be outdone, Datsyuk added an empty netter of his own after he floated a shot from his own defensive zone corner off the post and into the vacated cage. 5-2.

That was the final score. The Red Wings had an up and down game but in the end overcame the threat of a bad Oilers team to secure two valuable points in the Atlantic Division playoff race.

Interesting Bit

– Evgeny Romasko became the first Russian born referee to officiate an NHL hockey game. It was no coincidence that his first game came in Detroit as he idolized Vladimir Konstantinov growing up.

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