Detroit Red Wings: Penalty Box Parade leads to Loss

Jimmy Howard stands tall but, The Detroit Red Wings surrendered a power-play goal to the Winnipeg Jets in a 2-1 loss.

Jimmy Howard boarded up the net as best he could Friday evening allowing a power-play goal while facing 40 shots.  The Detroit Red Wings continued their frequent trips to the penalty box, five to be exact and it cost them against the Jets.

The Jets winner didn’t come with an extra attacker, but big Dustin Byfuglien put his head down and bull rushed from the right point and beat Howard high glove.  Those shots around head high, tight to the shoulder are tough to snare with the glove for goaltenders.  Howard got half of the shot, but it wasn’t enough.  It found it’s way into the net.  The concerning thing was the free path to the net granted by the Detroit Red Wings for the talented defender.  It was a case of busted coverage that ended up winning the game for the Jets.

The Detroit Red Wings need to stop having these parades to the penalty box.  Andreas Athanasiou scored the lone Wings goal on the power play and later on took back to back penalties.  The Jets have 10 power play goals this season and are ferocious with a man advantage.  Jimmy Howard was up to the task for the majority of the evening.  He was peppered over and over again but stood tall.

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The Detroit Red Wings started the game strong; it was a pleasant surprise.  Head coach Jeff Blashill held a “bag” skate at the conclusion of one of the practices after an embarrassing loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, and the Wings responded with an active first period.  Then, of course, they fell flat on their face in the second period getting outshot 21-1 at one point and by the end of the period being outshot 21-4.

In the third period the wings battled and matched the Jets intensity, both teams would record 10 shots apiece.  The fourth line came out banging the body and providing a solid forecheck for the Wings. de La Rose between Abdelkader and Frk played well.  Jeff Blashill though put Luke Glendening with the pair instead of Frk a couple of times, and it was more of a pure “muck it up” type of group.

Martin Frk saw 6:24 TOI mostly on the power play.  It is the same treatment he received from Jeff Blashill last season, and I don’t see how Frk will develop at all under Blashill’s watch.  Glendening was double shifted centering the third line, and he would come over the board with the fourth line a few times while Frk was sitting on the end of the bench.

Jeff Blashill continues to rely on his older, experienced players down his lineup, mainly when he uses his bottom 6 forwards.  He prefers Abdelkader and Glendening over Rasmussen and Frk.  Two of those players have minimal scoring ability, and the other two have scoring “potential” but can’t seem to find regular ice-time under Blashill’s watch.  It seems to be the same song being played over and over on repeat, and it is getting tiresome.

Impact Stats;

• Dennis Cholowski – 21:47 TOI, 1 Assist, 2 Blocks
• Dylan Larkin – 22:09 TOI, 3 Shots, 4 Hits
• Andreas Athanasiou – 16:21, 6 Shots, 1 Goal
• Mike Green – 20:27 TOI, 5 Shots
• Jimmy Howard – 38 Saves, 2 Goals Against .950% Save Percentage