Detroit Red Wings follow up team meeting with a victory in Minnesota

The Detroit Red Wings skated to a much needed 5-2 victory tonight in Minnesota.  They were able to wash the horrible taste out of their mouth from the night before, and they played one of their most “sound” (complete)  hockey games of the season.

The Detroit Red Wings held a team meeting before the game tonight, and the message seemed to be received.  Only a handful of Wings skated this morning as they had an “optional” skate.  Guess who was on the ice?  Yep, Dylan Larkin.

It was precisely what the doctor ordered for the Detroit Red Wings tonight.  Dylan Larkin came out flying tonight on the first shift of the hockey game.  The team started strong scoring the first goal on that first shift of the game.

It only took 24 seconds for Larkin to retrieve the puck on the end boards and getting it back to the point.  Gustav Nyquist blew a shot towards the goal that was redirected into the net by Tyler Bertuzzi.

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Bertuzzi would go on to score two more goals in the third period.  He would record the first hat- trick of his career in his 100th career NHL game.  How cool is that?  I recently wrote Jeff Blashill should experiment by putting Andreas Athanasiou up with Larkin and Nyquist to try and create more offense.  Apparently, I was wrong, Bertuzzi provided that himself tonight.

We mentioned prior to the game; the key would be to start fast and limit the Wild early.  The Wings started fast and limited the Wild in the first period.  It worked so well in the first they forgot all about it in the second period.  The Detroit Red Wings reverted to their old ways allowing a goal to Nino Niederreiter 17 seconds into the frame.

Thomas Vanek is starting to gain his confidence back tonight; he chipped in a shot over the left pad of Dubnyk on a rebound from his own wraparound attempt.  Later in the game, he was trying to make a pass to linemate Anthony Mantha, he saw the pass attempt that was blocked land right back onto his stick.  He then decided to rip a blast from the high slot that found twine, his second of the night.

It is imperative that Thomas Vanek gets going.  The veteran forward can still be a valuable trade chip if he gains confidence and shows contending, playoff teams that he could be a depth scoring winger.  In a perfect world, Vanek starts scoring on somewhat of a regular basis, and the Detroit Red Wings are able to trade him for a mid-round draft pick.

Dylan Larkin had a terrific night; he was all over the place tonight.  He was clearly leading by example after he had a few choice words to the media after last nights loss.  That’s what leaders do, they voice their displeasure and then find a way to back it up.

The Wings had six players with multiple points tonight.  That’s awesome balance throughout the lineup.  It is much easier to have success when everyone is operating at a high skill level.

It was encouraging to see the Wings power-play moving the puck around, and the groups were not so stationary as they had been in the past.  They were able to move their feet and create many more additional scoring opportunities.

The Multi-Point Gamers:

• Tyler Bertuzzi- 3 Goals
• Thomas Vanek- 2 Goals
• Jonathan Ericsson (no joke) – 2 Assists
• Filip Hronek– 2 Assists
• Dylan Larkin- 2 Assists
• Gustav Nyquist- 2 Assists