The scoring came early with a quick flurry and then dried up the remainder of the night, but the Detroit Red Wings did just enough to leave Ottawa with a 2-0 victory.
Despite being outshot 35-21, the Wings managed to edge the Sens 2-0. The big news of the evening came just before the start of the game. Detroit Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill informed the media that Dylan Larkin is expected to be sidelined for 1-2 weeks with a strained oblique.
He made the trip to Ottawa, and during the Fox Sports telecast, Mickey Redmond mentioned he spoke with Larkin in the hallway during the intermission, and he felt much better today than last night. The Wings are off until Thursday night when the Vegas Golden Knights come into Detroit. With the four days off I think Larkin will have an outside chance to play. Michael Rasmussen should be back by then and possibly Tyler Bertuzzi as well.
Ken Holland, as much as we like to pile on the General Manager, he made history tonight. He passed Jack Adams and recorded his 914th win which now leads all GM’s in Detroit Red Wings history. He is currently the sixth winningest General Manager in NHL history. Jeff Blashill awarded Holland with the game puck after the win in front of the team.
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Jonathan Bernier played very well tonight stopping all 35 shots for the Detroit Red Wings. He recorded his first and the teams’ first shutout of the season. I sort of mocked Bernier prior to the game for his underwhelming season stats and he shoved it in my face by boarding up the net.
Both goals were scored midway through the first period. Danny DeKeyser the overtime hero last night in Detroit opened the scoring and Darren Helm followed swiftly with the second and final goal of the game 0:39 later. Helm was playing in career game 600 tonight and recorded a goal. That’s a pretty awesome moment for him. Dekeyser was also awarded the game-winning goal in back to back nights. I wanted to write that because I likely won’t have the chance to again.
Other than that minute of play there midway through the first, it turned into sort of a boring game. The Detroit Red Wings power-play was invisible. They had an opportunity to extend the lead in the second period after Luke Glendening was high-sticked and the team was awarded a double-minor.
They failed to get much, if any scoring chances. Near the tail end of that opportunity, the Wings had a chance on a five on three opportunity when Justin Abdelkader was tripped. Even with the two man advantage, the Wings failed to score. They would go 0-3 on the PP this evening.
Granted a big piece, well, the main piece on the power-play was missing but someone needs to step up while Larkin is sidelined. The power-play looked stale, they hadn’t had much time overnight to make adjustments but Blashill will have four days to find a combination that works in case Larkin remains out.
The Detroit Red Wings decided to dress seven defensemen tonight and Luke Witkowski was the one who drew in. He played extremely sparingly tonight, he only saw the ice just over five minutes tonight. Martin Frk had a dandy assist on the Helm goal, but most of his 8:29 TOI was played on the power-play.
He was playing in the high slot the majority of the time rather than in the shooting dot. He didn’t look comfortable. Dan Bylsma should consider moving him back to the “Ovechkin” office. He didn’t lack effort during his diminutive five on five sample size and did get rewarded with a helper tonight for his effort.
The penalty kill was excellent tonight led by Dekeyser and Nick Jensen. Justin Abdelkader also stood out while he was working short-handed. They went five for five last night and two for two tonight so the PK has been efficient of late.
Again, the Wings are off until Thursday night when they host Vegas at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.