The Red Wings hosted the Philadelphia Flyers for a matinee game and celebrated a 4-2 victory. Here are eight observations from the sweep of the mini-series:
1. Troy Stecher is back: Coming off of IR from an injury very early on in the season, Stecher is back in action alongside his teammates. Leading up to the game, Stecher had recently removed the non-contact jersey at practices which indicated he was getting ready to return to the lineup. The Red Wings are still waiting on Jakub Vrana to make a full recovery from his shoulder injury he retained shortly into training camp in September. It appears that he is making consistent progress and has been practicing in a non-contact jersey for a few weeks now and the team is looking forward to his return.
2. Thomas Greiss gets his first start in 13 games: Greiss has not seen game action since the Wings’ December 31st loss to the Washington Capitals. With such a lengthy break, one would expect a goaltender to come out struggling a bit, but that was not the case for Greiss today. In yesterday’s matchup, Greiss made some of his biggest saves of the season, especially those with his left pad or toe. He made a huge save in the back half of the 3rd period off of a turnover from Fabbri.
3. Tyler Bertuzzi nets an early goal to get the Red Wings on the board: The Guelph line is still on fire as Robby Fabbri tosses a pass to Bertuzzi, allowing him to take advantage of spotty Flyers’ defense and meet the back of the net. The trio of Tyler Bertuzzi, Robby Fabbri, and Pius Suter has proven to be one of the biggest strengths for the Red Wings’ offense as of late.
4. Penalty kill is staying strong. Greiss aided the Wings in killing off a penalty early in the second period by making two huge back-to-back saves from point-blank range shots. Defense and offense were largely working in tandem to clear the zone and obliterate scoring chances, even while being a man down. The Flyers’ power play is ranked 30th in the league, only slightly behind the Red Wings, while both teams are right next to each other in terms of penalty kill percentages (78.2% DET, 77.4% PHI).
5. Filip Zadina scores off of a drive from Dylan Larkin: Larkin caught a loose puck in the Red Wings zone and took it down the length of the ice, creating a lane to pass to Zadina for a shot on goal. Being on the same line as Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond creates more chances for Zadina to take shots as Larkin and Raymond are both players who take good looks and make smart passes that will likely result in a goal.
Having a spot on the first line has proved to make a difference in Zadina’s game and will hopefully help him get more goals under his belt throughout the remainder of the season.
6. Detroit shut down Philadelphia for two periods until allowing a goal with seven seconds remaining in the 2nd. The Philadelphia Flyers had been taking consistent shots on goal but were continuously getting denied by the defense or by Greiss himself. The Red Wings were running the show for stretches and were able to capitalize on the mistakes being made by the Flyers while eliminating their chances. The Flyers still found ways to score, though–both time quick strikes after seemingly looking like they were on the outside looking in.
7. Moritz Seider nets a power play goal, his fifth of the season. Bertuzzi set up a perfect screen in front of Carter Hart that made way for Seider to send a rocket into the back of the net. Larkin tallied his second assist of the afternoon, showing off his hockey sense and passing abilities that have made this his most successful season yet. Seider now has five goals, boosting him into a tie for third in the rookie points race.
8. Another game in which the Red Wings were outshot for the entire 60 minutes. The finally tally of show were 34-24 in favor of the Philadelphia Flyers but the Red Wings emerged victorious. This not only shows that Detroit’s offense was productive against the Flyers defense, but also that Detroit’s defense proved to be an obstacle for them. Greiss had an outstanding game with a .941 save percentage and some of his best saves so far this season.
This game was a must-win in order to get closer to overtaking the Bruins in the standings to secure a playoff spot. Walking away from a mini-series sweep against the Flyers gives this young Red Wings team a much needed confidence boost and momentum towards Monday’s matchup against a very good Minnesota team.