Red Wings Fall to Colorado 5-2 in Darren Helm’s Return

It was a nostalgic night for Detroit Red Wings fans as longtime favorite Darren Helm returned to Hockeytown as a member of the Colorado Avalanche. While emotions ran high, the Avs ran away with the game.

Filip Zadina scored the lone Red Wings goal in a 5-2 loss Wednesday night. It was the first game in five days for Detroit and before they even had a chance to shake off the rust, they were a pair of goals behind.

Helm assisted on the opening goal barely a minute in when Gabriel Landeskog notched his 24th of the season. The Avs added another just over 10 minutes later from Tyler Jost, upping the score to 2-0.

The Red Wings wouldn’t respond until the second when Zadina fired a Moritz Seider rebound into the net, pulling Detroit within a goal.  As mentioned by the great Mickey Redmond, Seider gave it a little “love tap” to generate the chance for Zadina who buried the opportunity.

Nazem Kadri would add one with under two minutes left in the period, restoring the two goal lead and seizing any remaining momentum back from Detroit. Valeri Nichushkin would get his 14th of the year early in the third, and suddenly, the Red Wings were in a 4-1 hole.

Robby Fabbri would come through on the power play with just over 10 minutes remaining, started on a pretty pass from Seider, cutting the deficit to 4-2. Gustav Lindstrom would have a grade A chance later but the shot was gobbled up by Pavel Francouz.

Helm would then sweep another good chance out of danger as Dylan Larkin was on the doorstep for a chance. Detroit continued to apply pressure, even outshooting Colorado 34-31 for the game. Greiss would be pulled and the Red Wings had a handful of chances, including a great look for Lucas Raymond, but it too, was saved by Francouz. Landeskog would get his second of the night on an empty netter, sealing the game 5-2.

With the loss, the Red Wings fall back to .500 at 23-23-6.