8 Observations from the Red Wings 6-5 OT loss to Minnesota

In a “wild” home game against Minnesota, the Red Wings showed that they can do better than the efforts (or lack thereof) that they put out Tuesday versus Arizona.

1. Red Wings offense showed up and showed out. When looking from Tuesday’s game to last night’s, the difference in the offense was like day and night. Only two goals were scored on Tuesday and five were scored last night which was enough to push the game into overtime. Being able to score goals and stay aggressive in the zone helps to keep Detroit in games against tougher competitors such as Minnesota.

2. Vrana continues red hot point streak. In his first two games of the season, Vrana has scored three goals and is absolutely tearing it up. Two of his three goals have come on the power play which is an area of the Red Wings offense that has needed a boost this season. Very nice to have him back!

3. Nick Leddy had a three assist game. In his most notable game of the season, Leddy assisted on goals from both Jakub Vrana and Lucas Raymond- giving him a three point night. Coming up to the trade deadline, Leddy is a player who has good trade potential for Detroit and this highlight worthy performance might garner some interest.

4. A Gordie Howe hat trick… for the goalie? Alex Nedeljkovic completed his first career Gordie Howe hat trick as he scored a goal (albeit on himself), had an assist, and got in a fight. It’s not every day where you see this happen for a goaltender and it was surely a sight to see.

5. Lucas Raymond with a two goal night as well as a brutal fight. Scoring two goals brought Raymond to 18 goals scored this season and boosted him up in the rookie standings, but what about his fight? Getting slammed into the ice by a veteran player (Dumba) resulted in him getting fixed up off ice in order to return to the third period but thankfully he is alright!

6. No hat tricks scored but three came close. Jakub Vrana and Lucas Raymond both had two goal evenings but were unable to finish off the hat trick as well as Matt Boldy of Minnesota. All three were in shooting distance of their hat tricks but all three fell short even with great chances.

7. Red Wings still struggle to get regulation victories. Throughout this season, Detroit has had a major portion of their wins in extra time. They are one of the leaders in the league regarding overtimes played, so what does this mean? Being able to give the extra push to get into overtime is great but if this energy was exerted the entire game, more games would likely be won in regulation.

8. Jordan Oesterle forces overtime with his second goal of the season. With just under three minutes left in the game, Oesterle snuck one past Cam Talbot making it a 5-5 game and brought on the extra playing time. Sudden death overtime did not prove fruitful so everything came down to the shootout. Although Detroit did end up losing, the effort put through the entire 60 minutes and overtime was great to see as it was nothing like Tuesday’s game.