The Detroit Red Wings survived a category 5 hurricane of shots to shutout the Carolina Hurricanes on the road for a much needed win.
After a disappointing loss to the the Senators on Tuesday the Red Wings really needed to come up with a win in Carolina to get some momentum as they head into a stretch of tough games. Even though they are out of the playoffs, ending the season on a high note is important so the team has something to build on for next season. Luckily for the Red Wings, goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic played out of his mind to get the shutout on his former team and lead them to the win.
First Period
The Hurricanes came out playing strong in the first and had the Red Wings on their heels early in the game. They ended up on the power play and the special teams came up huge for the Wings with a solid penalty kill and Tyler Bertuzi almost scored a short handed goal! Unfortunately, they could not build much momentum from the big kill.
With a lot of time spent in the Red Wings zone Alex Nedeljkovic really needed to be on his game and was he ever. Ned came up with some huge saves while under some intense pressure from the Carolina offense. He even lost his stick for a short period of time and was able to keep every shot out of the net to keep Detroit in the game.
Second Period
The Wings got off to a better start in the second and were definitely playing some better hockey. There were some times when the Canes were able to get some extended zone time with multiple scoring chances and Nedeljkovic was unbelievable with some insane saves! His play truly kept his team in the game.
In the final five minutes of the period the Wings started to get some control of the puck and generate some solid scoring chances which allowed them to get some momentum. Carolina had a penalty and put the Wings on the power play near the end of the period which they did not score on. Immediately afterwards, Larkin gained a great entry to the zone, and with a sweet drop pass set up Moritz Seider for a great shot netting the first goal of the game with 13 seconds left in the period.
Third Period
The momentum that was built at the end of the second definitely carried over into the third as the boys got off to a good start. Early in period Mitchell Stephens put a shot on goal off the side of the net and Adam Erne was there to grab it and go around Antti Raanta for a sweet goal to double the lead and keep the momentum going.
The PK came up huge again in the third as they killed off two penalties in a row to keep Carolina from cutting down the 2 goal lead. Shortly after killing the second penalty Filip Hronek knocked a Carolina pass back down ice and Filip Zadina picked it up and fired a shot right by Raanta to make it a 3 goal lead putting the Canes in Czechmate. Nedeljkovic continued to be amazing stopping all 46 shots to come his way getting his third shutout of the year against the team that traded him away!
Detroit Red Wings 3 Stars of the Game
- Alex Nedeljkovic: 46/46, 1.000 SV%
- Moritz Seider: 1 goal, 4 SOG, 1 hit, 1 block, 22:50 TOI
- Adam Erne: 1 goal, 2 SOG, 2 hits, 2 blocks, 12:17 TOI
The Red Wings take on the New York Rangers on Saturday in an afernoon game. Hopefully after beating one good team, they are ready to take on another because that one is not going to be easy.