Detroit Red Wings grab 5-0 victory as Ville Husso notches a shutout
The Detroit Red Wings continue their swing of games north of the border as they were in Montreal tonight to take on the Canadiens. They were without Marco Kasper, who sustained a lower-body injury and was out for tonight’s contest.
Detroit Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde noted that Kasper should be ready again on Thursday, but time will tell. Besides Kasper, the Red Wings announced that netminder Ville Husso was able to return to the ice.
It was announced before the game that he would get the nod and return to the crease. It was originally thought that he would miss the remainder of the season, but he was able to get back in the crease and start against the Habs.
The Red Wings came out and dominated the Habs. They executed better and were able to capitalize on opportunities when the Habs struggled to do much. It ultimately led to the Red Wings being able to close out the win. Let’s dive into the action.
Detroit Red Wings: All gas, no brakes vs. Canadiens
1st Period
It did not take long for the Detroit Red Wings to get active in this one. After killing off a weak penalty on Ben Chiarot, the Red Wings returned to full strength and got out to a 1-0 lead.
It was Lucas Raymond who put the Red Wings up by a goal, forcing his way through the middle of the ice, getting around the top of the circle, working in toward the hash marks, and letting one rip to snipe it past Cayden Primeau for the goal.
The Red Wings were feeling themselves in the first period, looking like a completely different team than usual. It was David Perron who got behind the Habs defenders, got in tight, and was able to beat Primeau with a move to the backhand.
He slipped behind the defenseman and caught a seed of a pass from Jordan Oesterle, who did an excellent job setting him up. He was able to collect his second point of the game with the tally to make it 2-0 in favor of the good guys.
The Red Wings were able to hold the Habs off the scoreboard through the first 20 minutes. They badgered the Habs with some offense, and even though they did not lead with shots, it felt like they had crucial scoring chances. If nothing else, they were able to control the pace of play and be on top through the first 20, which is huge.
2nd Period
The Detroit Red Wings continued to stay in control of the game in the second period. There was a loose puck in front of the Habs’ net, and Luff was able to get to the puck and fire it past Primeau to make it 3-0 in favor of the Red Wings.
Jonatan Berggren ate a big hit in front of the net, and Michael Pezzetta laid a big hit but left the puck right in front, wide open. Allowing Luff to score the goal and increase the Red Wings’ lead to three and get slight revenge role against the team that sent him to the IR with a broken wrist.
The Red Wings just kept tacking them on. Joe Veleno, the hometown kid, got a stick on one in front of the net and made it a 4-0 ballgame. The forward was camped in front of Cayden Primeau, and he got the stick on a shot from Jake Walman for the power-play tally.
The Red Wings would get another power play late in the period that trickled over into the third period. The Red Wings were really taking it to the Habs and were able to capitalize on poor play from the Habs.
3rd Period
The Detroit Red Wings kept their foot on the gas and made it 5-0 after David Perron scored his second goal of the evening. He was in front of the net camped out, and a great feed from Olli Määttä helped him get it to Perron, who was able to re-direct it with the shot to beat Primeau.
Perron continues to stay hot after picking a hat trick recently against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He’s been uber hot as of late, scoring in bunches, and he added his second goal of the game with the easy goal in front.
Netminder Ville Husso quietly managed a shutout. He stopped every shot he faced. He was not tested too often by the Habs, who did have 23 shots on goal. But the Habs’ scoring chances were not the most threatening. Either way, Husso was able to cap off the shutout in his first game back in net.