This was not a fun week in the slightest for the Red Wings and fans alike.
This week they took on the Vancouver Canucks, Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators, and Colorado Avalanche. Going 0-2-2, they grabbed (2) out of a possible 8 points. Cam Talbot and Alex Lyon would be out this week, and top goaltending and Red Wings prospect Sebastian Cossa would be called up to tandem with Ville Husso. Cossa wouldn't see any ice time this week.
I'm not going to lie. This week was rough. Losing five straight takes a massive toll on your fandom, especially when your team is supposed to be better than it currently is. Honestly, it's been getting hard to watch most days. But I am cursed with being a Detroit sports fan and have committed to reviewing these games. So, here we go.
Bad, bad, and even more bad
Dec. 1, 2024
Canucks @ Red Wings
5-4 Canucks OT Win
SOG: 32-31 Canucks
Starting Goaltenders: Cam Talbot v Kevin Lankinen
Lines vs. Vancouver. ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/VxAssiZ987
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 1, 2024
The first game in Week 8, and the Red Wings would take on the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks are one of the best road teams in the league, coming into Little Caesars Arena having won their last nine straight road games. Albert Johansson would be a healthy scratch, and Patrick Kane would remain out of the lineup due to injury.
The first period started so incredibly slowly. There was nothing but whistle after whistle after whistle. The longest length of continuous play in this period was two minutes. While not abnormal, that only happened once in this game. Thankfully, Jonatan Berggren (4) would give us something to cheer about, burying one assisted by Erik Gustafsson (4) and Marco Kasper (4) to give the Red Wings the 1-0 lead. Unfortunately, Simon Edvinson and Justin Holl decided to become better friends and hang out in the wild child box with less than 2 minutes left in the period. Thankfully, the Red Wings penalty kill would hold out until the end of the period to keep the Red Wings up 1-0.
The second period started, and Jake DeBrusk scored on the 5-on-3. Unfortunately, the Red Wings were still on the penalty kill, and Jake DeBrusk would score again less than a minute later to give the Canucks the 2-1 lead. The pace of this period was far better and much easier to watch. Thankfully, this would help the Red Wings maintain pressure, leading to a powerplay. The Red Wings powerplay has been top 5 in the league, and while it wasn't technically a powerplay goal. Alex DeBrincat (10) would quickly snap one just a few seconds after the powerplay ended, assisted by Dylan Larkin (7) and Lucas Raymond (17) to tie it at 2-2. This was a blessing and a curse, as not too long after this goal, Cam Talbot would take himself out of the game in some discomfort and would not return, meaning Ville Husso would take over the net for the remainder of the game. The Red Wings would successfully kill another penalty, but not too long after, former Red Wing Pius Suter would score on a two-on-one rush to make it 3-2, which would remain the score for the rest of the period.
The third period started, and the Red Wings immediately drew a penalty and returned to the powerplay. At 17:36, Michael Rasmussen (4) buried a rebound in front of the net, assisted by Lucas Raymond (18) and Dylan Larkin (8) to tie the game at 3. The Canucks would challenge for possible Goaltender interference that would be unsuccessful, putting the Red Wings on another powerplay that the Canucks would kill off. Just over 2 minutes left, Vladimir Tarasenko (4) would snipe one past Lankinen after a beautiful Marco Kasper (5) rush in the neutral zone and a fantastic Jonatan Berggren (2) feed to make it 4-3. The Red Wings would hold the lead for most of the remainder of the 3rd period, Which means our favorite head coach would have them park the bus on a one-goal lead with 9 minutes left in the game. Meaning they would let their goalie get shelled for 9 minutes, and the Canucks would take advantage of this to tie the game at 4-4 with over 3 minutes left. The period would end with the game tied, and we're going to overtime.
Overtime sucks; it's boring and serves no purpose other than making the losing team feel not so bad about losing by giving them a single point for losing. Jake DeBrusk would complete the Hat Trick and win the game for the Canucks 5-4.
This game was a game that I started to have hope for but was quickly disappointed by the same old crap that hasn't worked all season, yet the team still goes back to it. Parking the bus with that much time left in a 1-goal game may work on teams with good overall defense. This team does not have that, and forcing Jeff Petry and Ben Chiarot to sit back and pray the puck hits them hurts this team in so many ways that I can't list them all. Losing Talbot halfway through this game wasn't something any of us wanted to see. At least we got a point.