Oct. 27th 2024
Game 9: Oilers @ Red Wings
3-2(OT) Oilers Win
SOG 34-26 Oilers
Starting Goaltenders: Cam Talbot v Calvin Pickard
Our lineup vs. Edmonton. ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/frzMpc49xw
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 27, 2024
Well, this was a fun one, wasn't it? The Red Wings came into this game off a 5-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres, a game that they didn't seem all that into most of it. They take on the struggling Edmonton Oilers who are coming off a 4-0 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Holl and Gustafsson would be scratched in favor of Maatta and Johansson. Yes, Albert Johansson finally gets into the lineup after being scratched for the last five games.
The first period was nothing but Red Wings. It stunned Red Wings fans as everybody was fully expecting another lackluster performance with some small jolts of energy. This was not that. This was the exact opposite of the Buffalo game.
The Red Wings would put tons of pressure on the struggling Edmonton defense It didn't take long for it to pay off either as J.T. Compher (3) would make an incredible shot off a Patrick Kane (4) no-look pass who got the puck from kick pass from Andrew Copp (2) making it a 1-0 game. The Red Wings would continue to dominate the period until just over four minutes left when Joe Veleno would drop the gloves with Corey Perry taking him down to the ice. The Red Wings would hold on and take the 1-0 lead to the second period.
The second period was scary as the Oilers realized that they were playing a pro hockey game. This was when the Oilers started sending McDavid and Draisaitl over the boards every other shift because the Red Wings defense and Cam Talbot in net were playing that well. A lot of Red Wings fans will see the team getting stuck in the D-Zone as the defense playing poorly.
When in retrospect they played well. Unfortunately, no matter how well you play, you can only do so much against two of the best players in the world, which showed when Leon Draisaitl scored at 11:14 in the period. Don't fret fair maiden, Because this ain't your Red Wings of a week ago, no this is a goal-scoring team now, meaning the next person to score would of course be Andrew Copp (4) assisted by Jeff Petry (1) who had his rocket of a shot deflected and Patrick Kane (5) making it 2-1 in favor of Detroit. The Red Wings would once again hold and take a 2-1 lead into the 3rd period.
The third period was where we saw a lot of McDavid and Draisaitl. Every other shift they were on the ice and every time they were on the ice, they were out for nearly two minutes. While the Red Wings were able to weather the storm at first, they could only hold on for so long and that limit was hit at 9:13 in the period when Evan Bouchard would rip an absolute missle bast Cam Talbot who didn't stand a chance in stopping the shot tieing it at 2-2. The score would remain tied for the rest of that game and would get sent to overtime.
The Oilers would start overtime with a 4-on-3 Powerplay for about 10 seconds after a poor tripping penalty to Copp at the end of the third period, and while they didn't score on the powerplay itself, it wouldn't be too long after when Edvinsson would, unfortunately, lose Leon Draisaitl who would make it to the open side of the net and would bury it got the Game winning goal.
This was by far, the best game the Red Wings played so far this season. Everybody played their role, Cam Talbot looked like the all-star goalie Yzerman signed, and Berggren, Kasper, and Tarasenko looked good together even if it didn't show on the scoresheet. Seider and Edvinsson continued to prove that they should be together for the foreseeable future. The only player I could criticize would be Maatta. There were just a few too many times when he got burned or made an iffy play. But overall i feel the team played well and we can only hope that this is the start of a potential run.