The goaltending battle in Detroit continues to intensify as Cam Talbot and Alex Lyon combined for a shutout over the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night. Friday was the Red Wings' preseason home opener, and while most eyes were on another team from Detroit, with good reason, the pair of veteran netminders blanked the Blackhawks, only strengthening the battle for the cage heading into the regular season.
Meanwhile, another Ilitch-owned entity, the Detroit Tigers, punched their ticket to the postseason with a 4-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox. It's the first time the Tigers have qualified for the postseason since 2014. The victory capped off an improbable 31-11 record since August 11th. The Tigers were a mere eight games under .500 and ten games out of the final wild-card spot on August 10th before their marvelous turnaround. As pointed out by the Detroit Free Press, the Tigers are one of two MLB teams ever to advance to the postseason after being at least that far under .500 through 115 games.
"I don't remember the exact game," Ilitch said, "but after a while, it became apparent it wasn't just luck or happenstance that we were winning games. It was part of a plan and execution at a high level. At some point, as we evaluate what's happening from an organizational standpoint, you could see that things were working and falling into place."
"It's not safe in there for anyone, even the owner," Hinch said of Ilitch's beer shower. "He is incredibly supportive of me and our office and our build to be a winner. To see our players comfortable enough in their own skin — or naive enough — to include him in the celebration is really cool."
Red Wings fans chant “Let’s go Tigers” as result from Comerica Park filter into LCA. pic.twitter.com/dkaZG91n3X
— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) September 28, 2024
Recently, I talked about some of the similarities between the Tigers and Red Wings, a lot of which surrounded by organizational youth, and while the Red Wings have plenty of veteran contributors, the balance of the future and if the Red Wings are able to take that next step weighs firmly on the development and production of the 26-year-old and younger core moving forward.
With how well the Detroit Lions have performed over the past couple of years, the emergence of this young Tigers team, and the playoff potential of the Detroit Red Wings, it's an extraordinary time to be a Detroit sports fan. It's a really fun time to soak in all of what the city of Detroit has to offer.
Now onto the Detroit Red Wings 2-0 preseason victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.
Newcomer Vladimir Tarasenko scored (although it won't count as his first official goal) scored for the first time dawning a Red Wing jersey. Plus, Christian Fischer was able to light the lamp as the Red Wings cruised to a 2-0 victory over the Blackhawks. Fischer opened the scoring with a greasy goal as he battled in front of the net and deposited a loose puck past Hawks netminder Arvid Söderblom.
Tarasenko, 32, will virtually replace David Perron in Detroit's lineup. The scoring winger is coming off a 23-goal, 55-point season that was split between with lousy Ottawa Senators and the Stanley Cup-winning Florida Panthers.
As Kaitlyn mentioned in her pregame, Jonatan Berggren was elevated to Detroit's second line in place of Patrick Kane on Friday to play with Tarasenko and J.T. Compher. Kane is healthy and ready to go, but the Red Wings don't need to force the issue with their veteran star winger, so he remained out of the lineup for the second straight game. The Red Wings say Kane is healthy and in tremendous shape and will have an opportunity to tune up in game situations over the second half of Detroit's eight-game preseason schedule. Tarasenko's tally was a power play marker scoring on a play set-up by Andrew Copp. Alex Lyon made 13 saves, while Cam Talbot accounted for nine in the contest.
Next up for the Detroit Red Wings is a date at home against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday evening. Ville Husso will get the start in goal for the Red Wings.