There was a sense of panic surrounding the Detroit Red Wings that was starting to set in. After a three-game homestand that saw the Red Wings go 0-2-1, including a 5-0 loss at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche, an all too-familiar March feeling was beginning to creep in for Red Wings fans.
The Red Wings had another date with the Avalanche scheduled for Monday night before heading on the road for two games before the Olympic break. Going into Monday night’s contest, the Avalanche were 20-2-4 at home, while also finding themselves at the top of the NHL standings with a record of 36-8-9.
The room for error was tightening on the Red Wings, with the Buffalo Sabres and Boston Bruins surging and Montreal continuing to pick up points. The Red Wings answered the call on Monday.
The Red Wings showed fight in Monday's game against the Avs
The Red Wings defeated the Colorado Avalanche 2-0 on Monday night, improving to 33-18-6 on the year and picking up their fourth shutout victory of the season. Goaltender John Gibson bounced back from Saturday’s loss, which saw the net-minder get pulled after allowing four goals on 17 shots. Gibson stopped all 21 shots faced in the Monday night win.
“It was a really good team effort from top to bottom,” Gibson said. “Everybody was committed to playing defense, offense, getting pucks deep, forecheck. I think it was probably one of the most complete games, at least that I’ve been part of, this year.”
Gibson’s fourth shutout on the season moved him into a tie for second most amongst all goalies with Minnesota Wild’s Jesper Wallstedt and St.Louis Blues’ net-minder Joel Hofer. New York Islanders, Ilya Sorokin leads the NHL with six.
The shutout victory over the Avalanche was the first time all season that the Avs had failed to record a goal in a game. This feat gets even more impressive considering the Avalanche lead the NHL in goals for with 208, 14 more than the 194 the Canadiens have scored this year. The Red Wings have now shut out the top two scoring teams this season.
Marco Kasper opened the scoring 33 seconds into the contest on a 2-on-1 pass from linemate Lucas Raymond; the goal was Kasper’s sixth of the season. Monday night’s performance showed growth in the Red Wings’ game as they held the lead after the first period for the first time since Jan. 12, when the Red Wings led the Carolina Hurricanes into the game's first intermission. A span of nine games had passed in between these two games.
Dylan Larkin, Lucas Raymond, and Moritz Seider led the way for Wings
If the Red Wings are going to break their nine-year playoff drought, the leadership group is going to have to do much of the heavy lifting. These three players are Captain Dylan Larkin and Assistant Captains Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider.
“I thought it was outstanding,” McLellan said. “We had some legs, we were connected, we made some passes, we defended well. Just about everything that could get turned upside down was. We got to give the leadership group and players a lot of credit for responding.”
On Monday, Larkin played 21:25 the most amongst all Red Wings forwards, picking up two assists in what was a nice slump-busting performance. The 29-year-old had only recorded two points in his past five games until the two-point night.
Raymond had gone three straight games without a point until Monday’s win, the longest drought of the year for the 23-year-old, who is on pace to set a new career high in points. Raymond picked up a goal and an assist, improving the season total to 60, 20 points away from the career-high of 80, set last year. The former fourth overall selection in 2020 continues to grow in the forwards’ all-around game, earning the trust of head coach Todd McLellan in late-game situations. For the season, Raymond’s plus-minus sits at plus-11, the best amongst all Red Wing forwards.
Seider continues to be a force on the Red Wings’ back-end. On Monday night, Seider played a game-high 27:34, continuously matching up with superstar Nathan MacKinnon. The 24-year-old filled the stat on Monday, recording a plus-two rating, three shots, three blocks and four hits. The three blocks on Monday raise Seider’s total to 127, good for fifth most in the NHL.
What’s next for Detroit?
The Red Wings will return to action on Wednesday night, travelling to Utah to take on the Mammoth. This will be the final game for the Red Wings prior to the Olympic break, before returning to play Thursday, Feb. 26, to take on the Ottawa Senators.
The first meeting between these two teams saw Utah get the better of the Red Wings, defeating them on Dec. 17, by a score of 4-1. A win on Wednesday against the Mammoth would guarantee the Red Wings will head into the Olympic break with one of the top three spots in the jammed-up Atlantic Division.