What is my lede in a game where the Red Wings get shutout by the Blackhawks? Is it that? Or is it that Adam Erne’s scoring streak has come to a vicious halt?
It doesn’t matter, that’s the answer. The Red Wings were flying high off their last win against the Hawks, but despite a healthy handful of scoring chances, Chicago kept Detroit off of the scoresheet.
The Red Wings had a really good first 19 minutes-or-so of hockey to open up the game, but it all was spoiled by a late goal from Patrick Kane with about 20 seconds left. Now that I’ve got that out of the way, Detroit got a lot of special teams time in in the 1st period — on both sides. The penalty kill was successful, the power play — while it did create chances — fell flat. Even a 4-minute minor penalty from Duncan Keith didn’t turn into a power-play goal. The Red Wings spent the first 2 minutes trying to figure it out, then spent the remaining power-play time with some really nice chances, just no goal to show for it.
The idea of a rally in the 2nd period wasn’t fulfilled. Not even close. I mean, the Red Wings carried a lot of the play. They even got another look on the man advantage early on, but still couldn’t turn it into a goal. At one point, the Red Wings let their guard down and began committing a slew of turnovers. One of those turnovers turned into a goal from Alex Debrincat (hey did you know he’s from Farmington Hills), and that leaves Detroit in a two-goal hole with a sputtering offense.
The scoring continued for Chicago in the 3rd period, and there wasn’t much of a fight from Detroit. Even with a solid minute of 5-on-3 advantage, this Red Wings offense simply could not figure it out. Shutout on a Saturday night at home. Chicago takes the season series, 6 games to 2.
Red Wings Stud
Filip Zadina, for sure. You could really just say the entire first line of Zadina-Larkin-Vrana was the stud of this game. Zadina in particular continued to show strong defensive and offensive instinct.
Red Wings Dud
The aging core of forwards. Not guys like Sam Gagner, but guys like Val Filppula or Frans Nielsen (who left the game with an injury). They continue to weigh the team down.
You can really admire Michael Rasmussen’s play, too. I don’t know if he will ever be able to score at a high rate, but the big fella hauls more ass than a semi-truck and he’s shown some real soft hands lately. We’ll see where Joe Veleno slates in now that he’s with Detroit, but Rasmussen is really carving his way into a top-six role.
The Red Wings are now looking at a four-game dance with the Dallas Stars, starting Monday night. We’ll see how the lineup shakes out with younger players beginning to trickle into the taxi squad.