The Red Wings youth was yet again front and center for what was an unusual game early Saturday at Little Caesars Arena. On one hand it was a noon start (weird), and Trevor Thompson was on play-by-play call for Bally Sports (unusual, but I thought he did a good job once he got comfortable). It was also the return of Thomas Greiss, who was brilliant.
This game had a bit of a different tempo and theme to it than the last. Philadelphia had an edge early on but Detroit opened the scoring a little more than five minutes in. The so-called “Guelph Line” has been so hot lately, it seems like every time they are on the ice something is happening. Robby Fabbri and Tyler Bertuzzi cycled in a beautiful fashion to setup a nifty tip-in to get Bert’s 23rd of the season:
The Flyers had the edge in shots the entire period, but the Wings staved off any scoring thanks to Thomas Greiss, who was brilliant in his first start in what seems like forever. Greiss made a highlight-reel save early on in the second period that kept Philadelphia off the board:
Near the halfway mark of the second period, Detroit would manage to make it a two-goal deficit for Philly, and it came from one of the guys who needed it most. Filip Zadina found himself in the right place with plenty of space during a rush with Dylan Larkin and he did what we all know he’s capable of doing:
Thomas Greiss remained busy as Philly kept up the pressure throughout the second period. Greiss made another highlight-reel save on a breakaway, but the play ended up being costly because Marc Staal drew a hook:
Let’s call that what it is: That is a weak-ass call from the ref. It would give Philadelphia a chance on the power play that would ultimately lead to a goal from veteran Keith Yandle — his first of the season, of course. That goal would come in the final ticks of the second period, so what momentum Detroit had was a bit deflated heading into the final stage of the game.
The Red Wings started the third period with a huge penalty kill and eventually got their first look on the power play. In fact, the Wings would get two looks on the man advantage in the final period. Enough about that, let’s talk about Moritz Seider. The glorious German manchild picked up a seismic go-ahead power-play goal that would change the pace of the game:
That’s Seider’s fifth goal and 32nd point of the season. If he’s not running away with the Calder Trophy, then I don’t know what to think anymore. He’s only 20 god damn years old.
Philly would pull within a goal about 40 seconds after Seider’s goal, and would eventually pull Carter Hart with about two-and-a-half minutes left and eventually the Red Wings would pick up the empty-net goal from Michael Rasmussen and put a big pretty bow on this early Saturday standoff with the Flyers.
This back-to-back with Philadelphia came at the perfect time for Detroit. The Wings were in need of some points and momentum as they make a push for a wild card bid. Detroit probably should have controlled the flow of the game more but the offense made it count when it got the chance.
Next up is a tough match. The Wings are on the road against Minnesota Monday night at 8pm.