I’ve weighed in on the Red Wings prospects‘ 4-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild at the prospect tournament on Friday night, and here are the official takes, per MinnesotaWild.com’s Dan Myers…
Minnesota overcame a massive disparity in the power play column; the Wild had just one power play to the Red Wings’ seven at one point in the third period. But thanks to its tremendous kill, led by goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen, Minnesota was able to weather the storm.
Overall, the Wild killed seven of Detroit’s eight power play chances. The only goal against came off the stick of 2018 sixth-overall pick Filip Zadina on a one-timer from the right circle that nobody in the world was stopping.
Kahkonen, who is expected to battle for regular time in Iowa this season, made 28 saves.
“You always need to have good goaltending to have good penalty killing,” said Iowa coach Tim Army. “The penalty killing units were great. They really dug in.”
Myers continues, and DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji picks up the story from there via a “trending” recap:
Filip Zadina: Zadina’s shot is a known commodity and he used it effectively, scoring just 10 seconds into the Wings’ fourth power play at 18:45 of the first period. The goal tied the game at 1. Zadina had other opportunities on the power play as the Wild took several penalties during the game but he was not able to convert again.
Quotable: “It was pretty good situation on the ice. Cholo passed me the puck well and I hit it and I scored. It was good, but we lost, so I’m kind of disappointed with myself that I didn’t have more on the ice but we got to be ready for tomorrow’s game.” – Zadina
Quotable II: “He’s a pure goal-scorer. I played with him all last year, I think I’m pretty well used to seeing that by now. I think that’s what everyone expects of him. He’s got a lethal shot and when he’s able to get away, it’s the velocity on it is pretty good.” – [Jared] McIsaac
Quotable III: “Overall I thought he played very well. The expectations for him are so high, we’re holding him to a high standard, so it’s going to be tough for him to fulfill that every day. But obviously his goal was a nice shot. He wants the puck, he wants to compete and that’s one thing you notice right away is that he cares, he competes. There’s some things that he’s got to get out of his system a little bit moving forward but overall, I thought he settled in as the game went on nicely.” – Ben Simon, Grand Rapids Griffins head coach
Wakiji also continues, and the Wings posted some post-game videos on Twitter:
“I thought we played pretty well. A couple breakdowns, which are fixable. Those things we can tie up and be fine for tomorrow.”@McisaacJared following tonight’s #DRWPT game. pic.twitter.com/kEVLzve8pM
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 8, 2018
. @filip_zadina‘s thoughts following game one ? #DRWPT pic.twitter.com/sufR4A7ZS1
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 8, 2018
“I think we got better structurally as the game went on,” Ben Simon on the #RedWings prospects first game of the tournament. #DRWPT pic.twitter.com/imnXYlBuOZ
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 8, 2018