Red Wings-Ducks quick take: Wings flag late, quack up a shootout loss

The Detroit Red Wings attempted to earn their first win of the 2018-19 season in Anaheim, hoping to spoil the Ducks’ 25th anniversary home opener.

There were some positives and some negatives to the Red Wings’ 3-2 shootout loss to Anaheim. The positives included Jimmy Howard’s 25-save effort–Howard made a couple of highlight-reel stops–the play of Tyler Bertuzzi (goal), Michael Rasmussen (assist) and most of the Wings’ defense (especially Libor Sulak and Dennis Cholowski)…

But the negatives included mistake-making by that same young defense, inattention to detail by the “kids” up front (the Mantha-Larkin-Nyquist line had a significant number of “almosts” because they didn’t bear down, and they weren’t alone), and some general sloppiness when playing special teams hockey (Detroit went 0-for-2 on the PP and stopped 3 Ducks PK’s), combined with a loss of energy level as the 3rd period ticked on down, was enough for Anaheim to get back into things with a 3rd period GTG (game-tying goal) and then nurse the game toward overtime.

Blashill made another bizarre challenge on a goal against as well (Silfverberg’s game-tying marker), and that timeout could have come in handy late in regulation.

So the Wings head home 0-1-and-2 ahead of a home game against Toronto before a road trip spanning a week-and-a-half and road games against Boston, Montreal, Tampa Bay and Florida.

The 1st period

1st period observations:

  • The Red Wings started Darren Helm, Christoffer Ehn and Luke Glendening at forward, with Danny DeKeyser and Filip Hronek on defense and Jimmy Howard in goal.
  • And if you weren’t feeling old enough given that this game is taking place on the 25th anniversary of the Ducks’ first home opener vs. Detroit, Dave Manson’s son Josh was among the starting lineup for Anaheim.
  • Speaking of which…
  • The puck was dropped at center and Darren Helm chipped it back to Danny DeKeyser, who chipped and afforded the Red Wings a chase and shot off of Gibson only 15 seconds into the game, but the Wings soon iced the puck…
  • Detroit won the next draw and lifted the puck out of play.
  • Mantha, Larkin and Nyquist took a draw at center, with Sulak and Cholowski on defense, and the quintet suffered a setback…

As Gustav Nyquist headed off for slashing at 47 seconds.

  • Glendening, Helm, DeKeyser and Jensen worked on the first PK unit, clearing the zone a couple of times;
  • Abdelkader, Ehn, Sulak and Hicketts worked the second unit;
  • Nielsen and Larkin worked as the third forward unit, and they drew a penalty.

Max Comtois took hooking penalty at 2:20, yielding 27 seconds of 4 on 4 time.

  • Anaheim got a 2-on-1 as Rakell and Montour raced in vs. DeKeyser, and Howard stopped Rakell with aplomb.
  • Anaheim fumbled the exchange on a deep offensive zone faceoff draw and afforded the Wings an easy clear, but the Ducks were aggressive while shorthanded, and:
  • PP1: Cholowski, Athanasiou, Mantha, Vanek and Nielsen worked the power play, Vanek at least got into the slot, but Ben Street, the former Griffin, cleared the zone.
  • PP2: Larkin, Hronek, Nyquist, Bertuzzi and Rasmussen worked together on the 2nd PP, and Hronek and Larkin worked the puck to Nyquist but the puck was tipped into his skates, and that was the power play.
  • No shots.
  • The Ducks pressured quite hard as the 5-minute mark hit, and Howard had to stop a deke-and-dangle rush by Cam Fowler.
  • Hicketts and DeKeyser got some help from Glendening and managed to muck the puck out of some difficulty.
  • Mostly, Anaheim was chipping and chasing the puck into the Wings’ zone, where Detroit’s defense would steer the Ducks wide…
  • And Detroit was held up at the Ducks’ line when it attempted to make offensive rushes, with interference mysteriously not called.

At the first TV timeout…

  • Larkin is going through a couple different pairs of Warrior gloves trying to find the right fit..
  • And Larkin NEARLY scored the game’s first goal off a superb 3-on-2 rush with Mantha and Nyquist some 7:30 into the 1st.
  • At least it yielded the Wings’ first shot on John Gibson.
  • Instead of sustaining puck possession, Detroit found itself on its back skate, and a strange little combo of Rasmussen, Ehn and Bertuzzi was unable to generate much more than an offside call against the Wings.
  • To their credit, Ehn’s regular linemates, Glendening and Helm, played quite well together.
  • Howard made an excellent stop on a Troy Terry tip as Fowler buzzed the zone and got the puck back to a teammate, and the second TV timeout hit at 10:53…
  •  At the second TV timeout, Anaheim led in shots 6-2, but Detroit had 7 attempts blocked or wide to Anaheim’s 5, so…It was closer than it looked? Detroit also led in the faceoff circle 7-6.

The Wings turned the tables on the Ducks as Michael Rasmussen forced a John Gibson turnover, Frans Nielsen slid the puck back down low to Rasmussen at the right faceoff circle, and Bertuzzi spun back toward the net and jabbed the puck past Gibson to make it 1-0.

 Detroit scored the 1-0 goal at 11:06. Bertuzzi from Rasmussen and Nielsen. That’s Rasmussen’s first NHL point.

  • Detroit tossed Ehn’s line over the boards for the post-goal shift, and after being hemmed in a little bit, the gents managed to push play back into the Ducks’ zone.
  • Ehn has a way of making the game look effortless, and that’s a damn hard job to accomplish when you’re playing as a rookie checking line forward.
  • Nyquist made a fine block on a Duck shot and that resulted in a Larkin-to-Mantha 2-on-1 that Mantha JUST lifted over Gibson…
  • Bertuzzi sent a sneaky shot toward the net and Nielsen tipped it through, forcing Gibson to make a tremendous stop…
  • In all honesty, Cam Fowler, a defenseman, was by far the Ducks’ best player, and he was causing chaos in Detroit’s zone.
  • Luke Glendening then senet a beautiful backhand over GIbson’s glove but over the net as well.
  • At the 3rd TV timeout:
  • Bertuzzi, Rasmussen and Nielsen continued to buzz in all three zones, and Libor Sulak made a slick little pinch 17:45 into the 1st that yielded a shot just wide of Gibson’s glove–and the goalpost.
  • Athanasiou, Abdelkader and Vanek seemed to have the most trouble of the Wings’ 4 lines, trying to get on the same page…
  • The period ended with the Ducks grinding it out in the Wings’ zone, but Detroit ultimately ended up on top.

The 1st period in summary: The period was not an attractive one by any sense of the imagination, but something of an identity crisis for the Ducks played out with the Red Wings getting better and better as time progressed. Displaying some genuine cohesion, the Wings did a fine job of stifling the Ducks’ offense, getting through the neutral zone with speed and sustaining pressure in the offensive zone. It wasn’t a perfect effort, but Detroit was skating hard and shooting often.

Statistically, Detroit out-shot Anaheim 8-6, and Detroit also had 10 wide attempts and 4 blocked attempts for a total of 22 shot attempts; Anaheim had 6 shots and a total of 16 attempts;

Detroit was out-hit 7-6; giveaways were 9-5 Anaheim; takeaways 2-2; blocked shots 4-4; faceoffs 12-8 Detroit (60%).

Individually, 8 different Red Wings had shots, and Nyquist and Helm had 4 attempts apiece; Larkin led the Wings with 3 giveaways, but he also had a takeaway; Ehn led the Wings with a 3-and-1 (75%) faceoff record, and the Wings were +5; DeKeyser’s 7:58 led the team in terms of ice time, with Sulak’s 7:39 quick behind.

FSD had the scoring chances at 4-3 Detroit.

The 2nd period began with Detroit up 1-0.

2nd period observations:

  • Detroit started Ehn’s line again and the trio chipped, chased, chased the Ducks back into the Wings’ zone, and DeKeyser iced the puck.
  • Rackell sent a short wide of Howard as the Ducks cycled down low, and Hronek and DeKeyser were able to work the puck out to their linemates, who dumped and changed.
  • Sulak made a poor turnover in front but recovered on his own, and Sulak and Cholowski did a solid-enough job of working the puck out of trouble…

Until Sulak chipped the puck over the glass at 2:02, yielding a delay-of-game penalty.

  • ON THE PENALTY KILL…Helm and Glendening started with DeKeyser and Jensen on defense, and Helm actually stole the puck from the Ducks’ defense, yielding a penalty to Anaheim for interference.

Cam Fowler headed off for slashing at 2:32.

  • Yielding 1:30 of 4 on 4 time.
  • Vanek and Athanasiou worked together…
  • Athanasiou raced in on a breakaway, deked, dangled, and flipped a shot off Gibson and over the crossbar.
  • As the 4-on-4 wound down, the Ducks wound up, and the Wings stuck man-on-man defensively, yielding an offensive rush, a FINE chance by Mantha and a wee rebound for Nielsen that Gibson gobbled up with the glove.
  • Joe Hicketts got grabbed at the Ducks’ line, and the refs let one go as the Ducks nearly generated a scoring chance. The duo held their own for the remainder of the shift.
  • Rasmussen, Ehn and Hicketts charged up on a 3-on-2 and Hicketts clanged his shot off Gibson’s head, yielding a stoppage in play after Abdelkader whiffed on an open net.
  • Detroit was doing a great job of getting sticks in lanes and skating back to stifle scoring chances against in their own zone, Detroit was skating smartly and speedily through center, and the Wings were sustaining a forecheck in the offensive zone.
  • At the first TV timeout…
  • That would equal a 3-1 shot advantage for Detroit in the 2nd period; Detroit had another 11 attempts wide and 5 blocked.

Detroit was called for a penalty off the faceoff as play resumed, with Glendening going off for interference at 6:43.

  • ON THE PENALTY-KILL…Larkin and Nielsen broke into the Ducks’ zone with Jensen skating up the middle lane, but Larkin’s shot was deflected out of play.
  • DeKeyser worked with Jensen on the first PK unit, and Howard had to make a good shoulder stop on a Rickard Rackell blast.
  • Ehn, Abdelkader, Sulak and Hicketts worked the 2nd PK unit, and Helm hopped over the boards to replace Ehn, witnessing Hicketts take a Ducks pass right off an Anaheim player’s stick and clear it down the ice.
  • Larkin and Nielsen cleared the puck one more time, and with just over 11 minutes remaining, Glendening exited the box.
  • Anaheim got 2 shots on Howard.
  • Detroit worked Bertuzzi onto the Athanasiou-Vanek pairing, and that yielded some net-buzzing speed.
  • Larkin got off a tremendous one-timed shot from Nyquist, but Gibson blockered it away…
  • And as the halfway mark passed, Howard made a big stop on Lundestrom pinching in from the point. Anaheim really got a cycle going in the Wings’ end…

And regrettably, Hampus Lindholm skated around Anthony Mantha, who was “walked around,” and Larkin tipped the puck behind his own goalie.

 Lindholm made it 1-1 from Cogliano and Sherwood at 10:57.

  • Anaheim continued to attack the Red Wings’ zone with very little pressure against them from the Red Wings’ defense, and as a result, Anaheim led the 2nd period in shots 6-5 when the next TV timeout hit.
  • At the second TV timeout…
  • When play resumed, Helm, Ehn and Glendening tried to stuff a couple of wraparound attempts in on Gibson, but the Red Wings were unable to convert…
  • And Thomas Vanek of all people got a breakaway attempt on Gibson, but he was stopped, and swore repeatedly on the bench.
  • Detroit did not allow the Ducks’ checking to dissuade them from attacking Anaheim’s net, but the path to said net was tougher, and Detroit’s own defensive turnovers were a problem.
  • Libor Sulak turned the puck over to the Ducks, an Anaheim Duck took the point shot off his skate, and put the puck off the post, but Cholowski shoveled the puck back under Howard to ensure that no goal was scored…
  • On the next shift, Howard made a tremendous stop on Henrique, too.
  • At the 3rd TV timeout:
  • When play resumed, Detroit brought out the Ehn line again, and Ehn himself made a bad turnover in his own zone, but was bailed out by DeKeyser…

Detroit charged up the other way, with Helm charging up the ice, Glendening got high-sticked but kept going to the net, and Glendening provided a screen as Helm’s second shot attempt went through Gibson’s legs.

 Helm made it 2-1 at 14:56 from DeKeyser and Howard.

  • Mantha, Larkin and Nyquist played the post-goal shift, with Jensen and Hicketts on defense, and they assuaged themselves well.
  • Siflverberg nearly walked his way through the entire Wings lineup en route to a tremendous offensive chance, but Tyler Bertuzzi managed to annoy Silfverberg just enough to prevent him from settling the puck down.
  • The defensive pairs were fairly fluid, and DeKeyser and Hicketts of all players looked very solid as a unit.
  • The 2nd period concluded with the Ducks trying to lay on the body and lay out some Red Wings, and Detroit did not retaliate.

The 2nd period in summary: Anaheim managed to tie the game over the course of a hard-working half-a-period against a Red Wings team that spent its learning experiences unwisely, but the Wings restored their lead via a Helm goal at 14:56 of the 2nd, and the 2nd period was played to a fair draw.

Statistically, Detroit and Anaheim tied in shots 8-8 in the 2nd, and Detroit led in shots 16-14 overall. The Wings were 0-for-2 on the power play, the Ducks 0-for-3.

Shot attempts were 38-36 Detroit (Detroit had 16 shots on net, 15 wide and 7 blocked); hits 14-10 Anaheim; giveaways 13-11 Anaheim; takeaways 4-4 (possession changes 17-15 Detroit); blocked shots 8-7 Detroit; faceoffs 25-20 Detroit (56%).

Individually, Larkin led the Wings with 4 shots, and Helm and Hronek had 2 shots; Helm had 6 attempts; Rasmussen led the Wings with 2 hits; Larkin had 4 giveaways, Sulak 2; Mantha had 2 takeaways, Sulak and Larkin 1; 8 different players blocked 1 shot; Nielsen’s 4-and-1 (80%) led the Wings in the faceoff circle; Detroit remained at +5, and DeKeyser led the Wings with 16:47 in ice time, trailed by Hronek’s 13:41 and Cholowski’s 13:22.

FSD had the scoring chances at 11-9 Detroit.

The 3rd period began with the Red Wings leading 2-1.

3rd period observations:

  • Ehn drew in for the opening faceoff and lost said draw, and the Ducks chipped and chased, but Ehn came back to help DeKeyser and Hronek, and the Wings cleared the zone.
  • Anaheim seemed to be more plucky, for lack of a better term, as the 3rd period began, but the Red Wings were doing a good job of blocking shots and blocking passing lanes as well.
  • Vanek, Athanasiou and Abdelkader were playing a somewhat muted game as well.
  • Bertuzzi had the most jump of the Bertuzzi-Nielsen-Rasmussen line, but Nielsen displayed surprising enthusiasm, and Rasmussen was at least learning.
  • Some 4:27 into the 3rd period, the Red Wings watched Mantha load up on a slapper that was chipped into the crowd via a shot-blocking Ducks defender…
  • Rasmussen got tagged for offside on one shift, and then made a masterful move of plucking the puck off Josh Manson’s stick on the next, generating some serious “zone time” with Bertuzzi and Ehn and helping Hronek when the Wings’ young defender poke-checked his way into the rush.
  • Larkin also got an “almost” via a centering pass that Mantha nearly jabbed past Gibson.
  • 7:29 into the 3rd, Detroit and Anaheim were tied 2-2 in shots on the period and Detroit had an 18-16 shot lead overall.
  • In an exchange of rushes, Anaheim raced into the Wings’ zone, and Filip Hronek got “walked around” by Sam Steel, but the Red Wings raced back the other way, and Dylan Larkin chipped a hard shot in on Gibson.
  • Anaheim continued to send forwards toward the Wings’ net…

And Libor Sulak and Justin Abdelkader lost their checks, Thomas Vanek lost Jakob Silfverberg, and Silfverberg jammed the rebound of a Duck shot over Howard to make it 2-2 at 8:29 of the 3rd period.

Coach Blashill challenged the play as Howard was dragged off his position by Henrique, but Cholowski steered Henrique into Howard…

 And the goal counted, 2-2 at 8:29 of the 3rd. Silfverberg from Henrique and Comtois.

  • Rasmussen, Glendening and Ehn had a good post-goal shift, with first Rasmussen and then Ehn generating scoring chances…
  • As the 10-minute mark passed, Nyquist, Larkin and Mantha buzzed…
  • The Ducks responded in kind, and the ice subtly tilted toward the Ducks as the second TV timeout hit at 9:53. Shots were tied 4-4 and Detroit led in shots 20-18.
  • As time began to wind down, Detroit’s bench kept the lines intact and rolling over the boards.
  • Howard made a big stop on Montour, who got past Sulak and fired a puck off Howard’s blocker…
  • Howard made another couple of stops before Tyler Bertuzzi poked a puck in on Gibson with under 7 minutes remaining…
  • Larkin swiped a puck at center ice and tried to set up Bertuzzi, too, but the puck was bouncing like a beach ball on California ice.
  • The Ducks kept on trying to beat Howard glove side on the rush, too, which wasn’t hurting…

AND HOWARD MADE A TREMENDOUS STOP on Troy Terry, who chipped a below-the-goal-line pass over Howard’s…Well over Howard, but not his glove.

  • After the TV timeout, the Ducks continued to funnel pucks toward the front of the Red Wings’ net, but the defense had active sticks and smart skates in lanes, thus yielding a bit of waddling through the Duck pond by the Wings.
  • With under 5 minutes remaining in the 3rd period, Glendening, Vanek and Athanasiou had a tremendous shift grinding the puck out down low, and Libor Sulak snuck in to find Glendening in the slot…but Glendening’s forehand shot is inferior, and a scoring chance was thus wasted.
  • With 2:44 remaining in the 3rd, Larkin and Nyquist tried to get a cycle going, but Josh Manson bumped Nyquist sans puck, and nothing was called, so Nyquist tossed Manson’s stick.
  • No penalties were called.
  • DeKeyser and Hronek had a fairly good shift together as the Ducks pressed late in the 3rd…
  • Sulak and Cholowski did a nice job of working against Ben Street and company…
  • Larkin was hammered behind his own net, but Athanasiou helped and Cholowski hacked at the puck…Detroit could not clear with 20 seconds remaining, and Silfverberg cycled the puc out, but Larkin cleared the zone and ended regulation.

The 3rd period in summary: The Red Wings were unable to hold onto their 2-1 lead thanks to tremendous drive by the Ducks’ forwards, which wore down the Wings’ defense (the shots were 10-5 Anaheim in the 3rd) on the 2nd night of a back-to-back, but Howard ensured that the team earned a point.

IN OVERTIME: Nielsen, Athanasiou and DeKeyser started OT together, they ragged the puck to center and into the Ducks’ zone, Nielsen got a cycle going with Athanasiou, and DeKeyser peeled off as AA deked, dangled, and over-skated the puck…

Resulting in a 2-on-1 in which Larkin BLOCKED off Fowler and Henrique’s 2-on-1 pass.

Nyquist and Larkin then skated in 2-on-1 and Larkin whiffed on the shot, resuilting in Ducks and Wings changes.

Sam Steel skated in, gave the puck to Silfverberg, and he tipped the puck wide of the net. Anaheim bumbled the puck at the offensive zone blueline, and both teams changed.

Steel slid the puck all the way down ice, and Bertuzzi was able to touch up for icing with 3:02 remaining.

Larkin, Athanasiou and Hronek then came over the boards, and Anaheim won the draw, initiated a line change, and worked the puck back out to center to complete its change.

Lindholm and Lundestrom battled Athanasiou at the Wings’ line, tying him up, and Terry found Lundestrom, but HOWARD made a tremendous stop.

With 2:09 remaining, Nielsen lost the draw, Ehn battled down low, stole the puck, and Nielsen found DeKeyser, but the puck slithered past his toe, and Mantha came off the bench and blasted a shot wide.

Cholowski found Mantha, he sent it just wide of the net, and Cholowski held the puck in so that Mantha could check a Duck and Nielsen got tripped, sans call, by Henrique…

Cholowski had to stand up vs. Montour, Mantha came back to help, and Steel, who was really good, fed Montour, then Cholowski blocked a shot, cycled vs. Steel, and the Wings chipped and changed as Mantha was held up.

With 30 seconds remaining, DeKeyser was beaten 2-on-1 but Howard made a huge stop, Athanasiou burned out on the break away, and Comtois was blocked off by a Howard poke check…

DeKeyser found Nyquist, he deked to DeKeyser, and he fanned on his shot.

It was SHOOTOUT time. (I hate shootouts).

Rickard Rackell skated in after an octopus delay, chugging up through center, going forehand, to backhand, and he was blockered away by Howard.

Thomas Vanek was first up for Detroit, and Vanek slithered in, skated in and fired a shot off the outside of the post (and Gibson).

Troy Terry then went in backhand to forehand and put the puck behind Howard to give Anaheim a 1-0 lead.

Frans Nielsen flipped and flubbed the shot from the start…and he fanned on his backhand shot…

Sam Steel then skated in and was blockered away…

And Gustav Nyquist had to fire a puck in to sustain the shootout, but he went 5-hole on Gibson, who made an easy stop to end the game.

Detroit lost 3-2.

Statistics:

Here’s the Game Summary…

And the Event Summary: 

The final shot attempts were 59-58 Anaheim.

Published by

George Malik

My name is George Malik, and I'm the Malik Report's editor/blogger/poster. I have been blogging about the Red Wings since 2006, and have worked with MLive and Kukla's Korner. Thank you for reading!

3 thoughts on “Red Wings-Ducks quick take: Wings flag late, quack up a shootout loss”

  1. The player who took the initial shot continued skating and made contact with Howard just before the rebound was put in (by a player who also made contact with Howard). I think a lot of the time, that challenge would have gone the other way.

  2. I think they are playing well with the lineup they have, rebuild kids (Cholo leading Team in ice time). Entertaining , not like last year

    Ice was crappy near the end/SO

    DeK with the prospects would be better off without you and not a Nyquist fan. I see LGD still using only the backhand, even Mickey and Ozzie acted like they were surprised. LGD has been dong that since day 1, very odd and doesn’t work. Opposition does scout the Wings

    Howard was steady

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