The Detroit Red Wings faced off against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night, with the Red Wings hoping to earn their first home win opposite a Canucks team playing their 3rd game in 4 nights.
The Red Wings played a surprisingly energetic Canucks team, which out-shot Detroit 41-21, out-attempted Detroit 71-39, and played mean, nasty hockey, but Detroit withstood Vancouver’s attack, with Thomas Greiss pitching 40 saves en route to a 3-1 victory.
Robby Fabbri, Filip Zadina and Sam Gagner (empty net) scored the goals, Marc Staal, Gustav Lindstrom, Filip Hronek, Moritz Seider and Tyler Bertuzzi had the assists, and, in a wild affair, Detroit rope-a-doped their way to their first win.
The Red Wings iced the following lines…
Projected vs. Vancouver.#LGRW pic.twitter.com/wOUlR9rb5N— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 16, 2021
Meanwhile, The Athletic’s Thomas Drance confirmed Vancouver’s lines:
#Canucks projected lineup Saturday vs. DET, based on line rushes in the warmup skate:
— Thomas Drance (@ThomasDrance) October 16, 2021
Pearson-Horvat-Garland
Miller-Pettersson-Höglander
Highmore-Dickinson-Chiasson
Dowling-Lammikko-Podkolzin
OEL-Myers
Hughes-Poolman
Rathbone-Burroughs
Halak
The starting lineups consisted of the following players:
In the 1st period…The period began with Michael Rasmussen taking the faceoff opposite Bo Horvat at center ice, and Rasmussen won it to Seider, the puck was chipped in and Detroit kicked and mashed the puck but was unable to keep it in as OEL cleared it and the Red Wings parried the Canucks’ rush into a chip-and-chase play.
Seider got the Wings’ first shot some 38 seconds into the game. Halak made a routine stop on the slapper.
With Pettersson lining up against the Fabbri line, Detroit surrendered the first shot some 1:08 into the 1st, with Greiss stopping a screened slap shot from the Canucks’ offensive blueline.
Both teams made some sloppy changes as the teams attempted to get away from their match-ups…
In all honesty, Mitchell Stephens’ line got the first dedicated forecheck going for Detroit, working with Rowney and Smith, but they did struggle to generate shots on goal during their first shift.
The good news was that the Red Wings were completely stifling the Canucks’ offense some 4 minutes into the 1st period. Detroit was clogging up the neutral zone and steering Vancouver’s explosive forwards to the side boards for the most part.
Vancouver did get the Pettersson line out against Fabbri, Raymond and Bertuzzi on an icing call, and some 6 minutes into the 1st, they cycled like nobody’s business, but Thomas Griess made a huge stop on Pettersson to keep Vancouver off the board to the first TV timeout at 7:07.
Vancouver took a 4-2 shot lead into the TV timeout, and when play resumed, Vancouver seemed to find their legs in a big way, cycling in Detroit’s zone with impunity, but Detroit was at least disruptive enough that Vancouver couldn’t convert.
Example: Nils Hoglander nearly scored on a cycle in the Wings’ end off a faceoff play, but Marc Staal made a big block to keep the score at zeroes.
Vancouver seemed to really gain momentum as the 10-minute mark beckoned, and their speed edge over the Wings was evident, but Detroit held on.
Hoglander and Pettersson were indeed a significant danger in the Wings’ end, but, again, Detroit held fast, with Filip Hronek refusing to “get walked”…
And at the other end of the ice, Gustav Lindstrom made a fantastic move at the blueline, he fed the puck to Marc Staal, and Staal fed the puck to the slot for a tip play. Fabbri chipped the pass over Jaroslav Halak for a 1-0 lead.
Fabbri ? ? #LGRW pic.twitter.com/cIi1Ifztf7— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 16, 2021
Fabbri scored the 1-0 goal from Staal and Lindstrom at 11:05 of the 1st period.
Detroit seemed to gain their own footing after the goal, but Vancouver kept pushing right back into Detroit’s end, and the nexus of play remained in the Wings’ zone for the majority of the 1st period.
Also:
Former captains watching Red Wings take on Canucks at Little Caesars Arena. pic.twitter.com/iv2AfzQAyk— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) October 16, 2021
Hank and @NicklasLidstrom in the house. ? pic.twitter.com/LddORedcxH— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 16, 2021
Detroit was breaking a lot of Vancouver plays up–and the Canucks were suffering from a trio of broken sticks in the offensive zone–and as the 15-minute mark passed, and we hit 16 minutes elapsed, it was Vancouver that was trapping Detroit in the neutral zone.
Detroit was being out-attempted by a very significant margin, but the Wings were persistent and willing to grind it out, and that tenacity afforded Detroit the lead.
Detroit was being out-shot 7-4 and out-attempted 15-8 some 17:52 into the 1st, but the Wings were the team that had the puck more regularly, if only by a small margin, and Detroit’s commitment to team defense mattered.
Regrettably, Nick Leddy headed to the box for a free hand grab (holding) on Elias Pettersson with 18.9 left in the 1st period, affording Vancouver a power play late.
On the short power play, Vancouver won the draw, cycled down low, and ran out of time thanks to a wonderful block by Filip Hronek.
???#LGRW pic.twitter.com/kthYbGIL7o— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 17, 2021
2nd period ?#VANvsDET | #LGRW pic.twitter.com/X7PYTZtzOm— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 17, 2021
In the 2nd period…Detroit had 1:41 of PK time to start the period, and Mitchell Stephens, Sam Gagner, Danny DeKeyser and Filip Hronek started the pK.
A diving play by Sam Gagner took him out of the play but checked Pettersson as he tried to work the puck to Hughes, and, eventually, Thomas Greiss made a big stop on Alex Chiasson in front, as Chiasson had snuck behind the Wings’ defense;
Rasmussen, Namestnikov, Staal and Lindstrom worked the second PK unit, and Greiss made a TREMENDOUS toe save on Bo Horvat…
And Detroit managed to kill the penalty.
Slowly but surely, the Red Wings regained their footing, and the line of Suter, Zadina and Erne did a good job of cycling the puck into the Canucks’ zone…
But Filip Hronek had to slide on the ice (still a bad idea) to help stifle a 2-on-1 where Justin Dowling was stopped by Greiss some 3:40 into the 2nd.
The Smith-Stephens-Rowney line may very well have been Detroit’s best, too…
But the Red Wings’ defense collapsed around Thomas Greiss, with Staal and Seider backing into the crease, and Conor Garland decided to chip the puck off Thomas Greiss’ mask and into the top shelf, tying the game.
.@ConorGarland2 with a sneaky shot for his first as a member of the @Canucks. #NHLFaceOff pic.twitter.com/Cil6REFA6j— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) October 17, 2021
Conor Garland tied the game 1-1 from Horvat at 4:55.
Thankfully, Jason Dickinson gave Lucas Raymond a bit of a hook, and he headed to the box at 5:55 for hooking as Detroit went to the power play.
On the power play, Zadina, Erne, Rasmussen, Hronek and Seider cycled vs. the Canucks, who lost a stick (Highmore lost his stick), and the Wings worked the passing game UNTIL FILIP ZADINA managed to send a Moritz Seider pass into the back of the net from the bottom of the faceoff dot. The puck was tipped by Quinn Hughes as well.
Filip Zadina gets the power-play goal from his favorite spot in the right circle and restores the Red Wings’ lead. Moritz Seider and Filip Hronek get the assists. Seider now has three helpers in two games. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/UIkoALbCgb— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) October 17, 2021
What a rip. #LGRW @zadina_filip | #LGRW pic.twitter.com/r9WQkWaGtK— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 17, 2021
Filip Zadina scored the power play goal from Seider and Filip Hronek at 6:42 of the 2nd period. 2-1 Detroit.
The Red Wings surged forth offensively after the goal, but Vancouver remained a headache offensively, and Lucas Raymond had to make a remarkable defensive play to cover up for his defensemen…
Ultimately, by the TV timeout at 11:35, Detroit was holding on, because as Nick Leddy was cross-checked from behind by Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Givani Smith chose to retaliate, and sat for roughing.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson becomes the latest opponent to drill a Red Wings into the boards from behind. Givani Smith to the rescue #LGRW pic.twitter.com/vIpXL30FC5— Nolan Bianchi (@nolanbianchi) October 17, 2021
But he took Connor Garland with him, so the teams skated 4-on-4 for 2 minutes.
On the 4-on-4, Vancouver dominated in terms of possession and control, and, between the Red Wings’ defenders doing their job and Thomas Greiss making big stops, the Wings held fast…
But Gustav Lindstrom was SMEARED by Tanner Pearson, and Vancouver cycled hard toward the Wings’ net, affording Vancouver a scoring chance…
As the 2nd period waned, and Detroit regained possession and control of the puck, the Stephens line had a great shift with 5 minutes remaining…
Vancouver kept buzzing in Detroit’s zone, but the Wings were able to keep Vancouver off the board, with Thomas Greiss making a TREMENDOUS stop on Nils Hoglander’s 2-on-1 with Connor Garland.
Thomas Greiss with the save of the game on Nils Hoglander, preserving the @DetroitRedWings lead. My goodness. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/5bI1FnzT2s— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) October 17, 2021
The #Canucks have had their chances but trail #LGRW 2-1 after two periods. @BatchHockey and @danriccio_ have the call of the third next!
LISTEN: https://t.co/mDLZc4njsd pic.twitter.com/6SosjRIUU4— Sportsnet 650 (@Sportsnet650) October 17, 2021
At the other end, at 18:04, Raymond stole the puck from Quinn Hughes, Raymond, Bertuzzi and Fabbri deked and dangled and skated the puck down low, and the fact that Halak made a stop was remarkable.
Lucas Raymond pickpocket, chance for Bertuzzi, dish to Raymond, chance for Fabbri. This team is so much fun #LGRW pic.twitter.com/xYcWWJWELU— Nolan Bianchi (@nolanbianchi) October 17, 2021
? https://t.co/ss1wPY9X0i pic.twitter.com/jTXH48HQGI— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) October 17, 2021
Even better, Hughes headed off for interference at 18:20 for “tripping” Adam Erne, and the Wings went to the power play.
On the power play, Zadina, Seider, Erne, Hronek and Rasmussen worked on the first unit, and they almost scored a couple of times…
Gagner, Fabbri, Leddy, Raymond and Bertuzzi worked together on a makeshift second unit, and as the 2nd period ticked down, they ran out of time.
Up 1 after 40.#LGRW pic.twitter.com/qZFzFLYWol— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 17, 2021
Trevor Thompson talks with alternate captain Marc Staal, who is playing in his 950th career game tonight. Staal assisted on the Wings’ first goal. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/C7lSXJU0EA— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) October 17, 2021
???#VANvsDET | #LGRW pic.twitter.com/S1ZE1v2Uvb— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 17, 2021
In the 3rd period…Detroit began with 20 seconds of power play time, tied up the opening faceoff, and managed to generate some possession and some control, but Vancouver killed the penalty with ease.
Ultimately, Thomas Greiss made the first save of the period on Bo Horvat some 40 seconds into the 3rd.
The Red Wings’ lines got a little scrambled as the team attempted to sustain its match-ups, defensively speaking, and as a result, Vancouver sustained possession…
And Vladislav Namestnikov went off for tripping at 2:12, affording Vancouver a power play.
On the penalty-kill, Mitchell Stephens got a shot off on Halak on a 1-on-2 break with Bertuzzi, DeKeyser and Hronek…
Gagner, Rasmussen, Seider and Leddy did a good job…
Staal, Lindstrom, Stephens and Bertuzzi worked as the “3rd unit,” with Detroit rotating all three defensive pairs…
And Detroit ultimately killed the penalty. Without surrendering a scoring chance, no less.
Greiss did have to make a stop on Dickinson after the PK expired, and OEL ripped some bombs off Namestnikov and wide of the net, but Detroit held fast.
Connor Garland got some shit for putting the puck in the net after an offside, but that was arguably the Canucks’ most dangerous chance over the first 5:16 of the 3rd.
The Canucks did get to work as Oliver Ekman-Larsson went off for “roughing” Moritz Seider’s nuts with his stick, but Bertuzzi went off for engaging OEL, yielding 4-on-4 hockey at 5:52.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson spears Moritz Seider in the balls. Bertuzzi goes after OEL.
— Ryan Hana (@RyanHanaWWP) October 17, 2021
Offsetting minors on the play. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/gzCHOPpu7J
Vancouver did dominate possession of the puck over the first six-and-change minutes of the 3rd period, and Detroit did start to chase them, which was not optimal.
So, when Thomas Greiss had to battle like a beaver for the puck while on his belly as the Canucks tried to tie things up, and the referees sort of stood there and watched…
It was no surprise. The Wings’ goaltender held fast, which was great, but Vancouver was getting its chances…
And getting away with some of the dirtier parts of the game.
Ultimately, the 4 on 4 was “advantage Vancouver,” but Nick Leddy worked the puck out of trouble late, and Raymond got to work in the offensive zone, really making some magical plays, though they did not lead to offensive chances.
Vancouver was really firing cannons toward the net, but Detroit was blocking them, Greiss was seeing the shots that Detroit could not block, and while Detroit was skating on its back foot some 9:30 into the 3rd…
Detroit held the fort.
Sometimes only barely so, but Detroit held the fort.
The shots were an ugly 11-4 Vancouver with 9:12 remaining…
And in a game where the referees had lost control a long time ago, Filip Zadina had to go to the room after getting smacked in the face by an elbow and a back check from Connor Garland…
Scrum forms after Zadina gets decked in the corner, Horvat throws a massive swing at Rasmussen #LGRW pic.twitter.com/3dsij3hXkV— Nolan Bianchi (@nolanbianchi) October 17, 2021
It’s been pretty feisty the first two games. Filip Zadina got hurt by Conor Garland and then all heck broke loose. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/cZ8vEZlBiT— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) October 17, 2021
“Sit Down.”
Bertuzzi isn’t having it tonight ? #LGRW
pic.twitter.com/2aiNgvmxgy— Woodward Sports Network (@woodwardsports) October 17, 2021
And things got messy as the referees reviewed the play after the scrum that ensued yielded Michael Rasmussen getting punched in the face by Bo Horvat, with the referees deeming it to be a legal hit by Garland, and roughing on Rasmussen, Filip Hronek and Garland, who got 2 for his “check to the head” of Zadina.
What a mess.
To their credit, Vancouver really emptied the tank, and the goalpost and Pius Suter were the reason that the game was not tied with 7:15 left in the 3rd.
POST SAVES GREISS.
GREISS SAYS THANK YOU WITH THE INCREDIBLE SAVE THAT FOLLOWS. HOLY JUMPIN #LGRW pic.twitter.com/mIp0Cx5Jgb— Nolan Bianchi (@nolanbianchi) October 17, 2021
Ultimately, Lucas Raymond took his first NHL penalty with 6:02 left in the 3rd, and Vancouver headed to the PP…
On the penalty-kill, Detroit did an OK job of clearing the lanes toward the net, so Greiss was able to see the puck, and Detroit did a better job of clearing the puck out of trouble when they were able…
So the Canucks had a hard time trying to tie the game.
Even a broken stick to Rasmussen afforded Detroit enough time to grab a broken stick from a teammate and he cleared the puck with that stick.
At the final TV timeout of the 3rd period, with 3:41 remaining, Detroit was out-shot 17-5 in the 3rd, and 35-20 on the night.
The good news was that Filip Zadina returned to action for the Red Wings late in the 3rd period, so Detroit was not down another body.
Detroit also got a little lucky at times, with OEL losing his helmet, and as the final 3 minutes of the 3rd beckoned…
Vancouver was still ripping shots at Greiss, and Jack Rathbone thought he scored, but Greiss was hit in the head by Nils Hoglander, and Detroit was able to evade a game-tying marker.
In the end, Greiss was a difference-maker, stifling Horvat, stifling everyone…
And Sam Gagner scored the empty-net goal at 19:02.
Sam Gagner gets the empty-net insurance goal the @DetroitRedWings need, 3-1 over the Canucks late in the 3rd. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/nd4gom3qCd— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) October 17, 2021
Gagner made it 3-1 at 19:02 of the 3rd period, from Beretuzzi.
The last minute was…a bunch of checking and “almost” fights and scraps, but Detroit held on.
#REDWINGS WIN! #LGRW pic.twitter.com/rnR4SakcVN— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 17, 2021
We hear from Thomas Greiss after he makes 40 saves to backstop his Red Wings to a victory over the Canucks on Saturday. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/MXXXf2NBf8— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) October 17, 2021
Final stat line on tonight’s W!#LGRW pic.twitter.com/rGYD6oAspQ— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 17, 2021
Statistics: Here are the Game Summary and Event Summary:
