The Detroit Red Wings attempted to snap a 3-game losing streak as they hosted the New York Islanders on Tuesday night at Little Caesars Arena.
Detroit managed to win a 2-1 decision over a plucky, tenacious New York Islanders team, advancing to 14-12-and-3 thanks to goals from Dylan Larkin and Michael Rasmussen, a fine set of assists from Moritz Seider, Lucas Raymond (on the 1st goal) and Adam Erne (on the 2nd), and a TREMENDOUS job by Alex Nedeljkovic, who stopped 32 of 33 shots, including a last-second game-tying attempt.
The teams iced the following lines…
Tuesday night vs. NYI. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/GNeYs8dNi5— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 15, 2021
#Isles in warmups
Lee-Pageau-Palmieri
Beauvillier-Nelson-Bailey
Bellows-Parise-Wahlstrom
Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck
Pelech-Mayfield
Chara-Dobson
Salo-Greene
Sorokin
Varlamov— Andrew Gross (@AGrossNewsday) December 15, 2021
The starters and scratches were as follows…
In the 1st period…
So Michael Rasmussen and company dialed in for the opening faceoff opposite the Islanders’ “fourth line” of Casey Cizikas, Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin:
The Islanders tied up the draw and Chara chipped and the Islanders immediately hit and generated some defensive-to-offensive-side churning as a result, with Nedeljkovic stopping the game’s first shot some 18 seconds into the 1st period;
Hronek sped out of the zone and right back into it as the Wings changed for the first time 45 seconds into the 1st period, and Suter, Fabbri and Namestnikov cycled deep with an assist from a Danny DeKeyser keep-in, the Islanders chipped the puck out of trouble, and both teams changed with 1:22 gone in the 1st;
Beauvillier fed the puck back to Green, he chipped the puck down the ice and iced it at 1:36.
So the Red Wings rolled out the Larkin line with Bertuzzi back on board, Oesterle got the game’s first shot for the Red Wings and Bertuzzi’s second attempt was blocked, Seider fed Bertuzzi, he cycled, but gave the puck back to the Islanders, and Seider had to break up a 2-on-1 rush.
The Wings changed lines for a fourth time and Givani Smith set up Seider behind the Wings’ net for a breakout pass which was blocked, once, twice, and Nedeljkovic played the puck around to Rowney, he fumbled it and Oesterle had to block an Islanders shot aimed at Nedeljkovic;
Chara was noticeable as Smith bumped him and took the puck away from the 6’9″ defenseman, and the Islanders chipped and chased 4th line vs. 4th line, Greene fed Chara in the Islanders’ zone and Detroit had to battle their way through a couple of Islanders dump-and-chase plays some 3:48 into the 1st period.
Rasmussen’s line went for checks instead of the puck, and Palmieri set up Pageau for a TREMENDOUS scoring chance, but Nedeljkovic made a SUPERB STOP to keep the game scoreless:
⛔️ ? ? ? ⛔️ pic.twitter.com/zsIw3qNYc6— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) December 15, 2021
The Red Wings’ second shot came from Pius Suter, who charged up ice on a 3-on-3 rush and fired a long shot off Sorokin’s blocker;
Oesterle and Lindstrom did a good job of cycling together, and Fabbri fed Oesterle for a fine chance that was stopped by Sorokin sans screen;
Ultimately, the Islanders chipped the puck out of trouble, but not before surrendering some momentum to the Red Wings;
The Islanders then broke in 3 on 2 with Parise’s line cycling, but Seider and DeKeyser did a good job of deflating the Islanders’ pressure via a smart stick check from Seider;
The Larkin line went the other way, and Bertuzzi, Larkin and Raymond cycled, Hronek chipped a puck that was tipped by Bertuzzi on Sorokin, Larkin fed Leddy and Sorokin made a second stop at 7:58 of the 1st period, ushering in the first TV timeout.
7:58 into the 1st period, Bertuzzi had 3 shots and Oesterle 2.
When play resumed, the Islanders’ fourth line out-dueled the Wings’ fourth line to generate a scoring chance on Nedeljkovic, and the Red Wings played sloppy in terms of their passing and overall fit and finish with Lindstrom and Oesterle on the ice;
Seider and DeKeyser succeeded them, and Rasmussen’s line took to the ice, with Sorokin stopping a Seider shot, and the Islanders’ Pageau charging up into the Wings’ zone, where he was stopped by Nedeljkovic.
The Islanders were winning faceoffs, pumping pucks back to the point and firing them at the Wings’ net with traffic in front when they got set up in the Wings’ zone, which was worrisome.
Going the other way, Fabbri, Namestnikov and Suter set up and sent a shot that was blocked into traffic, with the Islanders going the other way and firing a shot in on Nedeljkovic.
Givani Smith, Carter Rowney and Sam Gagner worked with Lindstrom and Oesterle again vs. the Clutterbuck line, and the Clutterbuck line was sneaky and smart, but Oesterle chipped and the Wings changed, affording Anders Lee an easy shot on Nedeljkovic on a bad change;
Larkin’s line took to the ice, Larkin lost a deep defensive zone faceoff and Lee got one chance off the draw, and a second off a faceoff cycle, so the Islanders were generating chances that were of superior quality over the first 11 minutes of play;
DeKeyser and Seider then helped Rasmussen, Zadina and Erne cycle down low, Leddy and Hronek took over on the point, and the Islanders cleared easily;
The Wings re-entered the zone, Leddy fed Zadina, he fed Hronek, and Leddy cross-ice passed it to Zadina, who was blocked off;
Detroit was hitting Detroit players with their shots, and Zadina DID get a great one-timer off a feed from Erne, but Sorokin made a big stop…
And on the Islanders’ push-back, Hronek hip-checked an Islanders forward quite severely…
On the next Wings rush, Lindstrom sent the puck into a pile-up of Red Wings players, and Sorokin out-battled Namestnikov to keep the puck out of the net some 12:45 into the 1st:
Sorokie sharp through 1 pic.twitter.com/OelKjw8YO1— Isles on MSG+ (@IslesMSGN) December 15, 2021
When play resumed, Andy Greene got a great chance to score but was blocked off by DeKeyser;
Gagner, Rowney and Smith broke out, sent a long shot in on Sorokin, tried to cycle, but the Islanders out-matched them, and Palmieri and the Islanders dumped and changed, affording Raymond the chance to send a sneaky shot in on Sorokin that was held…
As was Raymond. Scott Mayfield got tagged with the hooking penalty at 14:16 of the 1st period, affording Detroit its first power play.
Larkin drew in for a faceoff win to Seider, Larkin laterally passed the puck to Raymond and he was slew-footed, sans call, so the Islanders chipped the puck down the ice and the out of play away from their own zone, which is legal.
18 seconds into the power play, Detroit drew in for a faceoff at their own blueline, and the Islanders won it, chipped a puck on Nedeljkovic, and he played the puck away from the Islanders forward in offside, Larkin broke in the other way and missed the net, so the puck bounced down the ice into the Wings’ zone again.
Seider set up, fed Raymond, to Bertuzzi left wing side, to the slot for Fabbri who missed the net;
Detroit then afforded the Islanders a clear and changed power play units with 45 seconds remaining in the PP.
Leddy sent the puck to Namestnikov at center, he fumbled and regained control of the puck, sent it over to Suter, he fed Namestnikov deep, he spun back to Suter, to Leddy, to Zadina, to Suter, he fired a shot and it was tipped out of play.
The Islanders were able to chip the puck down ice for the remainder of the power play, having won a deep zone faceoff, and Noah Dobson flubbed the puck to Suter, Suter was hacked by Beauvillier to prevent a shot 2-on-1 with Zadina, and the Islanders worked the puck away from Namestnikov down low, battling the puck to the line, where Seider turned it over to Namestnikov.
He dropped the puck to Zadina, who was blocked at the side of the net.
Detroit continued to charge toward the Islanders’ zone, and a weird bounce off the end boards went right to Michael Rasmussen, who caught Sorokin unawares, but Sorokin re-set and made a fine stop on the slow, low shot.
The Isles chipped and chased, Detroit broke out with the Erne line firing a bouncer in on Sorokin, and again, he made a difficult stop look easy;
Detroit chipped and chased with the 4th line on the ice, and instead, Nedeljkovic and Hronek made some bad plays affording the Islanders a turnover and control but not necessarily possession in the Wings’ zone, and Fabbri, Leddy and Hronek all had to work together to clean up the mess;
Leddy chipped, Detroit was offside and had to tag up with a minute left in the 1st period;
Nedeljkovic fed Oesterle, he sent Bertuzzi in on the right side, Pelech took over, and Cizikas chipped the puck out of trouble;
Oesterle took over again, he gave the puck to Raymond, who dumped, but the Islanders chased and chipped the puck down ice for an icing with 23.5 remaining in the 1st period.
Cizikas and Larkin dueled on the draw with 23.5 left, Larkin won it with help from Raymond, but DeKeyser could not hold the line. Detroit got a shot in on Sorokin, but that ended the first period of play.
All square in the second match with the New York Islanders. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/IlFgvPQxTw— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) December 15, 2021
1st period stats for Detroit and New York. 0-0 after 1. pic.twitter.com/wqE9Mg5KG7— George Malik (@georgemalik) December 15, 2021
After 20.#NYIvsDET | #LGRW pic.twitter.com/h5LSkZyx44— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 15, 2021
In the 2nd period…
The 2nd period began with the Rasmussen line starting opposite Cizikas, and the Red Wings won the faceoff back to Nedeljkovic, Hronek broke out and fed Leddy, he chipped, Detroit chased and the Wings held the line, Zadina got the rebound of a Hronek shot and flubbed it, so the Islanders broke out.
New York regrouped at center, chipped, chased, checked, and Hronek had to reset with Leddy behind the net 54 seconds into the 2nd period as Detroit changed.
Fabbri dumped the puck in, chased after it, Suter could not hold the half boards, and the Islanders iced the puck at 1:14 of the 2nd.
Detroit won the next faceoff and got an “almost” off a Namestnikov shot, but Sorokin made a stop through traffic, and Pageau raced up the other way and was stopped by Nedeljkovic.
Detroit parried the next Islanders rush, Seider set up behind the Wings’ net and had to be chased out of the pocket with 2 minutes gone in the 2nd, and Nelson raced in, fed Beauvillier, and his shot was stopped by Nedeljkovic.
2:15 into the 2nd, the Red Wings were being chased around the ice, and Raymond, Larkin and Bertuzzi could not generate any zone time;
Bertuzzi helped DeKeyser block off an Islanders 3-on-2;
Beauvillier held the zone, cycled to Pelech, the Islanders worked a blueline shot in that Salo putoff a body, and Nedeljkovic stopped Beauvillier diving back;
Larkin then went the other way and put the puck off a leg and out of play;
The fourth line hit the ice some 3:33 into the 2nd period, and Leddy and Hronek did most of the puck-handling as Rowney, Gagner and Smith seemed a step slow on Tuesday night.
The teams settled in as Casey Cizikas raced in alone and fired a shot right into Nedeljkovic’s glove;
The Islanders won the next faceoff, and Clutterbuck put a puck off Nedeljkovic, Cizikas and Clutterbuck and Martin cycled…
And Jordan Oesterle took a tripping penalty at 4:39 of the 2nd period.
On the penalty-kill, Detroit won the initial draw, chipped the puck out to center, and Seider regained the second puck and dumped it out again;
The Wings quickly changed PK’ers, and Seider stopped a good chance by the Islanders, affording Detroit the opportunity to clear the zone and fire a shot in on Sorokin;
New York came into the Wings’ zone, cyced deep, Dobson and Wahlstrom cycled on the perimeter, Leddy blocked an Islander and gave the puck to Namestnikov, Leddy charged the net and Namestnikov was stick-checked;
DeKeyser joined Lindstrom on the PK, Rasmussen cleared the zone, and Detroit had 25 seconds left to kill;
The Islanders’ Pageau, Beauvillier and Parise cycled with Salo and Bailey, DeKeyser and Lindstrom blocked passing lanes, Pelech held the zone for Pageau, and DeKeyser made a BIG BLOCK to stop Bailey with 13:10 remaining in the 2nd period.
6:50 into the 2nd period, Detroit was hanging in.
The Islanders won the next draw and cycled deep, but lost control of the puck, and Bertuzzi stole the puck, deked did Raymond, and he was blocked off, so Cizikas, Martin and Clutterbuck charged up the other way…
But Nedeljkovic made a good stop, Detroit pushed the puck away from their goal, and Seider and Zadina pushed the puck deeper;
Pageau was blocked off by Raymond, he fed Suter, Raymond went off for a change, and Namestnikov and Oesterle fed Lindstrom, he passed the puck deep, and Fabbri took the end boards bounce, deked, dangled, and was tripped;
Ultimately, Fabbri got a great shot off, but it went over the net and past Sorokin wide;
Seider, Namestnikov, and DeKeyser generated a shot off Sorokin, and with 10:50 left in the2nd period, DeKeyser held the puck, Seider fed Hronek as Detroit changed, Hronek fed Seider and he was stopped, as was Zadina…
Sorokin lost his stick, and Zadina lost his, too, but because it was slashed out of his hands at 9:38.
At 9:38 Kyle Palmieri sat for slashing.
On the power play, Larkin won the draw to Bertuzzi, he fed Seider, Larkin shot hard on Sorokin and he was stopped;
The next faceoff was won back to the point, Larkin and Fabbri cycled, Larkin’s shot was blocked, Fabbri fed Raymond, to Fabbri it went, to Raymond, Seider took it across to Larkin and DYLAN LARKIN GOT A SNEAKY SHOT THROUGH TRAFFIC OFF THE INSIDE OF SOROKIN’S BLOCKER AND IN.
Leave it to the captain! pic.twitter.com/uFO17tu31o— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 15, 2021
Check out that Seider pass on the @Dylanlarkin39 tally ? pic.twitter.com/ePPHp32zJe— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) December 15, 2021
.@Dylanlarkin39 nets his 11th of the season to put the #RedWings on the board. #LGRW
?: Seider, Raymond pic.twitter.com/7Td0gwAeuZ— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 15, 2021
PP GOAL FOR LARKIN. ? pic.twitter.com/nNoPUjpcFX— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 15, 2021
Moritz Seider recorded his 20th career point (3-17—20 in 29 GP). He required the second-fewest games by a rookie defenseman to reach the mark with the @DetroitRedWings behind Nicklas Lidstrom (22 GP).#NHLStats: https://t.co/GmoeSVNw6v pic.twitter.com/iDObR6Gwe7— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 15, 2021
Dylan Larkin scored the 1-0 goal through a screen of Islanders (Pelech) and Red Wings players (Bertuzzi) to give the Red Wings a 1-0 lead. Seider and Raymond assisted at 10:32, on the power play.
Detroit brought the Larkin line back out fairly quickly, and they were replaced by the 4th line, affording Nedeljkovic some time to play the puck and face some Islanders shots (cue my sarcasm for the struggling 4th line).
Gagner did get a good chance off but Chara was hacking him all the way;
Rasmussen then stole the puck at the blueline, was dumped by Chara, and sent the puck deep, but the Islanders took over;
Detroit chipped deep, Erne cycled with Zadina, and the Wings’ blueline worked the puck deep for Zadina to get a FINE CHANCE that was stifled by Sorokin once, then twice;
Detroit cleared, re-set and Erne raced the puck deep, pushed it to the point, Lindstrom fired the puck wide, Erne and Rasmussen sent the puck to Zadina, who blasted the puck wide, and Rasmussen jabbed the puck into Sorokin, getting grabbed in the throat by Pelech as a result.
The Islanders called a timeout with 6:55 remaining in the 2nd/13:05 elapsed.
ON the ensuing faceoff, Namestnikov and Fabbri cycled the puck deep for Suter, the Wings re-set at center, and skated deep, cycled again, and Seider fed Namestnikov and he hit Fabbri, who dropped but was OK.
Parise and Wahlstrom cycled the other way, Nedeljkovic stopped one shot, Wahlstrom worked the puck around the boards for Dobson, Wahlstrom fired a shot wide, and the Islanders really picked it up, play-wise, and Detroit looked flat-footed.
Detroit changed or tried to at center, Dobson fired a shot on Nedeljkovic and he made a fine stop on a 4-on-3 rush against.
After a TV timeout, Detroit looked a little sharper, and Lucas Raymond was mauled on a rush by two Islanders defenders, and Larkin jabbed a puck into the Islanders’ Sorokin and was grabbed and wrestled to the ice.
So Larkin wrestled the Islander down with him.
Off the ensuing faceoff, Smith nearly scored, but was blocked off, and Smith came back well on a defensive play to stifle an Islanders rush.
With 4:25 remaining, Gagner, Rowney and Smith actually got a cycle going and Lindstrom’s keep-in afforded Detroit a change with the Islanders on their back skate, as it were.
Detroit attempted to reset itself as the Islanders played with more physical panache, and Detroit did their best to cycle deep and score as Rasmussen worked on the forecheck and sent the puck in on Sorokin, only to be knocked on his butt…
Off an offensive zone faceoff, Larkin got hacked in the face by Pageau, and Pageau exited stage right for high-sticking, taking a 2-minute penalty at 16:57.
On the power play, Detroit won the draw to Larkin, he was blocked off, Seider fed Raymond, to Seider, to Raymond, and Bertuzzi jabbed the puck in on Sorokin;
Seider held the line, worked the lateral move, cycled, shot it off Sorokin, and Fabbri and Raymond battled as did Bertuzzi, Fabbri helped Larkin, he cycled to Seider, to Raymond it worked, down low to Bertuzzi, who was held up, and the Isles could not clear;
Fabbri was blocked by a Sorokin poke check and the Islanders cleared the zone, so Detroit changed PP units 1 minute in;
With 35 left in the PP, Leddy and Zadina exchanged the puck, Leddy fired the puck wide, Zadina gave it to Leddy, to Zadina it went and Sorokin grabbed the wide shot for a faceoff with 16 left in the PP and 1:19 left in the 2nd period.
Suter dialed in for the deep offensive zone draw, tied it up, and Zadina fed Leddy, he fed Zadina, down low it went to Namestnikov, to Leddy, walking the line, Zadina fired another shot in and Sorokin grabbed the puck, this time going on the net with traffic in front.
Detroit lost the first post-PP faceoff, iced the puck, and Rasmussen won the defensive zone draw, but the Isles took over, Nelson fed Mayfield, Lindstrom made a fine defensive play, but tripped, Islanders came up 3 on 1 and Nedeljkovic made an IMMENSE stop and Salo hit the GOALPOST.
? Remarkable focus, @alexned_ #LGRW pic.twitter.com/k1TvF0wjfm— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) December 15, 2021
NED‼️ pic.twitter.com/AhTDzk3hvo— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 15, 2021
Alex Nedeljkovic is all over the puck.
1-0, DET. Final 20: next. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/vrKVMKTtkG— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) December 15, 2021
The 2nd period wound down and that was 40 minutes worth of play.
? pic.twitter.com/OgQrucA68a— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 15, 2021
2nd period stats. Detroit up after 2 by a goal thanks to Larkin…and Nedeljkovic. pic.twitter.com/r5m90vXBdk— George Malik (@georgemalik) December 15, 2021
Finish strong!#LGRW pic.twitter.com/V3qnrGhi5Y— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 15, 2021
In the 3rd period…
Rasmussen dialed in for the opening faceoff vs. Cizikas, who fired a shot in on Nedeljkovic after winning the faceoff, chipping and chasing.
9 seconds into the period, Rasmussen lost the next draw, and Hronek and Erne had to combine to cycle the puck away from the Isles to Leddy, who worked the puck out of trouble to Hronek. The Islanders repelled the Wings at center and Detroit regained possession, dumped and chased.
Erne dropped the puck through his legs, to no one, the Isles skated in, cycled, Beauvillier found Dobson and Nedeljkovic stopped the puck and Suter batted the puck out of the air over Nedeljkovic and shoveled it to center ice.
Detroit changed lines 1:20 into the period, Chara turned the puck over, regained it, sent it deep and Nedeljkovic played the puck to DeKeyser, he found Seider, he chipped it to Raymond, to Larkin, to Raymond, he was stopped, the Islanders skated in, but DeKeyser and Seider took over, Bertuzzi sent the puck to DeKeyser, he chipped and the Wings chased, but over-skated, and Palmieri cleared the puck to center ice, where Bertuzzi, Leddy and Hronek faced a difficult challenge;
Palmieri skated in and fired a shot in on Nedeljkovic, who made a chest stop.
2:25 into the 3rd period, Detroit put the Rasmussen back on ice, and they won a faceoff, struggled, and Gagner, Rowney and Smith took over, pushed the puck to the Isles’ blueline, and Salo was hit heavily by Smith as he chipped the puck in;
Leddy skated out of the pocket behind the Wings’ net and chipped it into the Islanders’ zone, where Rasmussen, Zadina and Lindstrom tried to keep the puck in;
Detroit sent the puck deep for Erne, who chased it down, whipped it around the boards and the Isles skated in, Wahlstrom was stopped by Nedeljkovic, and Detroit chipped and changed as Zadina dumped and chased;
4 minutes into the 3rd period, Seider and DeKeyser worked together to clear the zone;
Namestnikov, Suter and Fabbri also worked together, but surrendered a rush to Parise, who was stopped by Nedeljkovic.
Seider sent a long shot in on Sorokin from center ice;
Larkin stole the rebound and cycled deep, reversed, Fabbri was dumped, Larkin was hacked, and Hronek could not keep the puck in, but Nedeljkovic could, sent it up ice he did, to Bertuzzi, to Larkin, to the slot for Raymond over his stick, Leddy cycled to Raymond, to Hronek it went, and Sorokin made a big stop.
Ultimately, the Islanders got out of trouble, but they chipped the puck into the Wings’ bench door at 5:47.
New York managed to chip, chase and cycle on the next shift opposite the Rasmussen line, and Pageau, Palmieri and Pageau sent the puck in on Nedeljkovic in tight, but Ned made a good stop;
Rasmussen got hit hard by Pageau, so Zadina went in alone on the change;
Martin fed Dobson who sent a shot just wide of Nedeljkovic;
Clutterbuck fed Cizikas, he sent the puck just wide of Nedeljkovic, who played it to Seider, he fed Smith, Smith chugged in, Gagner held the line, and Smith was checked by Chara;
Dobson fed bailey, to Nelson, whose shot was tipped wide, Pelech was blocked off by Gagner, and Detroit changed with 12:12 remaining;
Leddy and Fabbri helped block off Nelson, and Detroit dumped the puck down ice;
Seider and DeKeyser chipped and did not ice it, so the Islanders continued, sending the puck deep, and Nedeljkovic made a strong stop, a good handle of the puck, and DeKeyser fed Namestnikov, who made a poor pass to Wahlstrom;
Wahlstrom was stopped by Nedeljkovic at 9:03.
The Islanders were out-shooting Detroit 7-3.
When play resumed after the TV timeout, Pelech fired a shot just wide through traffic;
Larkin, Bertuzzi and Raymond battled the heck out of the puck deep in the Islanders’ zone, but were unable to do much other than check New York as they attempted to generate a scoring chance;
New York then charged into the Wings’ zone off the re-set, and Nelson fired a shot just wide of Nedeljkovic 10 minutes in;
Beauvillier and Nelson cycled, but Zadina blocked off the pass, sent a shot wide, and Hronek held the puck in, but Bailey cleared the zone, and the Isles iced the puck with 9:26 remaining.
Suter, Fabbri and Namestnikov almost scored but fumbled pucks in the slot, negating their own scoring chances;
DeKeyser blasted a shot off a leg and into the crowd with 8:48 remaining;
The Isles were out-shooting Detroit 8-4 in the 3rd.
When play resumed after a TV timeout, Larkin cycled down low with Bertuzzi, Raymond came in and the Isles chugged up 3 on 2, but Raymond made a smart block, cleared the puck away from Martin, who bumped Raymond, and Raymond found Larkin for one chance and then a second that Sorokin stifled;
Gagner got a long shot off that went off a leg wide;
Bertuzzi was held up by THREE ISLANDERS sans penalty;
Bertuzzi out late sent the puck wide of the net, and Pageau skated the other way, put the puck off Seider, found Lee, who cycled back to the blueline, then in, and Nedeljkovic made a smart stop with 7:21 remaining.
The Isles won the next faceoff, Chara flipped the puck out front, and Erne chipped the puck away from him to Michael Rasmussen, and Rasmussen skated up 2 on 1 with Zadina, fired a shot through Sorokin’s arm, and it was 2-0 Detroit.
BAM!
Michael Rasmussen. ? pic.twitter.com/wv9AUzcjV2— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 15, 2021
Michael Rasmussen takes the shot on a 2 on 1 and scores! Great play by Erne to set up the rush. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/mj6sHcVQfP— Ryan Hana (@RyanHanaWWP) December 15, 2021
BEAUTY. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/OrQ6X8Ht2Y— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 15, 2021
Way to fire the puck, @mrasmussen16 ? pic.twitter.com/xJRsDFf6S1— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) December 15, 2021
Michael Rasmussen scored the 2-0 goal at 12:55 from Erne.
Detroit continued to kind of struggle with the Islanders’ forechecking and heavy checking in general, but the Wings were dominating puck possession, and were being smart in cleaning up their mistakes.
With 6 minutes remaining in regulation, Wahlstrom skated hard into the Wings’ zone and was stifled by Nedeljkovic;
Parise, Lee and Wahlstrom cycled, but Hronek made a beautiful block and clear;
With 5:30 remaining, Hronek and Leddy played catch as the Wings changed, and Detroit dumped, chased, and Larkin fed Oesterle for a shot that Sorokin laid down to stop.
Bertuzzi got shoved and of all people Lucas Raymond and J-P Pageau hacked and whacked each other…So the Red Wings’ defensemen RACED in from the point to separate Pageau from the Wings’ prized rookie.
With 5:03 remaining, the Wings brought the first line right back out there, and Seider got away with a trip as well, helped by Larkin, Seider was blocked, DeKeyser bumped an Islander, they cycled deep, Beauvillier lost his stick and Larkin got away with one as well, Salo was blocked by Bertuzzi, and Detroit really battled hard to stifle the Islanders, with Bertuzzi blocking another shot to “cover the points,” as Mickey Redmond noted.
With 3:45 remaining, the Isles dumped, Leddy chased, fed it out to center for Erne, Dobson deked through center, Zadina stole the puck and sent it away;
Bellows and Wahlstrom skated deep into the Wings’ zone, Parise fed to Chara to Dobson, and Erne blocked that shot;
Nedeljkovic poked away an Isles dump-in to Hronek, to Leddy it went, and he iced it with 3 minutes remaining on the clock.
New York pulled Sorokin with 3 minutes remaining, they won the deep zone faceoff and cycled hard, and Noah Dobson’s shot was tipped by Anders Lee to make it 2-1.
Anders Lee scored from Noah Dobson and Nelson at 17:27. 2-1.
Detroit struggled to keep its footing as the Islanders attacked, and Filip Hronek iced the puck with 1:36 left, which afforded the Islanders a pull for Sorokin.
6 on 5, Detroit won the deep zone faceoff, cleared the zone, and Raymond nearly fed Larkin for an empty-netter, but the Isles took the puck, and forced Hronek to ice the puck off a dangerous little play with 1:09 left.
The Isles won the draw, Nedeljkovic made a big stop, New York worked it to Dobson, Larkin and Gagner battled, and Nedeljkovic grabbed the puck before Wahlstrom could jab the rebound in.
Detroit scrambled the next draw, Seider bumped Wahlstrom, Larkin skated away, chipped the puck up for Suter, rand the Isles sent it up into the Wings’ zone, Bailey fed Wahlstrom, battling Suter, Namestnikov tipped the puck to negate icing, and Seider played it back to DeKeyser, Pageau sent a shot in and NEDELJKOVIC STIFLED A LAST SECOND SHOT TO WIN THE GAME.
RED WINGS WIN #LGRW pic.twitter.com/BIxHZQjPGc— Nolan Bianchi (@nolanbianchi) December 15, 2021
The Red Wings snapped their three-game losing streak, beating the Islanders, 2-1.
Dylan Larkin and Michael Rasmussen scored for Detroit.
Photo: AP pic.twitter.com/nTdObBxSQ3— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) December 15, 2021
Ned gets the winning save ?? #LGRW pic.twitter.com/06eti4MR5y— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) December 15, 2021
THAT’S A #REDWINGS WIN!!! pic.twitter.com/E1S1Pn1XDO— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 15, 2021
Statistics: Here are the Game Summary and Event Summary:
