MLive’s Ansar Khan filed his usual morning post-game story after the Red Wings won a 3-2 decision over the New York Islanders last night, and Khan focuses upon Alex Nedeljkovic’s 32-save performance:
“We came off a good heater there, winning five in a row, then not too great on the road,” Nedeljkovic said. “To come back and get this win tonight was huge, obviously.”
The game might have taken a different turn if Nedeljkovic hadn’t stopped Anthony Beauvillier during a three-on-one break in the final minute of the second period.
“I was just trying to be as patient as possible,” Nedeljkovic said. “That’s all you can really do in those situations. Especially when they had some good players on the ice, too. Just be as patient as possible and not really thinking too much about what it meant in that moment. Obviously now it was probably pretty big.”
Blashill said that would have been a tough goal to surrender under the circumstances.
“I think goalies need to stop things they’re supposed to stop and then make big saves at big moments if you want to be a great goalie and that’s what he did tonight,” Blashill said. “I thought we helped him, allowed him to play well by playing good defensively, didn’t allow the Grade A’s we’ve been giving up and then he answered the bell by stopping those shots.”
The Red Wings need to improve their team goals-against average of 3.34, which ranks 27th in the league.
