The Detroit Red Wings closed out their two-game Prospect Games slate with a sweep, winning a tight 3-2 decision over the Dallas Stars’ prospects.
The Red Wings did so without the services of Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, who missed the game with a groin injury.
1st period: the Red Wings took a 1-0 lead at 14:58 of the 1st period, when Alexandre Doucet jabbed home the rebound of a good Hunter Johannes steal-cycle-and-shot:
The Wings also almost made it 2-0 on the power play late in the 1st period thanks to a goalpost by Nate Danielson:
Detroit was out-shot 10-7 in the 1st period, but, as Ken Kal suggested, the Red Wings’ defensive positioning and overall structure were excellent.
Seeing that kind of cohesion develop over the course of only two days is an endorsement of both the coaching staff and the players collective buy-in.
2nd period: Carter Gylander had to make some good stops as the Red Wings’ structure broke down during an early-period power play, and when Dallas earned a power play of their own on an undisciplined penalty by Chase Lefebvre, Gylander gobbled up the Stars’ shots.
The ice looked very level as the Wings and Stars met the halfway mark of the game, with the next goal looking incredibly important, and Dallas began to buzz around the Wings’ net, but a combination of good defensive structure and Gylander’s goaltending…
But Detroit chose to swap out Gylander for Landon Miller after Gylander pitched a 12-save shutout.
Miller had to battle his way through a Stars assault that included a goalpost behind Miller about 12:30 into the 2nd, but he settled down quickly…
Regrettably, Dallas tied the game 1-1 at 13:26, with Emil Hemming tipping a shot by defenseman Luke Krys.
Thankfully, Hunter Johannes found the rebound of a cycling pass by Amadeus Lombardi and Alexandre Doucet, and Detroit made it 2-1 at 16:45.
Borya Valis nearly gave the Wings a 2-goal lead, but Stars goaltender Bryan Thompson made a pair of point-blank saves.
3rd period: Dallas took an early hooking penalty at 36 seconds of the 3rd to give the Red Wings a power play…
But the Stars’ Anthony Romano hit the goalpost shorthanded as Shai Buium was hobbling toward the bench after blocking a shot with his right ankle, so Dallas earned the best chance of the Wings’ man advantage.
Dallas continued to press as the 3rd period progressed, but Miller was strong in goal.
Doucet tried to set up Lombardi about 5:30 into the 3rd period, and Doucet should have shot on the 2-on-1…
Dallas really worked the rope-a-dope in the 3rd period to try and score the game-tying goal, slowly but surely attacking, regrouping and attacking again…
And Detroit was getting “almosts” as Nate Danielson swiped the puck away from a Stars defender and almost tucked it through Thompson.
Dallas clanged another shot off the goalpost behind Miller at 10:55…
But Dallas also took a penalty at 13:39 for too many men, and Emmitt Finnie made him pay, scoring a top-shelf power play marker to make it 3-1 at 14:07 from Jakub Rychlovsky and Nate Danielson.
Dallas received a spurious power play as Brayden Edwards took a penalty with 5:23 remaining in the 3rd for a hook, and Dallas got their own set of “almosts” before pulling their goaltender with 3:20 remaining.
Nate Danielson thought he’d finished the scoring with an empty-netter with 2:06 remaining, but the Red Wings were called offside, negating the goal.
Dallas pulled the goaltender Thompson again, but a combination of big Miller stops, good blocks by the Red Wings’ defense, and another goalpost for Christian Kyrou, nailed down the win.
Dallas did score a goal with all of 0.6 seconds remaining, with Anthony Romano chipping a backhand over Miller’s blocker, but the Wings prevailed and swept the Prospect Games.
Dallas was far better in the 2nd game–full credit to them, they made the Red Wings work very, very hard for their victory–but Detroit hung in there and turned the tables on the Stars in terms of playing rope-a-dope hockey.
