Month: December 2024

Red Wings-Canucks quick take: Wings lose Talbot, OT point to DeBrusk’s hat trick

The Detroit Red Wings attempted to cut into the Vancouver Canucks’ 9-and-2 road record, and stop goaltender Kevin Lankinen’s 9-and-0 road record, over the course of Sunday’s game between the two teams.

The 10-11-and-2 Red Wings were facing a 12-7-and-3 Canucks team for whom the good times kept rolling, and the Wings were still on their “back foot” after Friday’s 5-4 loss to New Jersey.

On Sunday afternoon, the Red Wings lost Cam Talbot, they gave up 2 power play goals against, they went 1-for-4 on their own power plays, and Detroit just seemed to be half-a-step slower than Vancouver as Ville Husso gave up 3 goals on 18 shots in relief and Jake DeBrusk scored a hat trick en route to a 5-4 OT win.

Detroit is still giving up too many power play goals, too many goals, period, and they went 2-1-and-1 on their 4-of-5-game home stand. At least they earned an OT point, but the team remains vexing and perplexing as it prepares to play 4 of the next 5 on the road, starting with Boston on Tuesday.

Continue reading Red Wings-Canucks quick take: Wings lose Talbot, OT point to DeBrusk’s hat trick

Wings lose Talbot to a lower-body injury

The Red Wings got bad news as Cam Talbot had to leave the Red Wings-Canucks game during the second period thereof:

Sportsnet posted a report about Talbot:

Cam Talbot exited the team’s game against the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday after suffering an apparent injury.

Ville Husso replaced Talbot in net.

The starter made a save, then skated to the bench after the ensuing whistle and headed straight to the dressing room from there.

In 14 appearances with the Red Wings before Sunday, Talbot owns a 6-5-2 record with a .916 save percentage and 2.67 goals-against average.

The NHL veteran had also emerged as a candidate for Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off with his strong play early in the season.

Rosters are due Monday and set to be revealed on Wednesday.

The Red Wings are back in action Tuesday against the Bruins in Boston.

Tweet of note: Particular about palms

FanDuel SportsNet Detroit did an interesting feature on Lucas Raymond’s equipment today, discussing his particular preferences for tacky palms on his gloves:

Sunday Fundraising

I don’t like posting this, but it’s part of the job. After having a bad anxiety attack last night, I got up at 8 AM to make sure I caught up with today’s news, and I did it mostly because I want the blog to be useful for you, but I can’t do it completely out of love of the game.

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Prospect round-up: Finnie 1A, Moore 1G in Saturday night action

Of Red Wings prospect-related note in North America on Saturday night:

In the ECHL, Jan Bednar stopped 22 of 23 shots as the Toledo Walleye won 5-1 over the Kalamazoo K-Wings;

In the OHL, Landon Miller stopped 24 of 27 shots in the Soo Greyhounds’ 3-2 loss to North Bay;

In the WHL, Emmitt Finnie had an assist, finishing at -1 with 3 shots and an 11-for-20 faceoff record as the Kamloops Blazers lost 7-1 to Everett;

In the USHL, Austin Baker finished at -1 with 5 shots in the Sioux Falls Stampede’s 4-1 win over Omaha;

And in NCAA Hockey, Kyle Aucoin finished at +2 with 3 shots in 14:59 played as the Harvard Crimson won 4-2 over Merrimack;

Brennan Ali had an assist, finishing even with 1 shot in 17:42 played as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish lost 4-3 to Boston University;

John Whipple played 10:55 in the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers won 5-2 over Alaska Anchorage;

Dylan James finished even with 1 shot in 19:30 played as the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks’ 3-3 tie with Bemidji State;

Kienan Draper finished at -1 in 14:36 played, with a 5-for-6 faceoff record, as the University of Michigan Wolverines won 2-1 over Western Michigan;

Owen Mehlenbacher finished even with 1 shot in 6:21 played, and Jack Phelan finished even with 2 shots in 8:07 played as the University of Wisconsin Badgers’ 1-1 tie with Alaska-Anchorage;

And Cooper Moore scored a goal, finishing at +1 with 1 shot in the Quinnipiac Bobcats’ 1-1 tie with Cornell.

Tweet of note: ‘The Forecheck’ for Wings-Canucks

Ahead of today’s game between the Red Wings and Canucks (12:30 PM on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/Sportsnet Pacific/Sportsnet One/97.1 FM), Daniella Bruce and Ken Kal preview the game:

Griffins recap: Grand Rapids drops a Saturday decision to Chicago

The Grand Rapids Griffins dropped a 5-2 decision to the Chicago Wolves on Saturday night. Here’s the Griffins website’s recap:

GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 2 at Chicago Wolves 5

ROSEMONT, Ill. — The Grand Rapids Griffins fell 5-2 to the Chicago Wolves behind a hat trick from Scott Morrow on Saturday at Allstate Arena. 

Sheldon Dries scored his seventh goal of the year and earned two points in the game (1-1—2). Dominik Shine cashed in the Griffins’ third power-play goal in the last three outings and goaltender Carter Gylander made his second start of the season, saving 33 shots. 

The Wolves tallied their first goal when Justin Robidas scored at 8:10 in the first period. Grand Rapids evened the score when Dries found the back of the net on a breakaway with 5:29 left in the frame. A pass off the boards from Joe Snively found Dries in the left circle and he snapped the puck past the pads of Dustin Tokarski. This was the Griffins’ first and only shot attempt of the period compared to Chicago’s 17. The tie was short-lived as Morrow regained the lead for the Wolves with one second remaining in the first. 

Chicago increased its lead to two at 9:01 in the second frame when Austin Wagner cashed in. Amadeus Lombardi attempted to bring the Griffins within striking distance as he glided through Chicago defenders for a wide-open look at 5:04, but his shot deflected off Tokarski. 

The Wolves scored their fourth goal just 1:47 into the final period as Morrow tallied his second of the outing. However, Shine pulled Grand Rapids within two thanks to a power-play goal at 17:32. The Griffins pulled Gylander at 18:38 but Morrow scored an empty-net goal to complete his hat trick with 57 seconds remaining. Grand Rapids couldn’t find the back of the net and fell 5-2. 

Continued with a photo gallery and Chicago Wolves highlights:

Tweet of note: Bobble bobble

Today is Dylan Larkin bobblehead day at Little Caesars Arena, so the Red Wings had the team examine a life-sized Larkin bobblehead after Saturday’s practice:

Scouting the Stadium Series

NHL.com’s Nicholas J. Cotsonika did some advance scouting of the “Stadium Series” game between Detroit and Columbus on March 1st by taking in Saturday’s U of M-Ohio State game:

The Michigan-Ohio State football rivalry isn’t just a game. It is known as “The Game.” The emotion boiled over after the Wolverines upset the Buckeyes 13-10 in front of 106,005 at Ohio Stadium on Saturday, the teams scrapping at midfield. When a Michigan player paraded with his school flag, an Ohio State player ripped it down.

You could joke that a hockey game broke out.

Funny, because a hockey game will break out in that very spot when the Columbus Blue Jackets host the 2025 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series on March 1. This time, “The Team Up North” will be the Detroit Red Wings.

“It’ll be awesome,” said A.J. Hawk, the former Ohio State linebacker, whose brother-in-law is Blue Jackets defenseman Jack Johnson, a Michigan product. “It’s always cool to watch [the Stadium Series on television], and the whole Ohio State-Michigan situation adds a whole other element to it. I know people in Ohio and people in Michigan kind of have deep feelings about it one way or another, so it’s going to be great.”

Even if you’re just a casual sports fan, your bucket list should include a Michigan-Ohio State football game and an NHL outdoor game. The Blue Jackets’ first outdoor game will combine the two. The NHL tries to make each event special by tailoring it to the venue, so expect the League to lean into Ohio State football tradition and “The Game.”

After all, people here sing a song called, “We Don’t Give a Damn for the Whole State of Michigan.” They cover the letter “M” with an “X” everywhere during Michigan week. Even the Blue Jackets did it this week on X, formerly known as Twitter. Will people do it to the letter “D” to diss Detroit for the Stadium Series?

Continued

Kind-of-sort-of praise for Cam Talbot’s fantasy hockey value

The Hockey News’s Michael Amato posted some kind-of-sort-of praise for Cam Talbot in Amato’s fantasy hockey notes:

Cam Talbot isn’t getting enough credit for what he’s done this season. At 37, Talbot is still very fantasy-relevant with a .916 save percentage and a winning record on a mediocre Detroit Red Wings squad. This is the second year in a row Talbot has started strong out of the gates, as he was an All-Star last season for the Los Angeles Kings. One thing to watch for with Talbot is he may hit a wall again at some point like he did in 2023-24, so make sure you have a contingency plan if the quality starts dry up.

Continued