Red Wings-Oilers quick take: Lyon tames the Oilers

The Detroit Red Wings kicked off their 4-games-in-6-nights West Coast Swing with a game against the 32-15-and-3 Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.

On Thursday night, and into Friday morning, the Red Wings won a strange one. Detroit surrendered 2 goals to the Oilers in the 1st period, markers from Leon Drasiaitl and Jeff Skinner one a legit shot on the PP, and one a rebound bounce…

And while Edmonton continued to out-shot the Red Wings, Alex Lyon put up a wall, topping 45 of the 47 shots he faced, and Detroit slowly but surely clawed back, scoring goals from Michael Rasmussen at 9:59 and Dylan Larkin at 11:47 of the 2nd period–that’s 2 goals in 1:48–and after overtime and an overtime power play solved nothing…

And in the shootout, Lyon stopped McDavid, Raymond scored on Skinner, and Nugent-Hopkins fumbled, so Larkin stuffed home the 2-0 winner.

In pregame warmups, Alex Lyon led the Red Wings onto the ice at Rogers Place…

And Stuart Skinner was the designated starter for the Oilers on “Lunar New Year” night…

The Oilers dressed the following lineup…

And the Red Wings revealed their lines and starters just before game time:

The starters and scratches were as follows:

In the 1st period, the Red Wings started Lucas Raymond, Dylan Larkin and Marco Kasper opposite the line of Viktor Arvidsson, Leon Draisaitl and Vasily Podkolzin, with Ben Chiarot and Moritz Seider opposing Mattias Ekholm and John Klingberg.

Alex Lyon faced Stuart Skinner in goal.

The Oilers won the initial faceoff and mucked it through center ice, Detroit regrouped, but the Oilers powered into the Wings’ end and Draisaitl was stopped by Seider and Lyon, so the Wings had to ice the puck after Seider got tripped at center ice and was smarting at the Wings’ bench.

As play continued, Johansson and Edvinsson cleared the zone, Edmonton regrouped and Edvinsson and Johansson stifled a chance by McDavid;

DeBrincat, Copp and Tarasenko then forced the Oilers to ice the puck, but the referees deemed the icing call to be incorrect, so the teams drew in at center, and Edmonton chipped, chased, and Detroit regrouped, but went offside at 1:40…

The Veleno line won an offensive blueline faceoff, and pushed deep, but the Oilers recoiled and made easy work of getting into the Wings’ defensive zone and staying there, and Mattias Janmark fired the Oilers’ first shot on goal 2:20 into the 1st period.

Larkin’s line ended the 4-line rotation on the next faceoff, which they lost, but managed to muck out to center ice, and Leon Draisaitl drew a call on Ben Chiarot as he was tripped…but the fans called it, not the ref, and Podkolzin was repelled in front of Lyon.

Detroit was struggling to really get comfortable in the offensive zone, and instead, Detroit was doing a lot of regrouping and defending, and DeBrincat got the first Wings shot off Skinner’s blocker just south of the 4-minute mark.

Even when Jonatan Berggren was able to create a semi-breakaway, he was checked, and Berggren’s shot from the goal line was easily repelled by Skinner.

Fischer got a long shot in on Skinner at 5:00 of the 1st, but it was gobbled up before Shine or Veleno could get to the rebound;

The Oilers of course tried to utilize their “home run” passes for Draisaitl and McDavid, and the resulting offensive pressure from one of them yielded Edmonton’s first power play as Vladimir Tarsenko tripped up an Oiler at 6:07.

On the penalty-kill, Larkin drew in vs. McDavid and lost the faceoff to the Oilers’ captain; Edmonton cycled to Klingberg, to McDavid, down low to Draisaitl who was stopped by Lyon, then the Oilers cycled, Draisaitl was fed by McDavid but blocked off, McDavid walked for Draisaitl and Ben Chiarot accidentally tipped the puck into Draisaitl’s shooting range, after Chiarot was tripped by Hyman, and Draisaitl tipped the puck through Alex Lyon to make it 1-0 Edmonton.

Draisaitl scored off the Hyman trip at 6:49, making it 1-0 Edmonton. Bouchard and McDavid got the assists.

The Red Wings utilized Larkin, Raymond and Kasper on the bump-up shift, and the trio at least pushed the Oilers back into their own zone, but a bad turnover by Gustafsson yielded a shot on goal that was gobbled up by the turnover-maker…

Seider never missed a shift, by the way…

Lyon made a TREMENDOUS stop on Podkolzin off a tremendous set-up from Draisaitl in the slot, with Johansson and Edvinsson split by the Oilers’ #29;

The Red Wings at least generated a good chance for Ben Chiarot via a series of drop passes from Larkin to Raymond, who was blocked off, and Chiarot, who ripped a heavy shot in on Skinner from the point…

When play resumed, Detroit’s Rasmussen lost an offensive zone faceoff, Edmonton raced up 3-on-2, Lyon made a good diving stop but Stuart Skinner jammed the puck through into a wide-open net to make it 2-0 Edmonton.

Holl and Gustafsson chased the puck, the Oilers got a fortunate bounce as Hyman poked the puck through Lyon, and Skinner put it home at 10:29.

On the bump-up shift, of all people, Albert Johansson got loose on the right wing, raced in, and fired a hard shot off Skinner to generate a fine scoring chance 11:20 into the 1st;

As play continued, Detroit pushed very hard to try and dig into the Oilers’ lead, but Edmonton was at another level in terms of both offense and dirty defense, and as such, Detroit was struggling and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was able to shake-and-bake and fire a hard shot into Lyon at 12:40…

Disturbingly, Corey Perry got tripped up a bit by Joe Veleno in the offensive zone, an of course Perry toe picked and kicked his skates out from underneath him at 13:57. Edmonton headed back to the power play.

On the penalty-kill, Detroit won the initial deep defensive zone draw and pushed the puck out of trouble, but Edmonton cycled back in, Draisaitl set up McDavid, to Bouchard it went, to McDavid, to Draisaitl for the slot Bouchard was stifled by Lyon and held with 1:22 left in the PK.

Larkin then drew in, lost a faceoff, and LYON TOED THE PUCK to stop a McDavid wraparound.

Raymond had to come in for the next faceoff, and he could not win it, so the Oilers set up and cycled, using the perimeter, and McDavid AND Draisaitl were stifled by Lyon, again, Edmonton cycled using the perimeter, Draisaitl blasted a shot wide and up came Larkin shorthanded, passing for Kasper, who was covered, but Kasper regained it and chipped a shot into Skinner.

Detroit was doing a better job of getting sticks and skates in lanes as they KILLED THE PENALTY, and Edmonton looked sharp–out-shooting Detroit 14-7–but Detroit was getting better as the period progressed.

A good kick stop by Gustafsson yielded a rush the other way in which Soderblom, Rasmussen and Berggren cycled, Seider walked deep to help Berggren, Chiarot fed Seider and he hit an Oilers defenseman on the one-timer;

Edvinsson stood up on McDavid and got good support to separate #97 from the puck;

Then Edvinsson irritated Draisaitl in the final minute of play;

And the first period ended 2-0 for Edmonton.

In the 2nd period, Larkin lost the initial faceoff and Edmonton chipped and chased, but they were whistled for icing only 8 seconds in, and Larkin lost an offensive zone faceoff–a rarity, Larkin losing two draws–so the line of Draisaitl and Nugent-Hopkins crashed and banged vs. Seider and Chiarot.

Kasper fed Raymond and he reversed Larkin, who got a good shot off, and Arvidsson for some reason decided that he wanted to toss some punches at Kasper for being behind him at the net, and Kasper was up to the challenge of getting punched as Larkin skated in to help his teammate.

Copp drew a draw to Tarasenko, who bumbled the puck, but Detroit tried to cycle regardless, and Edmonton was able to both stifle that and get McDavid a deke-and-dangle shot that was stifled by Lyon;

As play continued, Soderblom, Berggren and Veleno cycled hard in the Oilers’ end and got support from Holl and Gustafsson to sustain their cycle;

Chiarot and Seider were then brought onto the ice, and Seider took an unfortunate penalty for falling into Hyman at 2:26.

On the penalty-kill, Larkin, Johansson, Chiarot and Rasmussen won the deep defensive zone draw, cleared the puck, and when the Oilers tried to push the puck deep, they cleared the zone again;

McDavid walked in and fed Draisaitl, Edmonton’s Bouchard was blocked, McDavid fed Draisaitl and then Nugent-Hopkins was blocked by Johansson;

The Oilers regained possession in the offensive zone, but Lyon made a big stop on Bouchard, the Oilers brought out their second unit, and Seider was able to come out of the box to help the Wings as they killed the Oilers’ PP.

On the post-PK shift, Johansson and Edvinsson worked the puck out for Copp, DeBrincat and Tarasenko, but the Oilers were the ones who generated a scoring chance as Lyon stopped Hyman in the high slot;

Edmonton was out-shooting Detroit 6-1 in the 2nd and 21-8 overall some 5:50 into the 2nd period, and it’s hard to dig out of a hole if you don’t have a shovel.

Soderblom worked with Raymond and Rasmussen for a moment, and that line had a good cycle and a bit of bump-and-grind play throughout it on-ice tenure, including when Berggren replaced Raymond…

Again, Lyon made a good stop at 7:12 of the 2nd on Brown, ushering in a TV timeout…

When play resumed, the Oilers were firing a lot of shots into the netting–because Detroit was blocking off shot attempts with smart sticks and shin pad blocks.

Shine was able to snap his stick in half hacking an Oilers defenseman sans call in the offensive corner some 9:00 into the 2nd, and it was that kind of game when it came to physicality.

McDavid, Nugent-Hopkins and Brown cycled well against Soderblom, Veleno and Berggren, and got a couple of shots off, but the Wings went the other way, and Jonatan Berggren ripped a heavy shot in and Michael Rasmussen tipped the shot over Skinner’s glove at 9:57.

Rasmussen scored from Berggren and Soderblom at 9:57. 2-1.

Lucas Raymond also almost scored on a gorgeous deke-and-dangle play, and Seider blasted a heavy bomb into Skinner as well some 11:04 into the 2nd…

When play resumed after a TV timeout, Detroit was pressuring the Oilers’ defensemen, making neutral ice a mess to get through, and forcing the Oilers to chip shots wide…

AND DYLAN LARKIN BLAZED UP THE RIGHT WING SIDE AND FIRED A HARD SHOT THROUGH SKINNER OFF A GORGEOUS PASS FROM KASPER OFF THE WALL.

The goal at 11:46 read Larkin from Kasper.

It wasn’t that the Oilers stopped playing by any stretch of the imagination; it was that the Red Wings showed up to play.

Lyon then made a SPECTACULAR blocker grab on a Bouchard rush to the net…

Berggren ALMOST fed Rasmussen for a chance that was stopped by Skinner, and the ALMOST comes from Soderblom being tripped sans call…

And Mattias Ekholm was incensed when he was penalized for tripping Alex DeBrincat as Ekholm fell at 14:29.

On the power play, Larkin won the draw to Kasper, to Seider and then across to Kasper from Raymond, shot high, blocked and cleared.

Lyon gave it to Seider who skated up the gut dropped for Larkin up came Detroit and Raymond and Kasper held, for DeBrincat, Larkin cycled for Kasper rw side drop for Seider for Larkin to DeBrincat blocked, Larkin for Seider for Kasper to DeBrincat backhand pass blocked off and Nugent-Hopkins was blocked in the Wings’ zone…

Detroit could not then penetrate the Oilers’ blueline and changed units;

Copp, Berggren, Tarsaenko, Rasmussen and Gustafsson worked with each other for a short shift, and back came the first unit over the boards with 24 seconds remaining in the PP.

Kasper fired a shot wide and Skinner blocked the shot with his stick, out of play;

Larkin tied up the next faceoff, and he was given a pass from Kasper to fire a shot that was stopped, and the Oilers cleared the zone to end the power play against.

Dominik Shine made a TREMENDOUS block on Tyson Barrie breaking away, and Draisaitl hit the GOALPOST behind Lyon as the Oilers cycled hard, fans booed Seider dumping an Oiler, and Detroit cleared its zone and “killed” the Oilers’ Draisaitl-McDavid shift;

Edvinsson made a fine block on a point shot by Kulak, and Hyman was stopped by Lyon–and Johansson–as the refs let the Oilers hack and whack at the puck in front of Lyon;

Kasper then fed Larkin for a PAIR of shots in on Skinner as the duo raced up the ice 2-on-2;

Kasper then fed Larkin for Raymond, who was just offside, and Detroit got two more chances on Skinner before the 2nd period mercifully ended–for Edmonton’s sake.

In the 3rd period, the Larkin line started opposite McDavid’s group, and Larkin won the initial faceoff to Chiarot and Seider, Larkin raced in, jabbed a puck in on Skinner, and while the puck rolled on him, he got his second opportunity to slide in on Skinner, who had to make a good stop…

We also got an octopus on the ice 18 seconds in…

Anyway, as play continued, Larkin got a harder shot to go just wide of Skinner, and Seider bumbled the puck, Nurse dove, and Detroit was called for a penalty 47 seconds in.

Dylan Larkin was called for interfering with Nurse at 47 seconds

On the PK, Bouchard fired a shot off Lyon, McDavid tried to bank a shot on, and Detroit could not clear the puck, but Edvinsson blocked the shot from Bouchard and cleared the zone;

When Edmonton returned, Detroit just chipped the puck down the ice;

1:00 into the PK, McDavid and Draisaitl worked the puck around the perimeter, Bouchard blasted a shot off Fischer, and Detroit’s Chiarot cleared the zone with 30 left;

Johansson and Raymond worked the puck free and shorthanded, Raymond reversed, Johansson fed Edvinsson for a shot that Skinner had to kick away, and that ended the PK…

3 kills for Detroit.

A bad turnover by Erik Gustafsson was stifled by Lyon with help from Rasmussen;

Lyon stuck his hand out to glove a rebound of a Draisaitl shot with Podkolzin trying to battle in front of the net with Chiarot;

Albert Johansson stood up on McDavid and stayed with him, stride for stride;

Kasper got picked off by Nugent-Hopkins defensively, and Skinner tried to stuff a centering pass into the net past Lyon at the other end, but the former play’s success did not carry over to the latter play’s failure;

Seider poked the puck away from an Oiler and to DeBrincat, whose blazing scoring chance was unable to beat Skinner, and when Raymond came onto the ice, he deked and dangled his way into a lateral pass that was tremendous, but unsuccessful, going through DeBrincat’s legs…

And the Oilers’ Hyman was digging and jamming in the Wings’ end of the ice, but Chiarot, Seider, and of course Lyon would have none of it.

Detroit was being out-shot 8-2 in the 3rd as Leon Draisaitl was furious for slashing and hacking at Raymond, being called for tripping at 7:56 of the 3rd period.

On the power play, Raymond, DeBrincat, Seider, Larkin and Kasper, they all worked the perimeter, DeBrincat fed Larkin in the “bumper” spot and Skinner made a good stop 25 seconds into the PP;

Larkin won the next draw and Seider, Raymond, DeBrincat, Kasper, Seider, Kasper to DeBrincat the puck went, and it was deflected out of play…

Larkin was tossed from the next draw and DeBrincat won it to Seider, but he was blocked off an Oilers’ player’s skate and had to regroup in the Wings’ end…

Detroit blazed through center and Larkin tried to tap down a pass, Seider held the line, DeBrincat, Kasper, Raymond, DeBrincat, working to Seider, for Kasper to Seider, rebound Larkin wide, Seider for Raymond to Kasper stoned with 27 left in the PP.

Detroit continued to push the puck up the ice as the 2nd unit took over, but Edmonton cleared it down and Gustafsson sent it up to Edvinsson, dump and chase went the Wings, with Veleno, Fischer and Shine working together, and McDavid, Hyman and Draisaitl were beaten to the puck by Veleno and Fischer, who were stopped by Skinner.

When play resumed, Rasmussen’s line forced the McDavid line to ice the puck vs. Johansson and Edvinsson, with Soderblom and Berggren challenging McDavid well;

Soderblom felt Rasmussen available for a puck and the Wings nearly raced away on a 3-on-2, but the Oilers stifled it;

Raymond hit the toe of Skinner off a pass from Larkin, and Chiarot fed Raymond for a redirect wide of the net, yielding another icing by Edmonton;

Larkin won the next draw and Chiarot blasted a shot off Larkin, Raymond fed Kasper for a diving chance, and Edmonton flicked the puck out to center, but did not possess it for along;

Instead Seider raced in and fired a shot off Skinner with 7:33 remaining in the 3rd.

Edmonton managed to cycle well and Draisaitl was blocked off by Lyon’s poke check with 7:00 remaining;

Nurse was stopped by Lyon despite a deflection;

Draisaitl was blockered away by Lyon;

And Detroit had to ice the puck with 6:25 left…

The Copp line was out “long,” and Edmonton won the draw, cycled from Perry to Skinner, but Detroit cleared and Tarasenko fed DeBrincat for a chip, and Rasmussen got a chance on the Oilers’ goaltender before a TV timeout.

When play resumed, Detroit regrouped after losing an offensive zone faceoff, and Kasper, Larkin and Raymond did their best to force the Oilers to ice the puck, which they did…

Larkin lost the offensive zone draw, however, so Detroit regrouped in their zone, did some defending, and Larkin battled Kulak, was tripped, and Edmonton iced the puck again, but the refs did not call it on a deflection…

DeBrincat made a nice block on a Bouchard Bomb with 4:15 left;

And with 4:00 left on the dot, Lyon made a gorgeous stop on a big Bouchard slapper.

Chiarot almost smoked Arvidsson with 3:30 remaining, but Arvidsson smelled out the hit at center ice;

Lyon made his 39th stop on 41 shots against as the Wings were forced to ice the puck with 3:07 remaining;

Lyon fumbled a puck and SEIDER chipped the rebound over the goal with his stick…

Edmonton really dominated the final few minutes of play, Bouchard was blocked by Seider, breaking Seider’s skate blade…

Even the Larkin line got hemmed in a bit vs. the Janmark line with 1:30 remaining;

Seider returned quickly and hit Jeff Skinner, worked with Chiarot to attempt to clear the puck, and the Oilers fumbled the puck at the blueline, thankfully…

Lyon stopped shots 40 and 41 before Detroit secured a point.

IN OVERTIME, Larkin, Chiarot and Raymond started OT vs. Draisaitl, McDavid and Bouchard;

Detroit tied up the draw and Raymond blazed in, but he lost it regained it and battled down low vs. McDavid, he found Chiarot at center and he found Larkin, to Chiarot shot stopped, rebound Larkin cycles, feeds Raymond spin to Chiarot no dice, Larkin regains rt wing side dekes stopped…

Up comes Draisaitl STOPPED LYON and the Wings race up Seider skates circles for KASPER STONED BY SKINNER…

3:45 left OT Nugent-Hopkins to Hyman cycling circling for Ekholm, for RNH, stopped Lyon, and there was a penalty against Edmonton for interference as finally Hyman got called for throwing a pick on DeBrincat at 1:40.

ON THE POWER PLAY, 4-on-3…Detroit won the draw and Seider fed DeBrincat, from Raymond, to Larkin, blocked, regains, for Raymond lw side walks for DeBrincat to Seider for Larkin walks for Seider loses the puck regains for Raymond walks walks walks to DeBrincat for LARKIN STOPPED SKINNER with 2:41 left and 1:21 left PP.

Detroit called timeout at 2:19.

Larkin, DeBrincat and Raymond remained on the ice with Seider, Larkin barked orders and won the draw to DeBrincat to Raymond shot stopped and gloved by Skinner with 1:14 left PP.

Again, Detroit drew in for a deep offensive zone draw and Larkin lost it so Nurse chipped it all the way down to Lyon, who played it to Raymond, for DeBrincat to Larkin walks shot stopped tipped out of play.

For another faceoff with 57 left PP, tied up by Larkin and kicked past DeBrincat to center ice, he races in, stops up, looks for help, Seider for Raymond walking walking walking for DeBrincat in feet Oilers slap it down the ice.

25 left PP Seider watches another unit come on and DeBrincat drops for Seider for Larkin for Raymond loses it and up come the Oilers 2-on-1 and NURSE FIRED WIDE Larkin for DeBrincat gloved Skinner.

PP OVER.

1:15 left OT.

Copp, Tarasenko and Chiarot were on the ice and won the offensive zone draw, but Chiarot fell, up came the Oil 2 on 1 McDavid to Bouchard over Bouchard’s stick, to McDavid walks in stopped and held by Lyon.

Detroit lost the d-zone draw and McDavid walked for Draisaitl shot block by Copp, Draisaitl holds for McDavid to Draisaitl STONED BY LYON.

31.7 left in OT as Edmonton called timeout and Alex Tanguay spoke with the Wings’ on-ice contingent…

Larkin and Raymond and Chiarot won the draw, up came Raymond walking, looking, tied up by Bouchard, battling away, and the puck goes off the bench by Bouchard.

Faceoff with 15.2 left tied up to Edmonton 2-on-1 McDavid fumbles Seider stops him up comes Larkin blocked off and it’s a shootout.

In the shootout…

McDavid in the shootout…walk in TOED AWAY BY LYON.

Raymond in the shootout….walks left side blocker side looks looks shot GOAL.

Nugent-Hopkins walks in and FANS on the shot.

Larkin look to win it walks in walks fires GOAL.

Statistics: Here are the Game Summary and Event Summary:

Published by

George Malik

My name is George Malik, and I'm the Malik Report's editor/blogger/poster. I have been blogging about the Red Wings since 2006, and have worked with MLive and Kukla's Korner. Thank you for reading!

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