Red Wings-Flames quick take: Talbot, Wings sweep Alberta

The Detroit Red Wings faced off against the Calgary Flames on Saturday night, with the Wings hoping to extend their 4-game winning streak against a Flames team buzzing due to the additions of Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost.

On Saturday night, the Red Wings received a tremendous goaltending performance from Cam Talbot, who stopped 33 of 34 shots…

And Detroit got goals from Dylan Larkin at 8:27 of the 1st (giving Dominik Shine his first NHL point), a rifle from Simon Edvinsson at 19:14 of the 1st, and then the Wings held on for the 2nd period, surrendered a PPG to Nazem Kadri at 8:34 of the 2nd, but got a fine performance defensively from everyone en route to an empty-netter for Andrew Copp and a 3-1 win, sweeping Alberta.

The Red Wings fly to Vancouver for tomorrow night’s game (8 PM EST start), and then they’ll wrap up their West Coast Swing with a game in Seattle against the Kraken on Tuesday night.

In pregame warmups, Cam Talbot and Dustin Wolf led their respective teams out onto the ice at the Scotiabank Saddledome…

The Flames’ new acquisitions, Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost, joined the fray as well…

The Flames do their lineup-via-website…

Forwards

Jonathan Huberdeau – Nazem Kadri – Joel Farabee

Blake Coleman – Mikael Backlund – Matt Coronato

Martin Pospisil – Morgan Frost – Yegor Sharangovich

Ryan Lomberg – Clark Bishop – Adam Klapka

Defence

Joel Hanley – Rasmus Andersson

Jake Bean – MacKenzie Weegar

Tyson Barrie – Brayden Pachal

Goaltender

Dustin Wolf

The Red Wings do things the “new old-fashioned way”:

Here are the starters and scratches:

In the 1st period, the Red Wings started Lucas Raymond, Dylan Larkin and Marco Kasper up front, Simon Edvinsson and Albert Johansson on defense and Cam Talbot in goal; the Flames started Blake Coleman, Mikael Backlund and Matt Coronato up front, Joel Hanley and Rasmus Andersson on defense and Dustin Wolf in goal.

Larkin and Backlund drew in for the opening faceoff at center ice, and Larin tied it up, but the Flames pushed forward and Johansson had to rim around the back boards, Coleman took it but Kasper and Raymond reversed, and Detroit chipped and chased into Calgary’s zone…

Calgary skated back into the Wings’ zone, and Coronato rifled a shot just off the right goalpost;

Detroit dumped and changed 48 seconds in, and Calgary pushed again, with Weegar being topped by Talbot once, twice, Detroit battled in the corner, Huberdeau fed Barrie, and Talbot stopped that shot as well before Detroit cleared 1:20 into the 1st.

Talbot held the puck as the Flames chipped it in only 1:37 into the 1st, and Calgary won the draw, fired a blueline draw that Talbot stopped, Calgary continued to cycle and Rasmussen blocked a shot that Berggren chipped for Soderblom to chase.

Holl and Gustafsson then set up Berggren for a shot that went off the crossbar behind Wolf, and Detroit changed lines 2:30 into the 1st;

As play continued, Tarasenko, DeBrincat and Copp watched Talbot stop a 5th shot by Coronato 3:30 in;

Calgary kept up its scintillating offensive push, but Lucas Raymond did a great job of bumping Rasmus Andersson into the goal to stop play at 3:53, after Talbot stopped a 6th Flames shot.

The Rasmussen line afforded the Flames a near-breakaway, but Seider stifled a rush chance by Farabee with a smart stick check;

The one thing Calgary was not doing well was winning faceoffs, so the Red Wings at least weer able to start with the puck, and Gustafsson and Fischer combined for the Wings’ first shot on goal almost 5:25 into the 1st;

Seider really looked on top of his game while wearing the “A,” picking off high passes and grinding it out defensively;

Raymond and Larkin got a give-and-go going, and Johansson helped Raymond cycle deep on the left wing for Kasper in the slot, but the Flames blocked Kasper’s slot shot and cleared their zone.

Justin Holl sent a smart shot toward Wolf, but Soderblom tipped it wide;

Kadri tried to beat Talbot on the wing rush, but Seider and Chiarot boxed him out and Kadri shot high and wide;

At the other end of the ice, Dylan Larkin came off the bench with Dominik Shine battling away off a Christian Fischer kick pass to Larkin, and Larkin found a back-door spot and chipped the puck through Wolf to make it 1-0 Detroit at 8:27 of the 1st.

Larkin scored from Fischer and Shine at 8:27. 1-0 Detroit.

After a TV timeout, Detroit seemed to start its engines, but Talbot had to make a HUGE stop on another Kadri rush chance as Kadri got to the puck before Chiarot and Talbot came out to cut the angle down at 9:21.

Raymond got an “almost” assist as Larkin was jamming the net again at 10:00, but Larkin fanned on the slot chance, and Talbot ended up having to make a stop on a dump-in from Calgary instead…

After a TV timeout, Detroit seemed to continue to steady itself, but surrendering so many shots against was not a recipe for winning, and Kadri in particular seemed to have the Wings’ number, with his strong skating helping facilitate a Rasmus Andersson shot that Talbot stopped at 11:38.

Shine LEVELED pinching defenseman Jake Bean with a butt check just before 12:00 of the 1st;

DeBrincat got his first shot off at 12:21, off a rush from Vladimir Tarasenko;

A bad drop pass through Copp’s legs yielded another point shot for the Flames, but Talbot gobbled up his 10th save of the period at 13:23;

The Flames got a good cycle going and Fischer got stung by a shot off the inside of the knee just short of 15:00 into the 1st, and Fischer had to exit the bench and go down the tunnel.

Play resumed with Fischer back on the bench, and Lucas Raymond had to race back to push Andersson to squeeze his angle on Talbot, who made a big stop…

Again, Calgary was able to generate good pressure in the Wings’ end, and Larkin had to ice the puck with 3:51 left in the 1st.

Talbot ended up making a nice stop on a Kadri attempt to drag the puck around the back post and reverse flow, giving the Flames their 12th shot (to 6 by Detroit);

Berggren did a great job of bumping a Flame off the puck to sustain an offensive cycle approximately 17:15 into the 1st, taking a heavy hit but staying on his feet to keep the Wings’ pressure going at the Flames’ blueline;

Calgary would flex and recoil as the Wings bent and did not break, but those incidences slowed down a bit as the 1st period wound down, with Detroit looking to be on much more even footing toward the end of the 1st…

And Simon Edvinsson walked into a loose puck and blasted home a shot off the goalpost behind Dustin Wolf to make it 2-0 with 46 seconds remaining in the 1st period.

Edvinsson scored from Berggren and Soderblom at 19:14 of the 1st period. 2-0 Detroit.

And with 7.8 seconds left, Copp, DeBrincat and Tarasenko stole a Kadri puck and raced up the ice, Copp fed Tarasenko and Wolf stole a goal from #11.

In the 2nd period, Detroit started the Larkin line with Edvinsson and Johansson, and Larkin was actually sub-50% on faceoffs, but he tied up his first draw of the 2nd and Johansson chipped it in;

Calgary dumped and charged up into the Wings’ zone offside, so Raymond dumped, Kasper pinched, and the puck riffled out to center ice behind Johansson and Edvinsson, who caught up;

Again, Kadri looked damn good, and Talbot got a little lucky as he was able to block a shot that went off a Flames player’s skate;

At the other end, DeBrincat fired a shot off Wolf;

DeBrincat then blocked a Pospisil shot, and Seider did a nice job of blocking a pass to Kadri, affording Rasmussen and Tarasenko a 2-on-1 in which Wolf stopped Rasmussen;

Calgary was threatening the Wings’ defense quite well, however, so both teams had their hands full in terms of workload.

A good flip pass from Gustafsson yielded a rush for Raymond, a re-set at center and a pass to Kasper that went just wide of #92…

Talbot blockered away a Coronato shot at 3:40;

Talbot then bothered Farabee with Johansson’s help to stifle another great Flames chance some 4:05 into the 2nd;

DeBrincat fed Tarasenko for a shot that was stopped in the Calgary slot, and Seider and Chiarot blasted a boomer into Wolf as well;

Sharangovich got a couple of chances 5:40 into the 2nd, and Talbot got a little lucky and then a little good in stopping Calgary’s push as Sharangovich shanked one wide and then one off Talbot’s pad;

Fischer, Shine and Veleno weren’t getting a whole lot of ice time, but when they were on the ice, they provided a good physical impact, and Veleno got a good shot off at 7:00;

Detroit was developing an icing problem, and it wasn’t the kind of icing problem that involves a can of frosting, 8:01 into the 2nd.

Icing, icing, icing, not good for surrendering defensive zone draws and shot attempts against.

Dominik Shine nearly beat Dustin Wolf at 9:09 of the 2nd, fed well by Fischer and Veleno off the rush…

Detroit began to shoot again and to get opportunistic again as the 2nd period reached its halfway mark, and that was good to see.

Off a faceoff loss, Talbot GOT LUCKY as the puck clanged off the back of the goalpost on a boomer from the Flames’ blueline, but the Wings didn’t skip a beat.

A bad pass of the referee yielded two TREMENDOUS stops on Coleman and Frost at 10:36.

When play resumed, Talbot made a good side seal as Kadri jammed a shot into the right side of the net near Albert Johansson’s feet at 10:55…

Elmer Soderblom made a nice block that snapped his stick at 11:12, too.

Fischer deserves some credit, too, because he was skating with a limp after that shot block in the 1st period.

The pace of play slowed down a little bit some 13:00 into the 2nd, but Calgary continued to fire long bombs wide of Talbot, for the most part, and Edvinsson made a great block on the ice, with Copp bouncing a puck out of the air on a deflection…

Getting away with a delay of game penalty.

Talbot made a gorgeous blocker stop off the next faceoff loss, and Detroit seemed to sag somewhat…

But Berggren and Soderblom nearly set up a Rasmussen chance at the other end of the ice, too, affording Detroit some fleeting offensive zone pressure.

More icings ensued as the pace of play started to lag, and Raymond fed Larkin for a shot that was blocked by the Flames’ top line, yielding an end-to-end rush and a stop by Talbot on Coronato with 15:44 gone…

Johansson did a glorious job of tapping a puck away from Kadri as he’d snuck behind the Wings’ defensemen and tried to break away, with Johansson’s hand-eye coordination stifling a breakaway;

Soderlbom hit the GOALPOST at 17:00 with a single-handedly-stunning steal, deke and dangle through his legs;

Lomberg was stifled by Talbot as the game got physical in the final 2:15 of the 2nd, and Detroit continued to suffer rush chances against;

A bad turnover from Raymond yielded a point shot that was a real tremendous chance for Jake Bean, but Talbot saw it all the way with 1:26 left…

In the final minute of the 2nd period, Andersson fired another great scoring chance wide of the net with bodies in front of Talbot, and Seider had to stifle Pospisil to kill the period.

In the 3rd period, the Red Wings could barely drop the puck without the Flames showing a bit of a burr under their collective saddles, hacking and whacking at Marco Kasper, so it was going to be one of those periods…

Thankfully, the clock was the Flames’ main enemy, and it raced against them as Seider stood up Farabee, Johansson blocked off Kadri…

And Tarasenko was sprung by Copp’s off-the-back-boards pass, but Tarasenko SHANKED the backhand into Wolf as he dove to block the left post:

Soderblom, Rasmussen, Holl and Berggren cycled for a really great chance for Soderblom in front of the Flames’ net, Gustafsson and Holl cycled some more, Wolf made a stop on Berggren and Calgary’s fans were in a kerfuffle after that fine shift 2:45 into the 3rd…

Seider and Chiarot set up Dominik Shine for a fantastic chance to score on Wolf 3:15 in;

The Veleno line iced the puck, however, and got very lucky in that a Flames player broke his stick on the deep defensive zone faceoff;

Detroit was winning stick battles and blocking shots wide of Talbot…

Edvinsson got a really good scoring chance on Wolf via a seeing-eye pass from Raymond at 5:00…

And DeBrincat set up Copp for a SUPERB break that Wolf had to squeeze with the blocker hand.

Berggren slithered a shot through traffic at 5:50, but the Flames blocked it before it could beat Wolf;

Veleno was then stifled by Wolf on the next shift, and Chiarot blocked a good chance by Blake Coleman…

But the Calgary Flames got the game’s first power play as Marco Kasper hooked Matt Coronato, who pled with the refs at 7:06 of the 3rd.

On the penalty-kill to Kasper, with the Red Wings leading the Flames 6-1 in shots in the 3rd…

Copp, Veleno, Holl and Edvinsson watched Talbot made a huge stop and Huberdeau level Veleno in the Wings’ corner;

Talbot then stop Huberdeau on the next rush, and when Calgary cycled, Talbot blockered away a Morgan Frost shot;

Weegar was stopped, too;

And Detroit’s Copp cleared the zone so that the PK’ers could change–or some of them…

And, sadly, Nazem Kadri walked into a shot with Justin Holl screening Talbot, and Kadri scored the 2-1 goal.

Kadri scored through Holl, and Coleman, at 8:34, from Weegar. 2-1.

Detroit pushed back on the bump-up shift, with the Larkin line cycling with Chiarot and Seider, and when the Flames cycled in Detroit’s zone, Edvinsson blocked a shot going one way, and Wolf had to stifle Berggren on a left-side break.

Sadly, Nazem Kadri dove and Ben Chiarot had to sit with 9:34 left in the 3rd, giving the Wings another PK.

On the penalty-kill, Kadri won the draw, but Detroit cleared the puck down ice, and Weegar set up;

Calgary raced in and cycled the perimeter, utilizing Huberdeau and Weegar as boomers, and Talbot made a good stop;

Weegar fed Kadri and he fired wide;

Calgary set up at center and Coronato worked in, but up came Veleno with Copp, and Kadri had to block the shot on Wolf by Veleno on the PK.

On the next rush, Calgary was poked by Fischer, bumped by Holl, and yet the Flames cycled the puck from Barrie to Andersson, and Talbot held on with 27 left in the PK.

Larkin won the next draw, but Detroit could not clear, so Coleman fired a shot on Talbot’s blocker, Barrie was stopped through traffic, and the PK expired with 7:33 left in the 3rd…

The Flames were loading up Huberdeau, Backlund and Kadri together, but Detroit was hanging on, and the Rasmussen-Berggren-Soderblom line got a good forecheck going.

After an octopus timeout, with 5:40 remaining, the Flames pushed into the Wings’ end, Larkin then tried to feed Kasper on the left wing side, and the Flames broke that up with 5:25 remaining…

Berggren rifled a sneaky shot wide of Wolf off a great faceoff win by Rasmussen with 5:00 left in regulation;

When Soderblom iced the puck, the Wings won the faceoff and changed with 4:40 remaining;

Kadri whacked Larkin and the pass hit the ref so Larkin deked and dangled but Wolf stopped him, and his pass to Kasper;

As play continued, the teams bore down for the final 3;00 of regulation, and Soderblom was given an excellent pass by Rasmussen, but his bomb flickered wide of Wolf;

Detroit recoiled twice, the Rasmussen line got the hell off the ice with 2:44 left, and Larkin’s line took to the ice and a Kadri dump yielded a Talbot blocker stop, Wolf headed off with 2:10 left…

But Johansson and Edvinsson won a board battle and chipped it down so that Detroit could change;

With 1:30 left, Seider, Johansson and Copp’s line took to the ice, and Copp fired a shot just wide of the Flames net to yield an icing with 1:17 remaining.

Calgary called timeout with 1:17 left, Larkin and Coleman drew in and the Flames won it between their D, they chipped, Seider fed Johansson, to the line it went but not out, then out by Tarasenko, he battled to DeBrincat and the puck rolled to Andrew Copp, who scored the 3-0 lead with 54.0 left in the 3rd period.

Copp scored from DeBrincat and Tarasenko at 19:06, empty net.

Wolf left the net and Kasper fired a shot wide with 30 seconds left;

Talbot made a gorgeous stop with 14.3 left via a glove stop;

Larkin drew in vs. Coronato and Seider chipped it just wide of the empty net for one more faceoff with 7.2 left in regulation time…

Calgary won the draw, but a shot went wide, and that was the game.

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!