Red Wings-Wild quick take: Wings prevail in a 3-2 decision over Minnesota

The Detroit Red Wings hoped to earn revenge for Saturday’s overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild as they headed to Minneapolis-St. Paul for a rematch.

On Tuesday night, the Red Wings ceded a whole lot of territory and a whole lot of puck possession time to the Minnesota Wild, but as Muhammad Ali would say, the Wings “played the ropes,” rallying from a 2-0 deficit to take a 3-2 decision over Minnesota.

Vladimir Tarasenko scored a slick goal off a lateral pass from Erik Gustafsson, and Simon Edvinsson blasted two slappers through Jonas Gustavsson, first exactly 3:00 after Tarasenko’s goal, and then at 11:35 of the 3rd, from Johansson and a dominant Elmer Soderblom, to make it 3-2.

Detroit held on from there–they were out-shot 7-4 in the 2nd and 10-3 in the 3rd, so they were out-shot 17-7 over the final 40 minutes of play–but the Wings got a good performance from Cam Talbot (22 saves) and made the decisive plays at the right time, earning just enough good breaks to pull out a win.

In pregame warmups, Cam Talbot and Filip Gustavsson led their respective teams out onto the ice at the Xcel Energy Center…

The Wild’s lineup came into focus over the course of warmups, with their PR department posting lineup sheets for both the Wings and Wild…

The Wild list their starters, too…

And the Red Wings post their lineups and starters just before game time:

The starters and scratches were as follows:

In the 1st period, the Wild started Matt Boldy, Marco Rossi and Mats Zuccarello up front, with Jake Middleton and Brock Faber on defense, and Filip Gustavsson in goal;

Detroit started Lucas Raymond, Dylan Larkin and Marco Kasper up front, with Ben Chiarot and Moritz Seider on defense, and Cam Talbot in goal.

Larkin drew in for the opening faceoff and tied it up, Chiarot chipped and Kasper lost his stick, so Detroit regrouped with Raymond racing through center to Larkin and back, Raymond with a big hit and Kasper stole for Larkin shot wide, Raymond cycled for Kasper, who was hit, and the Wild sent Boldy off on a rush that was stifled by the teams’ changes at 40 seconds of the 1st;

Seider chipped as the Wings changed, and Gustavsson held on for a stoppage in play 51 seconds into the 1st period.

Compher lost the offensive zone draw and the Wild chipped the puck into the Wings’ zone, but Johansson and then Edvinsson retrieved the puck for Compher, who was blocked, Kane swept it around to Johansson, back to Kane, deep for DeBrincat, slid deeper for Compher but stolen by the Wild, Detroit changes at 1:40.

A steal by Tarasenko battling Khusnutdinov, Detroit got Holl the puck for a shot and then a keep-in, the Wild cleared the zone, and Holl regained for Gustafsson, to center, back in by Chisholm, Gustafsson for Motte turnover, too far for Laukko and the puck goes into the crowd at 2:37.

Finally, Motte drew in for one more draw and lost the d-zone faceoff, but Compher and Seider set the Wings up for a rush that yielded Fischer and Motte cycling deep, and Seider blasting a point shot into Gustavsson at 3:04.

As play continued, the Wild were particularly tenacious in terms of stealing pucks, but KASPER sent a shot off the goalpost, Raymond got a secondary scoring chance, Johansson was stifled by Gustavsson, and when the Wild cleared their zone, Johansson and Edvinsson turned the puck over, affording Marcus Johansson a TREMENDOUS scoring chance that went wide of Talbot.

The Wild raced up 3-on-2, but Gaudreau missed the net…

Talbot gave the puck away, but Detroit was able to regain control…

The Wild kept their rush game going, and Foligno, Khusnutdinov and Chisholm cycled, Veleno got dumped, and ultimately, Soderblom bumped the Wild D-man forechecking in the offensive zone…

And the Red Wings’ Simon Edvinsson sent the puck out of play over the glass, on the backhand, yielding a power play at 5:56 of the 1st period.

On the PK, Rossi lost the draw to Compher, and Seider blasted the puck down the ice;

Faber carried the puck through center, dropped to Boldy, and they payed catch for a bit, with Zuccarello and company getting a shot in on Talbot that was stopped in the butterfly;

Minnesota’s Faber fed BOLDY AND TALBOT STONED BOLDY on the give-and-go…

With 54 left in the PK, the Wild were in complete control of the puck, cycling deep, and sadly, Marco Rossi scored on a rebound from Boldy and Jared Spurgeon.

Rossi from Boldy and Spurgeon, net-front rebound, 7:17 1st. 1-0 Minnesota.

On the bump-up shift, Chiarot, Kasper, Larkin and Raymond cycled with Seider, but the Wild pushed Detroit back out to center;

When Larkin broke in, the Wild stifled his rush;

DeBrincat then rushed up the gut and gave and went with Edvinsson, but DeBrincat’s shot was high and wide;

So Minnesota set up and started to work in the Wings’ zone, and the Compher line really got hemmed in, as did Edvinsson and Johansson.

Soderblom brought the puck in, working with Tarasenko and Veleno, and he fired a good shot into Gustavsson at 9:23 of the 1st…

When play resumed, Tarasenko, Veleno and Tarasenko did a good job of cycling the puck along the boards, and Holl fired a long shot through traffic, but Gustavsson made a big stop;

Talbot gloved a Wild dump-in, and it should be noted that the Wild were particularly physical with the Wings after the whistle, getting in their faces and occasionally bumping and pushing, which the Wings were not biting upon;

Marco Kasper was held up from getting to a loose puck on the left side of center ice sans call, and the Wild got a cycling grind in the Wings’ zone as a result;

When Detroit changed, Shore skated in and Cam Talbot couldn’t stop the puck, affording Minnesota a 2-0 advantage at 11:11. Jakub Laukko tapped in a rebound of a Dylan Shore shot.

Laukko scored from Shore and Trenin at 11:11. Rebound tap-in tight to the crease. 2-0 Minnesota.

Detroit just hadn’t started well and hadn’t gotten the saves that they needed, frankly.

The shots were even at 7-7 at the second TV timeout.

When play resumed, Veleno, Soderblom and Tarasenko cycled well with Holl and Gustafsson, but again, the Wild were able to clear the zone with ease, and when Detroit chipped and changed, Minnesota easily parried the Wings’ assault.

A wide Larkin shot with 7:30 left in the 3rd yielded a Kasper chance and another Larkin backhand that Gustavsson played to his defensemen, and out to center ice the puck went…

A diving play by Larkin yielded a great chance that Kasper got on Gustavsson, but again, the Wild goaltender made a difficult save look easy at 12:54…

Mostly, the Wings were working very hard for the ice that they earned, and the Wild were having an easy time charging up the gut and carrying the puck into Detroit’s end with speed, and that’s not a winning recipe.

Seider was also playing with Johansson for a bit;

A good stick lift by Albert Johansson prevented Marcus Johansson from tapping in a back-door pass…

Holl worked with Edvinsson, indicating that Chiarot might be injured…But Chiarot came out with Gustafsson, so the “line blender” was out instead.

As the 1st period quickly counted down into its final 5 minutes, Detroit was playing industriously, but the Wild had an easier time getting up and down the ice.

A nice Marco Kasper drop pass to Raymond at the blueline yielded a wide shot and a Boldy rush that Holl had to stifle;

Compher fed DeBrincat for a stop off Kane for Gustavsson, with DeBrincat making a beautiful centering pass…

The Fischer-Berggren-Motte line was something of an adventure, even with Chiarot and Seider on the ice, and they got tied up in their own zone for extended periods of time…

And Tarasenko continued to be snakebitten, so when Veleno fed Tarasenko for a fine scoring chance, Tarasenko could not convert.

In the final minute of 1st period play, Seider nearly turned the puck over in front of the net, but Larkin was able to bail #53 out;

A Kasper dump-in was intercepted and cleared with 11 seconds remaining…

And that was pretty much the first period as Larkin’s last-second shot was blocked.

In the 2nd period, the Red Wings won the initial faceoff, but Minnesota soon skated into the Wings’ zone, and the Rossi line cycled, Rossi fed Boldy in the slot, he cycled to the boards for Middleton and he was stopped TWICE by Talbot…

When the Wings went the other way with Larkin and Raymond racing in 2-on-1, Raymond blasted the shot wide;

On the next shift, DeBrincat and Kane and Johansson all tried to generate a slot chance, but instead, Marcus Johansson went the other way, and Detroit had to settle for a clearing attempt and a partial change as the Wild regained control and cycled;

Soderblom, Veleno and Tarasenko at least got a decent cycle going, working with Gustafsson and Holl, but Gustavsson made an easy stop, and Detroit was called for a penalty in the offensive zone, as Zach Bogosian drew the call by taking a high stick.

On the delayed call, the Wild pulled Gustavsson, but Motte touched up at 3:03, and Veleno accidentally high-sticked Bogosian, but they called Soderblom for the penalty instead.

On the penalty-kill, Larkin won the initial draw and Detroit cleared the zone, but the Wild regained possession and sent a long shot in on Talbot, which was stopped and cleared simply…

Kasper and Motte worked together on the 2nd unit, with Edvinsson and Chiarot, and the Wild cycled around the perimeter, Boldy blasted a shot wide, Hinostroza skated in, dropped to the line, and Minnesota tried to feed the “bumper” as Faber sent a shot into Zuccarello, who reversed and Hinostroza was STIFLED by Talbot at 4:26.

Larkin won the next defensive zone draw and left the ice, with Fischer replacing the Wings’ captain, working with Compher, and EDVINSSON blocked an open-net chance;

Spurgeon, Marcus Johansson and Chisholm cycled, but the Wild bumbled possession, Soderblom took a pass and fired the shot wide of Gustavsson…

So Detroit killed the penalty.

The Veleno line did a good job of cycling deep, but the Wild kept disrupting and even generating penalty-worthy picks, but the referees did not care;

Albert Johansson did a pretty good job of helping Gustafsson, but Trenin got loose in the slot and got a good chance with a screen in front, which Talbot stopped;

Chiarot and Seider worked on the next shift with DeBrincat, Larkin and Kane, and the trio cycled as Larkin wrapped and was tipped over the net by a Wild stick;

With 7:30 gone in the 2nd, Motte and Berggren worked with Raymond for a shift, and a skate block yielded a rush for Berggren to Fischer, but that was stifled…

And the Wild protested as the Red Wings were awarded a power play at 8:11, when Mats Zuccarello sat for hooking.

On the power play, Larkin drew in for the faceoff against Gaudreau, who was waved out, and Larkin won it to Kane, to Raymond to Seider center point shot blocked into the crowd.

Larkin smacked his stick on the ice as he went to the bench for a towel to wipe his visor, and he won the next draw, but Kane blasted a shot wide, Brodin battled the puck free, and Gaudreau shot a puck just a wee bit wide thanks to a Kane stick lift…

Seider battled the puck loose to Larkin with 1:15 left in the PP, Kane breezed in for Raymond, the Wings cycled, and Larkin centered for no one, so the Wild got an easy clear.

Seider skated up with 53 left in the PP and changed, Larkin chipped and chased, but the Wild took the puck and cleared the zone lazily to kill time on the clock;

With 25 seconds left, Kasper fed Compher and then Tarasenko reversed for Gustafsson, to Tarasenko to Kasper shot blocked, Gustafsson walked to Tarasenko and he tucked the puck home for a 2-1 PPG.

Tarasenko scored at 10:12 from Gustafsson and Kasper, lateral pass yielding a reverse into an empty net. 2-1 Minnesota.

On the bump-up shift, Berggren, Motte and Fischer at least banged bodies on the forecheck;

A turnover in the Wings’ zone yielded a good cycle by the Wild at 11:40, but Larkin and Raymond worked the puck deep and Raymond shoveled the puck into the slot for nobody, but Detroit held the puck in the zone for a bit thereafter;

Gaudreau was stopped by Talbot once, Foligno twice, and the Larkin line changed after a good dump-in by Kasper;

As play continued, Kane fed Compher and back to DeBrincat it went, but into DeBrincat’s skates, negating a 3-on-2 chance…and SIMON EDVINSSON RIPPED A POINT SHOT INTO THE NET BEHIND GUSTAVSSON TO TIE THE GAME 2-2 at 13:12!

Edvinsson got a weak goal through Gustafsson to make it 2-2, from DeBrincat. Slap shot goal from the blueline, 2-2 tie.

As play continued, the Wild established a cycle in the Wings’ zone after a TV timeout, but Detroit mushed the puck out of trouble, and Kasper and Larkin fed Raymond for a flick-in dump-in that Detroit chased well, got to Edvinsson, and chipped deep for Kasper, before the Wild turned the puck over and skated up ice themselves…

Spurgeon was blocked trying to send a shot in on Talbot, and then Brodin got a tremendous chance that Talbot stopped with ease.

When play resumed after a TV timeout, the Wild continued to cycle well, and Marcus Johansson went down at one end of the ice, and DeBrincat was blocked off by Gaudreau on a 3-on-2, Foligno knocked down Kane and Detroit regrouped to some extent, but the Wings were able to get some help from Talbot as Bogosian’s shot was tipped wide by Ohgren…

Minnesota just kept winning puck battles, and ultimately, with 3:30 remaining, Edvinsson made a couple of blocks, Gustafsson helped, and Soderblom blasted a puck down the ice with Edvinsson having played 2:34 and Gustafsson 1:28…

So the Wings’ Veleno tied up the draw, Edvinsson chipped to Soderblom and Detroit tried to change, getting a break as the Wild chipped the puck out of play with 3:00 left in the 2nd.

On the next shift, Detroit drew a penalty and LARKIN got shoved and PUNCHED IN THE FACE by Middleton as a scrum brewed in front of Gustavsson’s net…

So at 17:18, Larkin got a call for slashing, Middleton got called for roughing, and Raymond getting tripped was never called. So it was 4-on-4.

Coach McLellan was pissed off because the Wild got away with one, and the Wings didn’t even get a deep zone faceoff as the defenseman came in from the point to join the scrum.

ON the 4 on 4, Kane walked through center, regrouped, and dropped to Compher, who cycled to Seider, through the middle, Wild playing 1-3, Kane looked to skate through center, regrouped, to Seider and in, stolen by the Wild, but Chiarot covers it up, DeBrincat hacked by Boldy, to CHIAROT stopped by Gustavsson.

The Wild then broke out and skated through center, Faber was blocked off, and Detroit set up, with Chiarot and Tarasenko skating through the middle of the ice, Tarasenko dangled but was stood up by Bogosian, and Marcus Johansson sent it up to Zuccarello, Bogosian pinched deep, Edvinsson battled Zuccarello, Johansson fed Faber, to Johansson, shot wide of Talbot, and the teams hit the ice at full strength with 40 seconds remaining…

Talbot made a good, sharp glove save on Foligno, who tried to stir things up with Edvinsson with 16.3 left in the 2nd…

And the 2nd period ended rather uneventfully, thankfully.

In the 3rd period, Larkin tied up the initial faceoff and Detroit chipped, chased, stole a Gustavsson chip-out and cycled well, with Kasper feeding Chiarot at the point, but the Wild broke free 3 on 2, and the Wild were furious that Moritz Seider dumped a Wild player in the Wings’ zone on a puck battle.

Talbot made a good stop on a backhand pass but Boldy missed the net 1:14 in;

Rossi stole the puck but Soderblom made a good slot block to prevent that pass from going into the Wings’ net;

Again, Minnesota was able to penetrate the Red Wings’ zone with little effort by the Red Wings to stifle the Wild, which was frustrating…

Detroit’s spates of puck possession were much rarer and shorter in terms of the periods of time when they earned ’em…

So Talbot stopped one, two, almost three shots some 3:00 in…

Then he stopped Marcus Johansson 3:30 in…

Veleno, Soderblom and Tarasenko at least forechecked a bit before the Wild were stood up at center ice and the Compher line came out to try to generate offense..

Regrettably, a bad Compher pass was intercepted, and Jonas Brodin nearly scored on the exchange…

Foligno dumped Albert Johansson hard in the Wings’ end some 5:00 in;

And after an easy stop for Gustavsson off a Raymond shot, the Wild gathered around Kasper to try and bait him into a scrum.

Talbot stopped Gaudreau with 13:52 left in regulation time, ushering in the first TV timeout…

With the Wild leading in shots 5-1 over the first 6:08 of the 3rd.

Tarasenko set up Kasper for a fine chance that was blocked, and Larkin got dumped by Middleton in front of the Wild net, with no penalty called, away from play, no less…

For being cross-checked in the ribs, dumped and hacked and whacked.

Then with 7:55 gone, Soderblom almost set up Tarasenko for a fine chance that was blocked away;

Talbot stopped a Brodin point shot, and the Wild continued to cycle, with Khusnutdinov blocked, but DeBrincat, Compher and Kane could not push the puck out of their own zone, and Seider had to dump and chase himself as the Wings changed with 10:45 remaining;

Off a bad set of kicks-and-not-clears by Edvinsson and Motte, the Berggren line struggled to push the puck through center ice with 9:50 gone, and so the Wild set up as both teams changed at 10:00, and Holl and Gustafsson were dumped, and Raymond was called offside, and of course Larkin was physically challenged as the whistle blew.

After the TV timeout, Boldy won a draw and Talbot had to stop a point shot in the defensive zone, Kane, Chiarot and DeBrincat broke out, but the Wild were pains in the ass, and cleared the zone, chipped and chased, and Detroit had to regroup and change with 8:50 left…

And as the Wings changed lines, Soderblom rushed the net, reversed the flow to Johansson, he lateralled to Edvinsson, and he blasted a shot through traffic and into the goal off the goalpost, giving Detroit a 3-2 lead.

Edvinsson scored from Johansson and Soderblom at 11:35, slap shot, 3-2 Detroit.

As play continued, the Red Wings were still skating on their back foot, so to speak, as the Wild kept dominating possession, control and territorial play, but Kane, Compher and DeBrincat tried to push the puck deep once, twice…

And the Red Wings were called for a hand pass with 6:46 remaining.

So the Wild won the draw and chipped, but the Wings reversed flow…

Larkin assuaged for a bad pass that yielded a Wild rush by checking their center off the puck…

And Larkin was slashed by Marco Rossi as he went to the bench, too. No call. Again.

After a TV timeout with 5:51 left, Tarasenko sent a shot on Gustavsson that was stopped off a Veleno faceoff win deep in the offensive zone, and Detroit cycled, maintaining control for a bit;

A bad Tarasenko giveaway yielded a shot that was blocked by Veleno, and a clear and change with 5:00 left…

Boldy, Rossi and Faber were stifled by the Wings’ defense, and Raymond, Larkin and Kasper had to change with 4:15 left…

A steal by Debrincat yielded a shot wide by Compher;

Khusnutdinov and the Wild persisted, however, so Talbot had to stop Ohgren, and then again on Brodin with 3:23 left…

Veleno then lost the deep d-zone draw, but Soderblom made a good check to clear the zone against Faber;

Soderblom was really doing a fantastic job at both ends of the ice.

But the Wild continued to dominate possession and control, so Detroit had to really defend their tails off and expend a lot of energy in order to stay on even footing.

Larkin made some good defensive plays to block off the Wild as they pulled Gustavsson with 1:45 left…

Faber, Foligno, Boldy, et. al. watched Talbot rim the puck to the half boards, Detroit battled the puck up ice, but could not clear, and Chiarot and Seider were able to get help from Tarasenko to clear the d-zone with 1:00 left.

Seider and Chiarot made good blocks, especially Chiarot, and as the Wild cycled along hte perimeter, Zuccarello fed a teammate and KASPER made a TREMENDOUS stick check to stop Rossi, who fired the puck into the outside of the goalpost.

The Wild called timeout with 32.0 remaining in regulation, and the Red Wings got an earful from their coaching staff as well…

Tarasenko remained on the ice, Veleno won the d-zone draw, they cleared the zone, when the Wild skated back in, the Wild cycled, and Kasper battled hard, with Compher and Tarasenko, and DETROIT PREVAILED to win 3-2 over Minnesota.

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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