Red Wings-Blackhawks Game #2 Tweetcap: Wings’ penalty-kill stars in 3-1 victory over Chicago

The Detroit Red Wings hoped to snap a 2-game losing streak as they battled a stacked Chicago Blackhawks lineup on Tuesday evening, with the Wings dressing 2 NHL forward lines and a mostly prospect-heavy lineup.

On Tuesday night, the Red Wings were not necessarily on their best behavior, so Detroit was out-penalized 6 to 1, but J.T. Compher opened the scoring (from Soderblom) only 3:36 in, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard scored (from Larkin and ASP) at 9:16 of the 1st, and Lucas Raymond scored on a slick play from a coming-out-of-the-penalty-box Jonatan Berggren at 16:24 of the 2nd, and while Colton Dach broke Cam Talbot’s shutout 2:53 into the 3rd, Talbot stopped 27 more shots…

Affording Detroit a 3-1 victory, and snapping a 3-game losing streak.

Detroit killed all 6 Blackhawks power plays, and Dylan Larkin did exit the game for a period of time in the 3rd (as per Darren Pang of CHSN), but he returned during the Wings’ sixth penalty-kill and looked really good overall.

This was perhaps Axel Sandin Pellikka’s best game, Mason Appleton looked really solid, Jacob Bernard-Docker was strong, and Elmer Soderblom was a force to be reckoned with. That, and Talbot played like he knows his job is on the line, as did Berggren.

1ST PERIOD: The teams dressed the following rosters, starters included:

GOAL: Only 3:36 into the 1st period, J.T. Compher was the recipient of a fine steal by Elmer Soderblom at the Red Wings’ blueline, in which Soderblom stole the puck from Connor Bedard, and the two Wings raced up the left wing, Compher got the pass and he ripped a hard one through a Blackhawks defenseman and past Spencer Knight’s blocker at 3:36.

Compher from Soderblom at 3:36, Detroit 1, Chicago 0.

Detroit was initially really pushed back by the Chicago Blackhawks’ forechecking and physical game, but the Wings regrouped well and pushed into Chicago’s zone via turnovers at center and team speed.

I really liked the Finnie-Rasmussen-Appleton line…

But Cam Talbot deserves a whole lot of praise for stopping the Hawks in the Wings’ slot repeatedly as the Teravainen-Nazar-Bertuzzi line threatened.

Sandin Pellikka looks more and more comfortable, too:

Finnie looks solid as well:

GOAL: Off a smart change in the offensive zone, Dylan Larkin sustained possession, circled the net, and sent the puck out to Michael Brandsegg-Nygard in the slot, flicking the puck through Spencer Knight at 9:16 of the 1st period.

The goal read Michael Brandsegg-Nygard from Dylan Larkin and Axel Sandin Pellikka, 9:16 1st, Detroit 2, Chicago 0.

PENALTY: Mason Appleton high-sticked Artem Levshunov and sat at 14:46 of the 1st period.

Detroit did a fine job of killing the penalty; of all people, Johansson, ASP, William Lagesson and Jacob Bernard-Docker were good on defense behind Compher and Rasmussen.

FYI:

2ND PERIOD:

PENALTY: At 4:11, Jacob Bernard-Docker was called for a stupid penalty in which Connor Bedard drew him into a roughing minor.

The Blackhawks dominated with their top unit on the power play (Bedard, Bertuzzi, Nazar, Rinzel and Teravainen), but Detroit did a good job of at least holding Chicago to the outside, and Cam Talbot was very, very good when necessary.

PENALTY: Jason Dickinson got called for slashing Justin Holl at 9:38.

On the power play, Sandin Pellikka, Larkin, Raymond, Compher and Copp worked on the 1st unit, and Larkin got a pass off a Hawks player’s skate while trying to fire the puck across to Compher…So Chicago got the only shot of the first 1:14, with Rinzel firing in on Talbot.

Berggren, Brandsegg-Nygard, Johansson, Lombardi and Soderblom worked on the 2nd unit.

The power play was held off the board.

PENALTY: At 14:12, Jonatan Berggren took a dumb offensive zone holding penalty, affording Chicago its 3rd power play.

GOAL: The Wings killed the penalty, Jonatan Berggren came out of the box, lost his left glove, skated in deep and slid the puck across to Lucas Raymond, who sent a bouncer into the net behind Spencer Knight at 16:24. Raymond from Berggren, Detroit 3, Chicago 0.

PENALTY: Daffily, Sam Rinzel tried to skate around Albert Johansson and Johansson was called for getting his hip out on Rinzel. “Kneeing” at 17:55.

The Blackhawks played the full PP with Nazar, Bertuzzi, Teravainen, Bedard and Rinzel, but the Wings blocked shots, blocked passes, and ultimately, Detroit not only killed the penalty, but Albert Johansson was sprung out of the box on a breakaway, shanking his shot on Spencer Knight wide to end the period.

3RD PERIOD: Elmer Soderblom made a fine block as Chicago’s Connor Bedard tried to spring Matt Grzelcyk on a 2-on-1 break, stifling a goal against, after Soderblom was strong on the forecheck some 2:10 into the 3rd.

GOAL: Regrettably, Cam Talbot came off the post early as Colton Dach skated around Albert Johansson, and Dach broke Talbot’s shutout at 2:53.

Dach from Foligno and Del Mastro at 2:53. Detroit 3, Chicago 1.

PENALTY: Worse, Michael Rasmussen got his stick into the arms of Colton Dach, who dove. Rasmussen was called for “tripping” at 5:31.

WORSE: Darren Pang reported that Dylan Larkin was not on the Red Wings’ bench.

Detroit did fairly well on the PK, keeping that top unit off the board and getting some stops from Talbot–and a breakaway from Compher that was stopped by Knight–but the Hawks continued to press after the PP expired.

Pang also stated that Nicklas Lidstrom was in the building, and that’s the second time I’ve heard about that. It sounds like Lidstrom’s visiting for the preseason.

The top line consisted of Finnie, Copp and Raymond after Larkin’s exit…

PENALTY: Bafflingly, William Lagesson was called for bumping Marcus Foligno at 13:07 of the 3rd, sitting for “holding” to give the Hawks their 6th power play to 1 for Detroit.

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE: Dylan Larkin returned to the PK and he and Raymond nearly scored on a 2-on-1 with 5:15 left in the 3rd, on the PK.

Goalie pull: Chicago pulled Spencer Knight with 2:45 remaining in the 3rd.

The Red Wings had to be very good to keep the Hawks from narrowing the lead to 3-2, and they were, between Talbot and the Hawks, and it was a huge relief to see Dylan Larkin return.

STATISTICS: Here are the Game Summary and Event Summary:

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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!