Red Wings-Canadiens Tweetcap: Detroit loses 5-1 to open centennial season on a sour note

The Detroit Red Wings opened their 100th season with an Original Six match-up with the Montreal Canadiens.

Montreal, which dropped a 5-2 decision to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday (though they insisted they “played good enough to win“), dressed the same lineup that it iced in Toronto, minus Samuel Montembeault in goal.

Jakub Dobes faced off against John Gibson in the Wings’ crease, and the Red Wings stuck with what had worked with them in practice this week.

On Thursday night, the Red Wings started very well, generating a power play goal from captain Dylan Larkin only 3:50 into the 1st…

But a combination of poor neutral zone play, defensive errors and a rough night from John Gibson–and some fine play from a resilient Canadiens team–yielded 3 Canadiens first-period goals, 2 second-period goals (including a PPG marker), and, in the end, a 5-1 victory for Montreal.

John Gibson was pulled after giving up 5 goals on 13 shots against, and Detroit actually out-shot Montreal 31-17, went 1-for-4 on the PP to Montreal’s 1-for-3, and Detroit out-attempted Montreal 63-38, but again, unforced defensive errors and porous goaltending doomed the team.

Things will not get any easier: On Saturday, the Red Wings open a home-and-home series with the Toronto Maple Leafs; then the Wings entertain the Panthers and Lightning, and they also host the Edmonton Oilers before a 2-day break and a 3-in-4-nights slate in Buffalo, on Long Island, and at home against St. Louis, preceding a nasty 5-game West Coast swing.

Long story short, shit happens, and sometimes you fall flat on your face in your home opener. But the schedule does not afford the Red Wings any more “gimme” games.

PREGAME: The Red Wings hit the ice at LCA at 6:35 PM…

But the team didn’t give its trio of NHL debutantes a “rookie lap”:

And the Red Wings posted a 2-minute video celebrating the team’s 100th anniversary:

1ST PERIOD: The Red Wings and Canadiens dressed the following starters and lineups:

PENALTY: Noah Dobson sat for interfering with Elmer Soderblom at 3:13 of the 1st.

Detroit started its top PP unit of Larkin, Raymond, Kane, DeBrincat and Seider;

GOAL: DETROIT 1, MONTREAL 0.

Dylan Larkin was the unintended recipient of a pass from Patrick Kane to Alex DeBrincat, who fanned on the shot, and Larkin ripped the slot shot through Jakub Dobes to make it 1-0 at 3:50 of the 1st.

Larkin from Kane and DeBrincat at 3:50 1st. PPG.

PENALTY: Marco Kasper sat for roughing Kirby Dach at 5:51 of the 1st. PK.

Detroit killed the penalty.

GOAL: DETROIT 1, MONTREAL 1.

Zachary Bolduc simply was afforded a sneak-behind the Red Wings’ defense, and after Mike Matheson sent the puck up ice, Brendan Gallagher found Bolduc at 10:14 of the 1st.

Bolduc from Gallagher and Matheson at 10:14 1st. Even strength goal.

The game opened up a bit, and Detroit was surrendering a fair number of grade-A scoring chances against…

GOAL: Detroit 1, Montreal 2.

The Habs raced up ice and Demidov sent it up to Newhook, who raced in 2-on-1 against Hamonic. Newhook lateralled to Kapanen and Gibson could not stop the shot at 12:43 of the 1st.

Kapanen from Newhook and Demidov at 12:43 1st. Even strength goal.

PENALTY: Brendan Gallagher high-sticked Michael Brandsegg-Nygard at 13:15. Detroit headed to the power play for 2:00.

The power play was beautiful and dominated the Habs for 1:50 of zone time, but Detroit did not score.

GOAL: Detroit 1, Montreal 3.

Mike Matheson slid into the slot and fired a high, hard snapper through John Gibson’s glove at 19:53 of the 1st period, off a very odd play.

The goal read Matheson from Nick Suzuki and Noah Dobson. 19:53 1st. Even strength goal.

2ND PERIOD: Alex DeBrincat clanged a shot off the juncture of the crossbar and goalpost at about 4:30 of the 2nd, affording Detroit their first real chance of the 2nd period, from Kane and Kasper…but the puck stayed out.

GOAL: Detroit 1, Montreal 4.

In a bizarre play, Zachary Bolduc tipped a shot that bounced off Albert Johansson’s arm on the way toward the net–with Kirby Dach and Andrew Copp standing in the crease with John Gibson–and Montreal made it 4-1 at 5:17. Ultimately, the goal was awarded to William Carrier, however…

The goal read Carrier from Xhekaj and Gallagher at 5:17 2nd. Even strength goal.

A personnel tweak was made by coach Todd McLellan about 12:00 into the 2nd:

PENALTY: Off Mason Appleton breaking his stick, Simon Edvinsson was called for a terrible trip in which the Canadiens’ Alex Newhook dove. Edvinsson for tripping at 12:53.

With about 3:13 remaining, Patrick Kane sprung Alex DeBrincat with a 3-line pass, but he was both stopped by Jakub Dobes, and then he fanned on the rebound, and put a third attempt off the goalpost.

PENALTY: Worse, right after the DeBrincat rush, Moritz Seider got his stick caught up in Alex Newhook’s skates, and he was called for tripping at 17:05. Accidental but a trip nonetheless.

GOAL: Detroit 1, Montreal 5.

Worser, the Canadiens won their faceoff in the offensive zone, Slafkovsky kicked it back to Caufield, his shot was stopped by Gibson, and he made a blocker stop, but the puck bounced to Slafkovsky and it was 5-1 in a hurry. 17:12 2nd.

The goal read Slafkovsky from Caufield and Suzuki at 17:12 2nd period, power play.

3RD PERIOD: The Red Wings needed to at least focus on good habits, effort and building for Saturday and Monday’s home-and-home series against Toronto.

About 4:20 into the 3rd period, Ben Chiarot was hit in the face, sans penalty…

The Red Wings just weren’t attacking well or getting through the neutral zone with much urgency.

PENALTY: Arber Xhekaj was called for holding the stick of J.T. Compher at 5:32 of the 3rd.

On the power play, off the first faceoff, Patrick Kane fell over and the Red Wings were nearly scored on via a shorthanded 2-on-2.

Detroit did persist, but very little went right.

PENALTY: Brendan Gallagher sat with 3:18 remaining in the 3rd for tripping Moritz Seider. Power play Detroit.

The very late PP at least showed skill and some execution, but therein lie the problem for the Red Wings–their execution was terrible, all night long, and Detroit was doomed by the lack thereof.

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!

One thought on “Red Wings-Canadiens Tweetcap: Detroit loses 5-1 to open centennial season on a sour note”

  1. Only one game, but that was brutal. The only good thing was ASP playing 20+ minutes and looked good.

    Hamonic might be worse than Holl. And I’ve seen enough of Rasmussen. Get rid of him!

Comments are closed.