Red Wings-Oilers Tweetcap: Larkin 2G + 2A, Finnie 2G + 1A in Detroit’s 5th win in a row

The 4-1-and-0 Detroit Red Wings attempted to push their winning streak to 5 games while facing a 2-2-and-1 Edmonton Oilers team which dropped a 5-2 loss to New Jersey on Saturday.

It’s not easy to sustain a winning streak in the NHL, and Edmonton is a proud team that had lost two games coming into today’s affair, so the Red Wings faced a stiff task opposite Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the rest of the talented Oilers.

The Red Wings also didn’t have the services of Patrick Kane (upper-body), and it was uncertain going into the game whether Dylan Larkin or Lucas Raymond (upper-body) might play.

On Sunday afternoon, the Red Wings DID win their 5th straight game, defeating Edmonton 4-2, empty-net goal included. John Gibson was excellent in stopping 16 of 18 shots, Emmitt Finnie scored 2 goals and had an assist, Dylan Larkin had 2 goals and an assist, Lucas Raymond battled through his injury and earned two assists…

And the Red Wings managed to shut down the mighty McDavid and Draisaitl, out-shooting Edmonton 26-18 and out-attempting them 61-35. Edmonton blocked a superb 21 shots, but Detroit hung tough and ground out 2-0 and 3-1 leads that they did not surrender.

PREGAME: The Red Wings received good news in warmups:

There were some Olympic implications for today’s game as well:

The Oilers posted their lineup quite early…

And the Red Wings waited to post their lineup:

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

John Gibson stopped the first shot 47 seconds into the 1st, and Edmonton made it difficult to enter their zone, standing up at their blueline and knocking down Red Wings passes and entries.

The Red Wings didn’t reply until 2:14 of the 1st, and Andrew Copp soon generated a scoring chance all alone in front of the Oilers’ net, jabbing a loose puck into Skinner 1-on-1.

Emmitt Finnie also stood up on McDavid, preventing some #97 magic.

In all honesty, the first period was very much so a high-octane period, but Edmonton and Detroit also played incredibly well defensively.

Late in the 1st, Detroit earned a 3-on-2 where Finnie, Seider and Larkin played catch in front of Skinner, but could not convert, and McDavid had gotten behind the Detroit defense on the counter-attack. Lucas Raymond made a smart play and knocked down the pass to McDavid.

2ND PERIOD:

Both teams came out with a TON of speed, trading some significant scoring chances, but John Gibson was up to the task.

Not a whole lot of results, but fast, rough play between the Wings and Oilers, and this…

Also:

Axel Sandin Pellikka hit the crossbar at 7:35 of the 2nd period, beating Skinner over the shoulder…

GOAL: At 8:51, Dylan Larkin won the faceoff to Raymond, back to Ben Chiarot it went, Larkin got loose in the slot, and Chiarot sent a perfect saucer pass over Oilers sticks to Larkin, who ripped a shot through Skinner at 8:51.

DETROIT 1, EDMONTON 0: Larkin (4) from Chiarot (2) and Raymond (2) at 8:51 2nd period.

PENALTY: Andrew Copp sat for tripping at 8:32 of the 2nd period.

GOAL: The Red Wings killed the penalty, and Emmitt Finnie scored his first NHL goal, jabbing the rebound of a Jacob Bernard-Docker shot through Skinner at 11:54.

DETROIT 2, EDMONTON 0: Finnie (1) from Bernard-Docker (1) and Larkin (5) at 11:54.

GOAL: At 12:25, Brett Kulak’s shot was retained by Vasily Podkolzin, he fired a shot at the net and Noah Philp tipped it down to score the 2-1 marker.

DETROIT 2, EDMONTON 1: Philp (2) from Podkolzin (2) and Kulak (1) at 12:25.

GOAL: And then Dylan Larkin spun at the right wing half boards and sent a “I hope it goes in” shot that went off Mattias Ekholm’s skate to make it 3-1 Detroit at 17:05.

DETROIT 3, EDMONTON 1: Larkin (5) from Finnie (3) and Gibson (1).

3RD PERIOD:

Detroit started out doing its best to withstand a really hard charge by the Oilers…

But this was not good:

The Red Wings obviously shuffled their lineup without Raymond, with DeBrincat earning a promotion to the Larkin line.

GOAL: Regrettably, Edmonton was able to set up a cycle in the offensive zone, and the puck went McDavid-to-Kulak-to-Ekholm-to-Kulak-to-Draisaitl, and #29 tucked in a shot that Gibson had no chance against at 7:33.

DETROIT 3, EDMONTON 2: Draisaitl (4) from Kulak (2) and Ekholm (1) at 7:33.

Lucas Raymond returned with about 10:00 remaining…

With no whistles for almost 9 minutes, the Oilers and Red Wings raced end to end, they really played high-octane hockey, and after Leon Draisaitl boobled a loose puck in the Wings’ slot…

GOAL: Emmitt Finnie received a set of passes from Larkin and Raymond and he chipped the puck down ice to score his 2nd goal, an empty-netter.

DETROIT 4, EDMONTON 2: Finnie (2) from Raymond (3) and Larkin (6).

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!