Red Wings-Ducks Tweetcap: Anaheim tricks Detroit on Halloween

The Red Wings played in the back half of a back-to-back slate of games on Friday night, battling the Anaheim Ducks as Detroit started John Gibson in his return to Anaheim, opposite the goaltender he mentored for several years in Lukas Dostal.

With the Wings playing 3 games over the course of the last 4 nights, energy, fit and finish would be areas of focus for the team as they played the the dynamic, Joel Quenneville-coached Ducks.

On Halloween night, Detroit got tricked, not treated, and they got tricked in no small part by the referees. Troy Terry opened the scoring with a shorty at 4:53, Lucas Raymond tied it up at 8:19, and after Leo Carlsson and Mason McTavish scored goals that were caused by ugly Detroit coverage halfway through the 1st and 6:35 into the 2nd, respectively…

A Moritz Seider goal which would have made it 3-2 was deemed “no goal” by the referees due to a supposed kicking motion by Seider.

While Detroit did get that 3-2 marker at 15:25 of the 2nd by Alex DeBrincat…

Anaheim got a weird goal deemed to be awarded because John Gibson pushed the net off the pegs only 55 seconds into the 3rd period, and Detroit could not convert on 3 3rd period power plays…

Eventually surrendering an empty-netter to Troy Terry at 17:28 of the 3rd.

Detroit went 1-for-7 in 11:02 of PP time, and gave up a shorthanded goal, which isn’t good enough; the Copp line was poor, the Wings gave up so many odd-man rushes off turnovers at the offensive blueline that it was silly, and…

This became a learning lesson type of game.

PREGAME: Lukas Dostal and John Gibson led their respective teams onto the ice at the Honda Center…

Anaheim posted its lineup fairly late…

And the Red Wings listed their lineup 10 minutes before puck drop:

1ST PERIOD:

The teams dressed the following starters and lineups:

Anaheim’s big, heavy team presented a worrisome task given that the Ducks are a very big, heavy team, and Detroit definitely noticed that early on in the game, with Anaheim chipping its first shot on Gibson 2:04 into the 1st period;

Detroit’s first scoring chance came from Elmer Soderblom, who was able to chip a puck out front for James van Riemsdyk, who was kick-stopped by Jacob Trouba, covering up for goaltender Lukas Dostal.

PENALTY: At 3:10 of the 1st period, Sam Colangelo was called for delay of game as he chipped a puck out of play in the defensive zone.

GOAL: On the Wings’ power play, Troy Terry took a Drew Helleson pass and caught Axel Sandin Pellikka flat-footed, charging up the ice, and Terry would beat Gibson blocker side at 4:53 to score the game’s first goal.

Anaheim 1, Detroit 0: Terry (4) from Helleson (4) at 4:53, shorthanded.

PENALTY: Michael Rasmussen was called for “slashing” at 5:31 because a Ducks defender’s stick broke as Rasmussen’s blade touched it and the stick blade touched the boards.

GOAL: Detroit killed the penalty, and at 8:19, Alex DeBrincat chipped the puck up to Dylan Larkin at the Wings’ blueline, Larkin pivoted and found Lucas Raymond chugging up the right wing side, and Raymond raced in on Dostal and chipped the puck through the Ducks goalie at 8:19 of the 1st period.

Anaheim 1, Detroit 1: Raymond (3) from Larkin (9) and DeBrincat (10) at 8:19 1st period.

Anaheim did share a tribute video for Gibson at the 11:52 mark of the 1st period, and FanDuel Sports Network Detroit shared the moment with the fans, which was pretty cool.

GOAL: Marco Kasper tried to pass against the grain in the Anaheim zone, and Troy Terry took Kasper’s lateral pass, Chiarot had been pinching and got caught as 3 Ducks went the other way…

The Ducks raced through center ice, Terry slithered the puck away from Jonatan Berggren, and Leo Carlsson chipped the puck into the goal over John Gibson’s right toe.

Anaheim 2, Detroit 1: Carlsson (5) from Terry (8) at 12:24 1st.

Anaheim really peppered Gibson and the Wings throughout the 1st period, with Anaheim taking an 11-5 shot advantage some 18:00 into the 1st…It would be 12-6 by the time the period ended.

2ND PERIOD:

PENALTY: Chris Kreider hooked Lucas Raymond down at 11 seconds of the 2nd period, affording Detroit a power play.

Detroit got a couple of direct shots in on Dostal off faceoffs, but then the Ducks pressed Seider back into his zone…

When the first PP unit eventually set up, the Ducks’ sticks in lanes were a problem…

And Detroit’s first unit played the full 2:00, getting 4 shots on Dostal.

Anaheim was really getting in the Wings’ faces and plucking off Wings passes through the middle of the ice, in all three zones, yielding a superb counterattack offense that kept Detroit’s hands full for a big chunk of the evening.

GOAL: Detroit finally got their own 3-on-2 as Moritz Seider slid the puck to Alex DeBrincat left wing side, Seider attacked the net, and off a Dostal stop on Marco Kasper’s one-timer, Moritz Seider put the rebound home at the left side of the net at 4:58 of the 2nd period…

But Anaheim challenged the goal, contesting based upon Seider kicking the puck into the goal, and after a long review, the referees decided NO GOAL, which was baffling.

GOAL: Regrettably, the Red Wings got back into their chasing-the-Ducks ways, and off a bad turnover that was afforded to Anaheim, Cutter Gauthier slid the puck to the point, Olen Zellweger sent the puck to Mason McTavish, and he cycled over the top of the Wings’ defense, with Axel Sandin Pellikka chasing him across the slot…

And McTavish chipped a shot through Gibson with both 2 Ducks AND Jonatan Berggren and Andrew Copp screening him.

Anaheim 3, Detroit 1: McTavish (2) from Zellweger (2) and Gauthier (3) at 6:35 2nd period.

PENALTY: At 10:13 of the 2nd period, Moritz Seider got tagged for holding because he fell over onto Beckett Sennecke and braced himself.

PENALTY: Dylan Larkin raced in on a breakaway and was slashed by both Lacombe and Kreider, and Kreider was called at 10:50 for the slashes on Larkin. Dostal made a good stop as well.

PENALTY: And, somehow, Ben Chiarot was pulling down a Duck at one point, but instead, Andrew Copp was called for hooking at 11:31 of the 2nd period.

Anaheim got a 4-on-3 PP for just over 30 seconds…

The penalties were frustrating, but Anaheim didn’t menace the Wings with the same kind of authority that they possessed earlier in the game. Wide shots by the Ducks helped.

PENALTY: Olen Zellweger was called for tripping Elmer Soderblom at 15:17 of the 2nd period, and it was a weird penalty, but Detroit needed to get back into the game very badly.

GOAL: Dylan Larkin won the power play faceoff to Moritz Seider, he found Lucas Raymond at the left wing half boards, Raymond spun it down to DeBrincat, and he tucked the puck in past Dostal’s left pad, tucking it in far side.

Anaheim 3, Detroit 2: DeBrincat (4) from Raymond (8) and Seider (5) at 15:25 2nd period, PPG.

PENALTY: Beckett Sennecke was called for charging at 15:55, and that’s what he did, running J.T. Compher from behind.

Neither team scored on their power plays, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying, and a wild and crazy end of the 2nd period saw fans booing the referees, Jacob Trouba leveling Jonatan Berggren, both teams attacking the net and much more…

But nobody scored, thanks in no small part to Gibson and Dostal’s stops.

3RD PERIOD:

PENALTY: Simon Edvinsson tripped Leo Carlsson skating through center ice, and that’s a penalty. Detroit went to the box at 0:31 of the 3rd period.

GOAL: John Gibson accidentally pushed the net off the pegs as Chris Kreider tipped the puck over Albert Johansson on a chaotic situation, and the Ducks’ goal counted.

Anaheim 4, Detroit 2: Kreider (5) from Gauthier (4) and Carlsson (9) at 55 seconds of the 3rd period, PPG.

The Red Wings did press hard to solve Dostal and get back within a goal as the first 5 minutes of the 3rd period progressed, but Anaheim got some breaks, and in a physical, pounding game, Detroit just didn’t quite have it.

PENALTY: Cutter Gauthier was called for hooking at 4:58 of the 3rd period, affording Detroit a crucial power play.

PENALTY: And after the Red Wings’ first unit played poorly, James van Riemsdyk took a dumb penalty, slashing a Duck at 6:23 of the 3rd period.

PENALTY: Chris Kreider held Albert Johansson in the offensive zone, nearly 200 feet from his net, and he sat at 7:53 of the 3rd period.

Detroit would get 29 seconds of 4-on-4 time, and then about a minute-and-a-half of PP time.

Detroit didn’t score on the power play, but they forced Dostal to make some great stops, and, moreover, some wonderful work by the first unit afforded Detroit a TON of momentum in the final 10 minutes of play.

PENALTY: Beckett Sennecke sat to represent the bench as Anaheim had 6 skaters on the ice at 14:33 of the 3rd period. Too many men.

Detroit was expertly stifled by the Ducks, however, and held off the scoreboard and the shot clock at the same time. Anaheim was out-shooting Detroit 8-4 in the 3rd and 29-25 overall, and that’s not ideal when you’re trying to rally from a 2-goal deficit.

GOALIE PULL: Detroit pulled Gibson with 2:47 left in the 3rd period…

GOAL: And Troy Terry scored almost immediately as a Wings pass went off a stanchion right to Terry, who slid the puck into an empty net at 17:28.

Anaheim 5, Detroit 2: Terry (5) from Carlsson (10) at 17:28 3rd period. Empty net.

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!