Red Wings-Devils Tweetcap: defensive mistakes bedevil the Wings, but grit, scrappy demeanor nearly yields another comeback

The Detroit Red Wings aimed to keep the good times rolling as it faced a difficult match-up with the unbeaten-at-home New Jersey Devils on Monday evening, kicking off a week in which the Wings will play 4 games over the course of 6 days and nights.

New Jersey has built something of a powerhouse team, so the Wings would find themselves facing a significant challenge.

On Monday night in Newark, defensive mistakes doomed the Red Wings. Timo Meier opened the scoring 12:54 into the 1st, and while Alex DeBrincat tied the game at 16:33, off a set of passes from Kane and Seider, Nico Hischier (at 17:58) and Cody Glass (at 19:04) would respond to give the Devils a 3-1 lead exiting the 1st period…

And after James van Riemsdyk scored 1:30 into the 2nd on a power play, a terrible defensive mistake by Travis Hamonic yielded Connor Brown’s 4-1 goal at 8:38 of the 2nd.

The Wings rallied in a huge way in the 3rd, with Larkin scoring at 10:12 and the Wings unleashing 13 shots in the 3rd and 27 over the 2nd and 3rd periods–of 35 total shots on Markstrom–and after the whistle, the Wings were pissed off at the Devils and their shenanigans:

Too many defensive mistakes doomed Detroit, but their process was great, their effort was great, their toughness was fantastic, and the star players didn’t need anyone riding shotgun.

The Predators, who are losing 5-2 to Florida at 9:53 PM EST, are going to be in for a beating on Wednesday at Little Caesars Arena.

PREGAME: Cam Talbot and Jacob Markstrom led their respective teams out onto the ice at the Prudential Center…

The Devils rely upon the immaculate handwriting of Amanda Stein to post their lines…

And the Red Wings released their lines and starters closer to game time:

1ST PERIOD:

The Red Wings and Devils dressed the following starters and lineups:

Quite the milestone!

PENALTY: J.T. Compher was called for boarding Nico Hischier at 1:52 of the 1st period, affording New Jersey an early power play.

FIGHT + PENALTIES: J.T. Compher came out of the penalty box on a breakaway, he was stopped, and Stefan Noesen fought Compher in retaliation for the hit on Hischier. Compher got 5 for fighting at 4:01, and Noesen got 2 for roughing and 5 for fighting at 4:01.

Detroit did not score on its power play.

PENALTY: Off a fine stop by Cam Talbot, Andrew Copp chugged up the ice and was hooked by Dougie Hamilton at 9:21 of the 1st.

Detroit got some good looks but didn’t score on the power play.

GOAL: The Red Wings made a poor decision to change as the Devils were cycling in the Red Wings’ zone, the puck was held in by Stefan Noesen and he fired a shot on goal that Timo Meier tipped past Cam Talbot to give New Jersey a 1-0 lead at 12:54 of the 1st.

New Jersey 1, Detroit 0: Meier (7) from Noesen (2) and Hischier (11) at 12:54 of the 1st period.

GOAL: Patrick Kane chugged up the right wing fast and then slowed down, Alex DeBrincat continued to drive the center net lane, and DeBrincat looked over his shoulder, got a pass from Kane and poked the puck past Markstrom at 16:33 of the 1st.

New Jersey 1, Detroit 1: DeBrincat (11) from Kane (9) and Seider (12) at 16:33 1st.

GOAL: Nico Hischier drove the net in the Red Wings’ slot as Jacob Bernard-Docker lost his check, Ben Chiarot could not step up to stifle Hischier, and he fired the puck over Talbot to give the Devils a 2-1 lead at 17:56 of the 1st.

New Jersey 2, Detroit 1: Hischier (7) from Bratt (17) and Meier (10) at 17:56.

GOAL: Worse, a Luke Hughes shot from the right point was tipped off a Red Wings stick, and with more traffic in front of Talbot, the puck hit the stick of Cody Glass, who scored the 3-goal at 19:02 of the 1st.

New Jersey 3, Detroit 1: Glass (4) from Luke Hughes (12) and Brown (2) at 19:02 of the 1st.

2ND PERIOD:

PENALTY: New Jersey’s Dougie Hamilton was called for high-sticking Emmitt Finnie in the face at 20 seconds of the 2nd period.

GOAL: Detroit won a deep offensive zone faceoff back to Axel Sandin Pellikka, ASP lateralled it to Emmitt Finnie, Finnie’s shot was redirected by Andrew Copp and he found James van Riemsdyk, who backhanded the rebound over Markstrom at 1:30 of the 2nd period.

New Jersey 3, Detroit 2: van Riemsdyk (2) from Copp (8) and Finnie (6) at 1:30 2nd period, PPG.

GOAL: Dawson Mercer made a weird play off a Travis Hamonic rim-around attempt, reversing flow, and as Cam Talbot tried to get across the crease from the right post to the left post, Connor Brown stuffed the puck into the empty net.

New Jersey 4, Detroit 2: Brown (6) from Mercer (8) at 8:38 of the 2nd period.

3RD PERIOD:

The Wings made a personnel tweak in the 3rd, placing Albert Johansson with Axel Sandin Pellikka, and Jacob Bernard-Docker with Travis Hamonic.

GOAL: It took until 10:12 of the 3rd period, but Lucas Raymond took the puck from Moritz Seider, he charged toward the net, jabbed a puck in on Jacob Markstrom, and Dylan Larkin jammed the rebound home (and took some punches as an altercation erupted post-goal) to bring the Wings to within 4-3.

New Jersey 4, Detroit 3: Larkin (13) from Raymond (17) and Seider (13) at 10:12 3rd.

Lucas Raymond got smoked by Jonas Siegenthaler wit about 14:50 gone, but the referees chose not to pay attention to a shoulder to the face of Raymond. Raymond would be attended to by Piet van Zant and emerge OK.

GOALIE PULLED: Cam Talbot exited the goal with 2:05 left in the 3rd.

Detroit was unable to tie the game, but Detroit peppered Markstrom with shots, the top line and 6-on-5 were exilerating, and after the whistle expired, the teams scrummed heavily, with Raymond and Siegenthaler going at it, Markstrom trying to get in there after Larkin and being held off by van Riemsdyk, and more.

PENALTIES: At 20:00 of the 3rd, Larkin got 2-and-10 for roughing and a misconduct, Raymond got 2 for roughing, on the Devils’ side, Siegenthaler and Bratt got 2 for roughing, and Markstrom got 2 for leaving the crease.

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!