Red Wings-Islanders Tweetcap: Detroit escapes the first-game-back trap, earns a measure of revenge vs. the Isles

The Detroit Red Wings opened their pre-Christmas stretch run by hosting the New York Islanders on Tuesday at Little Caesars Arena, facing a team that’s won 3 straight and 6 of their past 7 games.

The Islanders have also pummeled the Red Wings in their first two meetings, defeating Detroit 7-2 and then 5-0, so there was a bit of a revenge factor involved in tonight’s affair.

The Red Wings are also in a situation where they need to accumulate as many wins as possible to remain in the Atlantic Division and/or Wild Card playoff race as the Atlantic division’s stacked with incredible parity at present, so every night is a challenge not to be overlooked.

On Tuesday night at LCA, the Red Wings earned a measure of revenge, winning a 3-2 decision over the Islanders that was very hard-fought.

Emil Heineman would actually open the scoring at 4:27 of the 1st period, and the Wings looked pretty gassed throughout the 1st and part of the 2nd, but the Wings shook off the “First Game Back From A West Coast Swing Sleepies” (FGBFAWCSS) as the 2nd period progressed, and in the 3rd period…

Axel Sandin Pellikka would break Sorokin’s shutout at 2:03, from Lucas Raymond; 1:22 later, at 3:55, Alex DeBrincat would score a power play marker from Seider and Raymond, to break the tie…

And while Scott Mayfield would tie things up at 11:26, a bad penalty by Mayfield would yield Alex DeBrincat’s game-winner, his 20th, from Seider and Raymond, at 17:43 of the 3rd.

Patrick Roy would pull the stellar Sorokin, but the Red Wings spent most of their time almost getting Alex DeBrincat a hat trick instead while the Isles were up 6 skaters to 5.

PREGAME: John Gibson and Ilya Sorokin led their respective teams out onto the ice at Little Caesars Arena…

The Islanders don’t post their lineup before the game, so we’ll rely on Newsday’s Andrew Gross for said lineup…

But Red Wings posted their lineup as usual:

1ST PERIOD:

The teams dressed the following starters and lineups:

GOAL: Sadly, the Islanders broke in 3-on-3 vs. the Red Wings, Seider and Finnie drifted to the right side as Drouin and Barzal dropped and passed the puck laterally, and Simon Edvinsson was far too far away from Emil Heineman to afford John Gibson a good look at a shot that rifled into the top shelf of the net at 4:27 of the 1st.

New York 1, Detroit 0: Heineman (11) from Barzal (17) and Drouin (13) at 4:27.

The Islanders and Red Wings traded some dominant shifts down the stretch in the 1st period, with the Larkin line sending shots on Sorokin for 2+ minutes and then the Isles making John Gibson’s life difficult, but the score remained 1-0.

2ND PERIOD:

PENALTY: Simon Edvinsson lifted Mat Barzal’s stick one too many times, and was called for hooking at 18:10 of the 2nd period.

3RD PERIOD:

GOAL: Off a fine faceoff win by J.T. Compher, Axel Sandin Pellikka chugged up the right wing boards, turned toward the net at the red line, and shoveled a puck over Sorokin’s shoulder to make it 1-1 at 2:03 of the 3rd period.

New York 1, Detroit 1: Axel Sandin Pellikka (4) from Raymond (25) at 2:03 of the 3rd period.

PENALTY: Schaefer for holding at 3:17 3rd period.

GOAL: Alex DeBrincat took a fine shot off a set of passes from Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider, finding the top of the net over a screened Sorokin to make it 2-1 with 2 goals in 1:22.

New York 1, Detroit 2: DeBrincat (19) from Seider (19) and Raymond (26) at 3:55 3rd period, PPG.

Detroit woke up after its second goal, pressuring Sorokin and the Islanders’ defense quite well, all things considered. James van Riemsdyk rang a puck off the goalpost with about 11:30 remaining, and the Wings’ defense tightened up at the other end of the ice.

GOAL: However, Scott Mayfield walked into the slot off a bad defefnsive change and took a pass from J-G Pageau and slid a shot toward the net that Michael Rasmussen’s stick slowed. The puck rolled over John Gibson’s pad and into the net to tie the game 2-2 at 11:26.

New York 2, Detroit 2: Mayfield (1) from Pageau (8) and Lee (13) at 11:26 3rd period.

TIMEOUT: The Islanders took a timeout with 6:37 remaining in the 3rd period.

PENALTY: Curtis Mayfield took a penalty with 3:10 left for tripping Dylan Larkin.

GOAL: Off a fine set of passes from Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider, Alex DeBrincat was blocked off on his first shot, but his second shot went off the head of Ilya Sorokin and into the net at 17:42 of the 3rd period.

New York 2, Detroit 3: DeBrincat (20) from Seider (20) and Raymond (27) at 17:43 3rd, PPG.

GOALIE PULL: The Isles pulled Sorokin with 1:50 remaining.

Detroit did enough to win, and Alex DeBrincat was close to scoring a hat trick repeatedly.

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!