Author: George Malik

Of prospect-related note in North America on Saturday night:

In the ECHL, Kaden Fulcher did not play in the Toledo Walleye’s 4-1 exhibition loss to Kamazoo;

In the QMJHL, Jan Bednar served as the back-up in the Acadie-Bathurst Titan’s 4-3 shootout loss to Moncton;

Oscar Plandowski finished even with 1 shot in the Charlottetown Islanders’ 4-0 loss to Shawinigan;

In the WHL, Cross Hanas had an assist and finished even with 4 shots in the Portland Winterhawks’ 4-3 win over Tri-City;

In the BCHL, Kienan Draper finished even in the Chilliwack Chiefs’ 6-3 loss to Langley;

In NCAA Hockey, Chase Bradley finished at -1 in the University of Connecticut Huskies’ 3-0 loss to Ohio State;

From a prospect development perspective, there’s good news and bad news in the Grand Rapids Griffins’ 7-3 loss to the Milwaukee Admirals.

The good news is that Joe Veleno, who scored a goal in Friday’s home opener, followed his performance with 2 more goals on Saturday; Taro Hirose had 2 assists, as did key Griffins contributor Ryan Murphy, and Riley Barber scored as well.

The not-so-good news is that the Griffins were not able to follow up a 6-1 Friday night performance with anything less than 6 goals tagged on starter Victor Brattstrom (Milwaukee scored their seventh goal into an empty net)…And Veleno, Chase Pearson, Hirose, Barber and Jonatan Berggren all finished at -3, all on a night where 5 Griffins were not minus players.

The Grand Rapids Griffins’ website recapped the up-and-down affair:

Joe Veleno’s two-goal outing fell by the wayside as the Grand Rapids Griffins were upended 7-3 away from home at Panther Arena against the Milwaukee Admirals on Saturday. This game marked the 193^rd meeting between the two teams and the first since the 2019-20 season due to Milwaukee opting out of the shortened 2020-21 campaign.

Veleno now has three goals in two games to start the season, leading the Griffins in goal scoring.

Grand Rapids (1-1-0-0) drew first blood at the 2:40 mark of the opening period before it saw itself in a 5-1 hole heading into the final frame. The Griffins doubled their goal count in the third, but the Admirals (1-0-0-0) matched the tempo and held off the late push from Grand Rapids to take their first victory in 584 days.

Grand Rapids (1-1-0-0) takes on the Manitoba Moose (0-1-0-0) in a two-game road series beginning on Friday at 8 p.m. EDT inside Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

The Detroit Red Wings’ 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks was an odd one. Detroit was out-shot 41-21, out-attempted 71-39, Vancouver dangled and danced with the puck in the Red Wings’ zone for the majority of the game, and yet, the team with less possession, fewer chances and less seeming energy (than a team that was playing its 3rd game in 4 nights) managed to win the affair.

There was no doubt that Thomas Greiss’s 40-save performance aided the Red Wings’ effort significantly, but, for a team playing rope-a-dope hockey, Detroit managed to not only withstand the Canucks’ fury, but also raise their ire.

This game was mean, and Detroit was not always the victim of Vancouver’s derision, with an ornery Red Wings team often seeking out physical contact and after-the-whistle instigation against a Canucks team that was more than willing to help the game go off the rails.

What resulted was a wild, raucous affair that was fun to watch, a little terrifying to experience, and I suppose a little surprising to those who might have expected the Red Wings to ultimately roll over and play dead without captain Dylan Larkin in the lineup.

As the Vancouver Province’s Patrick Johnston noted, the Canucks weren’t exactly certain why they lost given their furious, 23-shot 3rd period…

The Detroit Red Wings faced off against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night, with the Red Wings hoping to earn their first home win opposite a Canucks team playing their 3rd game in 4 nights.

The Red Wings played a surprisingly energetic Canucks team, which out-shot Detroit 41-21, out-attempted Detroit 71-39, and played mean, nasty hockey, but Detroit withstood Vancouver’s attack, with Thomas Greiss pitching 40 saves en route to a 3-1 victory.

Robby Fabbri, Filip Zadina and Sam Gagner (empty net) scored the goals, Marc Staal, Gustav Lindstrom, Filip Hronek, Moritz Seider and Tyler Bertuzzi had the assists, and, in a wild affair, Detroit rope-a-doped their way to their first win.

Via Paul Kukla of Kukla’s Korner and Abel to Yzerman, here’s Ron MacLean, Kevin Bieksa, Kelly Hrudey and Jennifer Botterill discussing the Dylan Larkin suspension:

Let’s conveniently ignore the fact that Dylan Larkin was the one who was injured…

The Grand Rapids Griffins have posted a game-day preview ahead of tonight’s game against the Milwaukee Admirals (7 PM EDT on AHL.tv [free!]):

The Hockey News’s Jason Chen discusses several fantasy hockey players of importance today, including one Moritz Seider:

Moritz Seider, D, Red Wings: There’s a good chance Seider leads all rookies in ice time this season. He played 20:21 in his NHL debut, including a team-leading 5:26 on the power play, and finished with two assists and three hits. His usage makes him potentially a really good defenseman in roto leagues, which can be hard to find because they have to be good in other non-traditional categories, and it’s easy to jump on him now since he’s only rostered in 19 percent of Yahoo leagues. Seider’s already really good and he’s not backing down from anyone either; he showed that in the opener when he boldly took the puck away from Victor Hedman after a whistle and nearly sent Mikhail Sergachev tumbling with a shove. The Lightning-Red Wing rivalry is very underrated.

Continued

Ahead of tonight’s game vs. the Vancouver Canucks, the Red Wings posted an installment of “The Forecheck,” Scouting Vancouver and discussing Detroit’s roster situation:

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan asked Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill about the tricky business that is scouting opponents that your team hasn’t played in almost two years given last year’s emphasis on divisional play:

“Generally you try to go back to games against them a year ago, but we don’t have those,” coach Jeff Blashill said after Saturday’s morning skate. “So now it’s two years ago, and they don’t become nearly as relevant for a couple of reasons. One, the way they forecheck now is different from two years ago.

“The players are so different, too. It’s a different animal, and one we understand. It’s been a full season since we played any of these teams, and we’re facing a little bit different preparation, one that’s not harder or easier, just different.”

One positive is, both teams are, obviously, on equal footing.

“We’re both in the same boat,” Blashill said. “Certainly we have a lot of new faces since when they faced us. We’ve changed some things, and they changed some things.”

Continued

Of prospect-related note in Europe today:

In the Finnish Liiga, Otto Kivenmaki finished at -1 in 10:18 played as his Lahti Pelicans lost 3-2 to Tappara;

In the SHL, William Wallinder finished at -1 with 3 shots on goal in 15:22 played as Rogle BK won 5-2 over Farjestads BK. Albert Johansson finished even with 1 shot in 16:02 played for Farjestad;

In Frolunda HC’s 4-1 win over Linkoping:

Simon Edvinsson scored a goal on 2 shots, finishing +2 in 18:32 played:

Simon Edvinsson #Redwings first SHL goal, ie professional goal. pic.twitter.com/yLvbhAxUZ2

— Patrik Bexell (@Zeb_Habs) October 16, 2021

Elmer Soderblom finished even with 2 shots in 13:26 played;

Theodor Niederbach finished even with a penalty taken in 9:45 played;

And in the Swedish J20 league, Liam Dower Nilsson had an assist in Frolunda HC’s J20 team’s 6-4 loss to HV71. Dower Nilsson finished even with 1 shot and went 4-for-11 on faceoffs.