Category: Uncategorized

Red Wings-Hurricanes Tweetcap: Detroit loses 5-2 to Carolina, drops 6th straight in Raleigh

With the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference standings clustered tightly, the Red Wings headed into Carolina against a streaking Hurricanes team, needing to earn points by any means necessary.

Despite having won a solid victory over Ottawa on Thursday, the Wings play on an every-other-day basis until March 16th, so the stretch drive grind is really here.

On Saturday night in Raleigh, the Red Wings’ mistake-prone hockey afforded the Hurricanes their 6th straight win against Detroit at the Lenovo Center, with the sloppy Wings losing by a 5-3 tally.

The nearby-in-the-standings Sabres, Senators, Canadiens and Islanders all won, too, diminishing Detroit’s margin for error as the Wings head into Nashville for a 2 PM EDT start on Monday.

PREGAME: Cam Talbot and Fredrik Andersen led their respective teams out onto the ice at the Lenovo Center:

Continue reading Red Wings-Hurricanes Tweetcap: Detroit loses 5-2 to Carolina, drops 6th straight in Raleigh

Red Wings-Senators Tweetcap: Detroit rebounds from slow start to capture some OT magic in Ottawa

The Detroit Red Wings began their stretch run drive with a three-game road trip, starting with Thursday night’s game against the Ottawa Senators.

At the Canadian Tire Centre, the Red Wings were out-shot, out-hit, out-blocked and dominated in the faceoff circle, winning only 39% of the draws…..

But John Gibson stopped 26 of 27 shots, Detroit rallied from Brady Tkachuk’s late-1st-period goal, and captain Dylan Larkin scored a 2nd period PPG and he followed that up with an overtime winner to deliver a hard-fought, gritty, grind-y 2-1 overtime victory over the Senators. Detroit’s now 3-and-0 against Ottawa this season:

PREGAME: John Gibson and Linus Ullmark led their respective teams out onto the ice…

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Been sick

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to man the blog on a day-to-day basis, so here’s my health update as of February 26th:

I’ve been battling consistent and debilitating fatigue for the last four months. I am able to get online during Red Wings games and write “Tweecaps,” which are better than nothing at all…

But “off-days” require full days’ worth of rest and recovery, mostly in bed, to recuperate from the energy expended during games (and the daily grind of caregiving for Aunt Annie, from which I receive no recovery time).

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Red Wings-Mammoth Tweetcap: Utah spears the Wings

The Detroit Red Wings closed out their pre-Olympic break schedule with a match-up against the offensively potent Utah Mammoth on Wednesday evening.

With the Canadiens, Sabres and the rest of the Atlantic Division hot on their tail, Detroit would have to play a really strong game to match up with the Mammoth’s balanced attack.

On Wednesday night in Salt Lake City, the Red Wings were just a little too flat at the start, their power play was too inefficient, and they made Karl Vejmelka look too good in the Mammoth crease (while John Gibson was only OK against the speedy Mammoth).

Detroit lost 4-1 heading into the Olympic break, with Dylan Larkin scoring the team’s only goal.

If you believe Twitter, Larkin was totally at fault for everything that went wrong with the team, too, because he dared to slash back at Nick Schmaltz because Schmaltz speared Larkin in the balls off a faceoff, but I suppose that’s a matter of opinion.

Anyway, the Wings don’t go into the break with a great record of late, but they need the rest pretty badly as they’ve already played 58 games.

PREGAME: John Gibson and Karl Vejmelka led their respective teams out onto the ice at the Delta Center…

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Red Wings-Avalanche Tweetcap: Detroit wins a ‘playoff-style game’ over Colorado

The Detroit Red Wings began a 2-game road swing with a rematch against a Colorado Avalanche team which embarrassed the Red Wings 5-0 on home ice this past Saturday.

The final 2 games before the Olympic Break offered the Wings the ability to rebound from an 0-2-and-1 streak going into Monday night’s game in Denver and Wednesday night’s game against the surging Utah Mammoth.

On Monday night at Ball Arena, the Red Wings did earn a measure of revenge by defeating Colorado 2-0. Marco Kasper and Lucas Raymond (empty-net) scored for Detroit, Dylan Larkin had 2 assists, and John Gibson stopped 22 saves for the shutout.

Observe:

PREGAME: John Gibson and Mackenzie Blackwood led their respective teams out onto the ice…

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Red Wings-Avalanche Tweetcap: Colorado humbles Detroit at LCA

The Red Wings’ final three games before the Olympic Break kicked off with a matinee game against the struggling-of-late but still dominant-overall Colorado Avalanche.

Detroit hoped to break an 0-1-and-1 streak as they hosted Colorado in the first half of a home-and-home series; the Avs had lost 4 of their past 5 games heading into Saturday’s affair.

On Saturday afternoon at Little Caesars Arena, the Red Wings celebrated their era of “dominance” at Joe Louis Arena, and then they got trampled on by the Colorado Avalanche, losing 5-0. Nathan MacKinnon had three points, the Avs chased John Gibson, who stopped 13 of 17, after 40 minutes, and the flu-ridden Wings played like a team that needed more Pedialyte.

There are no excuses for going 0-2-and-1 on a 3-game home stand, and this is definitely an inflection point for the team, especially going right back against the Avs in Denver on Monday, and then playing in Utah to wrap up the pre-Olympic schedule…

But the team-wide flu is an explanation as to one of the reasons why the Wings have taken a big, fat belly flop onto the ice of late.

Here’s hoping that the team rebounds at Ball Arena on Monday, because this loss was extremely embarrassing.

PREGAME: John Gibson and Mackenzie Blackwood led their respective teams out onto the ice…

Continue reading Red Wings-Avalanche Tweetcap: Colorado humbles Detroit at LCA

Red Wings-Capitals Tweetcap: Wings steal one point, Caps steal two in a 4-3 shootout loss to Washington

The Detroit Red Wings looked to rebound from an underwhelming performance against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday as Detroit hosted the high-scoring Washington Capitals at Little Caesars Arena.

With four final games left before of the Olympic break, and a “flu bug” going around the Wings’ locker room, there were legitimate concerns that Detroit would dress a patchwork lineup on Thursday evening.

Washington was wrapping up a 6-game road trip, boasting a very unpleasant 1-1-and-3 record, and on Thursday morning, they lost starting goaltender Logan Thompson to an upper-body injury, so they were no less desperate to win than Detroit.

But there are no excuses when you’re trying to remain ahead of the Sabres, Canadiens and Bruins in the Atlantic Division.

On Thursday night, history happened, of course…

And from there, the Capitals stole two points, and I am FURIOUS as to how they won the 4-3 SHOOTOUT victory.

Sure, it was great that after the Chiarot goal, with Washington up 3-1, Alex DeBrincat scored goals #29 and #30 (and a wild goal at that) at 18:20 and 19:07 of the 3rd period…

But Washington REFUSED to ENGAGE in overtime, looping BACK AND BACK AND BACK OVER AND OVER AGAIN, SIMPLY DEFERRING TO PLAY ANY OFFENSIVE HOCKEY UNTIL THEY COULD GO TO THE SHOOTOUT, where the Caps went 3-for-3 vs. Detroit’s 2-for-3–thanks to a crossbar by Dylan Larkin.

PREGAME: John Gibson and Charlie Lindgren led their respective teams out onto the ice at LCA:

Continue reading Red Wings-Capitals Tweetcap: Wings steal one point, Caps steal two in a 4-3 shootout loss to Washington

Red Wings-Kings Tweetcap: Squandered opportunity against LA yields a 3-1 Detroit loss

The Detroit Red Wings began their final 5 games before the Olympic Break–and, hopefully, the only 5 games without Simon Edvinsson in the lineup–with a home tilt against the big, heavy and mean Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night.

On Tuesday at Little Caesars Arena, the Red Wings were placed in a sleeper hold by the Los Angeles Kings, and they could not recover. Los Angeles would win 3-1…

And Detroit not only blew a great opportunity to earn 2 points, but they also blew a fine 19-save performance by John Gibson, who stood on his head at times just to keep the Wings in the game.

Yes, Alex DeBrincat’s lone 6-on-5 marker afforded Patrick Kane an assist that ties Mike Modano for the U.S. all-time scoring lead, but this game was egg on the Wings’ faces, and two points that they squandered because LA played like every team is going to play against Detroit for the remainder of the season–hard, defensively-smothering, and sleepy enough to lull the Wings to take naps in their own defensive zone.

PREGAME: John Gibson and Anton Forsberg led their respective teams out onto the ice at LCA:

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Red Wings-Jets Tweetcap: Detroit gives Winnipeg a cold shoulder, winning 5-1

The Detroit Red Wings attempted to earn 2 out of 3 wins on their Midwestern road trip as they faced the Jets in frigid Winnipeg on Saturday night. It’s always difficult to play a struggling powerhouse–if you underestimate them, you’re cooked.

Worse for the Wings, Simon Edvinsson would miss tonight’s game with a lower-body ailment which requires more examination in Detroit. Winnipeg headed into tonight’s game at 5-1-and-2 over their past 8 games as well, so Detroit faced an uphill battle in Friendly Manitoba.

On Saturday night at the Canada Life Centre, the battle was indeed uphill, and the final score–a 5-1 victory for the Red Wings–did not reflect how incredibly close the game was for approximately 40 minutes’ worth of hockey.

Winnipeg actually opened the scoring at 10:08 of the 2nd as Connor Koepke beat Moritz Seider to the puck off a lost faceoff, but by the 15:50 mark of the 2nd, J.T. Compher would race up the right wing and stuff home the 1-1 goal…

And, well, you’ve got to read the rest of this one to find out what else happened. Needless to say, Compher’s 2 goals and John Gibson’s 25-save performance loomed large for the Wings here!

PREGAME: John Gibson and Connor Hellebuyck led their respective teams out onto the ice…

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Red Wings-Maple Leafs Tweetcap: Detroit sweeps season series vs. Toronto via an OT win

The Detroit Red Wings headed to Toronto to open a 3-games-in-4-nights road trip, facing off against the playoff-desperate Maple Leafs on Wednesday night in Hogtown.

At the Scotiabank Arena, the Red Wings surrendered the game’s first goal, were out-shot 14-7 in the 2nd period, and surrendered a penalty shot to Scott Laughton (who opened the scoring 4:46 in) halfway through the game…

But John Gibson stopped 30 of 31 shots, and while Joseph Woll was equally excellent, stopping 39 of 41 shots, Simon Edvinsson would tie the game at 19:42 of the 1st, and, when regulation time solved nothing…

Dylan Larkin and Moritz Seider combined making fine plays–a stripping of the puck from Easton Cowan via Seider, and a blazing deke-dangle-and-shot move by Larkin–to score the OT winner at 3:08 of OT:

PREGAME: John Gibson and Joseph Woll led their respective teams out onto the ice…

Continue reading Red Wings-Maple Leafs Tweetcap: Detroit sweeps season series vs. Toronto via an OT win