In the ECHL, the Toledo Walleye rallied from a 2-0 deficit against the Quad City Mallards on goals from Austen Brassard and A.J. Jenks…But the Mallards rallied with a 2-goal 3rd period, building a 4-2 deficit that the Walleye couldn’t quite squeeze, ultimately losing 4-3.
Erik Bradford had a goal and 2 assists for Toledo, and Matej Machovsky stopped 25 of 29 shots. The Walleye’s website posted a recap:
The Detroit Red Wings attempted to defeat a difficult opponent in the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday.
Detroit plain old got out-worked, out-hustled and out-scored in a 3-2 defeat in which the Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews scored the gamer with only 31 seconds remaining in regulation time. The Wings took a 1-0 lead and rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the 3rd period, but the Wings tried to nurse a 2-2 tie to overtime, and they were out-worked and out-detailed by a tremendously talented team.
This was a weird game in many respects, and when Dylan Larkin is -3 and his linemates, Andreas Athanasiou and Tomas Tatar are -2, that’s not the greatest sign.
Mrazek was good but not great, the Wings’ decision to play 7 defense (Ouellet skated in a rare game) instead of going with Witkowski seemed to backfire, and this was just another one of those nights against an opponent that the Wings seemed to be unwilling to out-work.
Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill spoke to the media prior to Sunday night’s game, and he praised Petr Mrazek’s stick-to-it-ive-ness in parlaying hard work tweaking his game into on-ice results, as noted by DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji:
Much as Howard did, Mrazek got to work in the offseason to rebuild his game and become even better.
This season with Howard as the primary starter, Mrazek has maintained the habits he established in the offseason and it is paying dividends now.
Wings coach Jeff Blashill, a former goaltender himself, saw it in the 3-1 victory over the Nashville Predators Saturday night.
“He made a big save last night in the third on a one-timer in the slot,” Blashill said. “The first rebound got away from him but I thought the save was unreal in the sense that his feet were set, he had made a little shuffle over, his feet were set and then he just leaned into the puck, he didn’t have to reach for it because he had taken that little stutter-step with his feet. That’s a change in his game that he’s worked on over the course of the year so that’s a little goaltending thing that you wouldn’t necessarily notice but when I saw that, I was excited. It just said that he’s continuing to get better.”
Mike Green: Headed for unrestricted free agency, it will be a shock if the Wings don’t move Green. Washington, his previous home, has long been rumored as a destination – Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin has lobbied loudly for Green’s return to the U.S. capital – but there’s a new team on the horizon who look to be the front runners in the Green sweepstakes.
That would be the Tampa Bay Lightning. It’s interesting that Green was scratched from Saturday’s 3-1 win at Nashville with what was reported as an upper-body injury, because according to NHL sources, Wings general manager Ken Holland and Lightning GM Steve Yzerman are well along the trail in talks to work out the details to make this move happen. Detroit’s price is high. The Wings would love to land a first-round draft pick, and with the Lightning entering the playoffs as favorites to cop the Stanley Cup, that could be a price they are prepared to pay.
Although he’s stated a desire to remain in Detroit, Green would be willing to waive his no-trade clause for an opportunity to go to a Cup contender.
The Under-18 Five Nations Tournament just wrapped up in Plymouth, MI this past week, and Detroit Red Wings assistant GM Ryan Martin took in the tournament. Today, Martin spoke with the Free Press’s George Sipple regarding top prospects who participated in the tournament:
Forward Oliver Wahlstrom: Wahlstrom, 17, scored two goals and six assists for eight points in four games for USA. Committed to Harvard, he’s ranked seventh among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting’s mid-term rankings.
“I thought he got better as the tournament went on,” Martin said. “At times, he was trying to be too individualistic.”
Forward Jack Hughes: Hughes, 16, had three goals and four assists in four games for USA. He could be the top pick in the 2019 draft. His brother, Quinn, plays at Michigan.
“At times, (Hughes) was the best player on the ice, regardless of the competition,” Martin said. “I thought he was excellent. You wouldn’t have known he was a year younger than much of the competition there. To me, hands down he was one of the top two or three players in the tournament, for sure.”
Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill and Toronto Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock spoke with the media ahead of tonight’s game between the Red Wings and Maple Leafs.
First up, Blashill:
#RedWings Blashill said Green definitely out tonight but declined to name starting goaltender or say whether Witkowski plays again.
The Detroit Red Wings will attempt to build upon Saturday night’s win over Nashville when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs this evening (7:00 PM EST on FSD/Sportsnet/97.1 FM).
