The Grand Rapids Griffins played for the first time in eleven months on Friday, and all did not go well for the Griffins, but they gave the Chicago Wolves a battle in the form of a 3-1 loss at the Triphahn Center on Friday night.

The Griffins’ website has posted both a recap and highlight clip:

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. – Kyle Criscuolo provided an early spark in his first game with the Grand Rapids Griffins since hoisting the Calder Cup in 2017, but the Chicago Wolves responded with a goal in each period to take a 3-1 win in the 2020-21 season opener for both teams at the Triphahn Center Ice Arena on Friday.

Criscuolo opened the scoring 7:38 into the first period, cashing in assists from newcomer Riley Barber and Michael Rasmussen to tap the puck through Antoine Bibeau’s pads for a power play tally. Tom Novak answered on a pinball goal with 1:34 left in the frame, the only puck the Wolves could get past Pat Nagle despite a 12-5 advantage in shots over the first 20 minutes.

Continue reading Grand Rapids Griffins recap: GR drops road opener in Chicago →

Of prospect-related note in North America on Friday:

In the USHL, Kyle Aucoin finished at -2 with 2 shots in the Muskegon Lumberjacks’ 6-4 loss to Team USA;

Cross Hanas finished even with 1 shot–and 15 minutes’ worth of penalties for a check to the head–in his return to the Lincoln Stars’ lineup. Lincoln lost 3-2 to Des Moines;

Chase Bradley finished at -1 with 4 shots in the Sioux City Musketeers’ 3-2 loss to the Omaha Lancers. Kienan Draper finished even for Omaha;

In NCAA Hockey, Sam Stange finished even with 1 shot in the University of Wisconsin Badgers’ 4-1 win over the University of Minnesota;

Keith Petruzzelli stopped 30 of 31 shots in the Quinnipiac Bobcats’ 4-1 win over St. Lawrence;

Seth Barton finished at -1 with 2 shots in the UMass-Lowell Riverhawks’ 2-1 loss to New Hampshire;

Robert Mastrosimone finished at -1 with 3 shots, and Ethan Phillips didn’t play in the Boston University Terriers’ 4-3 OT loss to Boston College;

And Antti Tuomisto finished even with 1 shot in the University of Denver Pioneers’ 3-1 win over the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

The Detroit Red Wings’ 3-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday, their 8th straight defeat and 18th loss of some sort to Tampa Bay, was not as frustrating as usual, but it was still innervating to watch the Red Wings continue to wait for their breaks instead of creating their own momentum.

This Tyler Bertuzzi-less team seems to be missing a “straw that stirs the drink” or two, and the Red Wings’ demonstrativeness is simply absent at present. They’re very happy to nurse ties and live down a goal or two, looking for their right opportunity to come to them instead of influencing the outcome of the game themselves.

So the 2-8-and-2 Red Wings head southeast toward Miami, where the unbeaten Florida Panthers await for a matinee game on Sunday (3 PM EST start; Florida is 6-0-and-2 and won 2-1 over Nashville on Friday) and another affair on Tuesday, and the Wings only win in Sunrise at the BB&T Center slightly more often than they do in Tampa (almost never), so the road gets no easier for Detroit.

In terms of Friday’s game, the strangest part is that both teams felt that the Red Wings played very well. In Tampa Bay’s case, it was a matter of preventing the Red Wings from achieving their desired results, as they told TampaBayLightning.com’s Bryan Burns:

Continue reading Red Wings-Lightning Game 2 wrap-up: both Bolts, Wings like the way Detroit played in their 8th straight loss (really!) →

The Detroit Red Wings dropped a 3-1 decision to the Tampa Bay on Friday, and after the game, Dylan Larkin and coach Jeff Blashill spoke with the media via Zoom calls:

Fox Sports Detroit also posted a short clip of Mickey Redmond’s remarks:

Continue reading Post-Wings-Bolts FSD video: Larkin, Blashill (and highlights) →

The Detroit Red Wings hoped to earn some sort of consolation after dropping a 5-1 decision to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday, and as the Lightning possessed an 18-game unbeaten streak against Detroit, a more competitive outing against Tampa would have to do (and go from there)…

BIG SIGH. On my 43rd birthday, the Red Wings were a lot better than they were on Wednesday, but better is not necessarily good. The Wings lost 3-1 to Tampa Bay, continuing the Bolts’ now-19-game unbeaten streak, affording Tampa Bay its 7,000th goal as a franchise, and just looking downright uncomfortable with the puck on their sticks in offensive situations during the second and third periods, where the Wings looked like they were waiting for a lucky break instead of trying to dictate events themselves.

Now the Wings got back to Florida, where they never win, for a Sunday matinee (3 PM EST start on Sunday) and Tuesday game, and they conclude their 6-game road trip with tilts against Nashville.

Continue reading Red Wings-Lightning quick take: waiting for your lucky break is not a winning formula →

Given the fact that the Red Wings have had half-a-dozen players contract or be closely associated with someone who had the coronavirus, enough to put them on the COVID reserve, Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill is aware of the holes in the NHL’s coronavirus prevention measures, and Blashill discussed some of the issues he feels need addressing with the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan:

The Wings likely contracted the virus playing Carolina on the season-opening weekend (Jan. 14-16), as the Hurricanes saw their schedule paused the next week after a slew of confirmed cases.

Nobody was, or is to blame, said coach Jeff Blashill, who feels the NHL and individual clubs are doing all they can in a monstrous fight.

“That’s just the reality of testing being delayed, it’s really hard to avoid (contracting the virus),” Blashill said. “It didn’t spread with our team any more than that. We’ve enforced protocols that have been in place to make sure we mitigate any further spreading. Our staff and players did a real good job.”

Playing hockey inside in a rink, said Blashill, has its owns unique issues during this pandemic.

“The problem with hockey is we played in a rink where the humidity is dry and the air is cool, and my understanding, with the research I’ve done, that potentially lets that virus sit right there in the air and it doesn’t dissipate,” Blashill said.

“So one team has it and you play a game, it’s hard. You don’t get an instant (test) result that is reliable. The fact that games are getting postponed is unfortunate, but from our perspective we just got to keep trying do the best we can with the protocols.”

Continued

Of prospect-related note in Europe:

In the ICE Hockey League, Jesper Eliasson out-dueled old friend Jared Coreau, stopping 37 of 39 shots as the Red Bulls Salzburg won 3-2 over the Bratislava Capitals;

In the Swedish Allsvenskan, Gustav Berglund finished even with 3 shots in 15:02 played as Vasteras IK defeated AIK Stockholm 5-4. Malte Setkov had 2 assists for AIK, finishing at +2 with 1 shot in 27:29 played;

In the Finnish Liiga, Victor Brattstrom stopped 16 of 20 shots in KooKoo’s 4-1 loss to SaiPa;

Eemil Viro finished even with 1 shot in 21:38 played as TPS Turku defeated Assat Pori 3-0. Kasper Kotkansalo finished at -1 with 2 shots in 21:57 played for Assat, which did not have Otto Kivenmaki’s services;

FYI:

UPDATE: Forward Filip Zadina has been removed from non-roster (COVID protocol). Additionally, Givani Smith has been recalled from the #RedWings taxi squad. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/sfEW7a6Exq

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) February 5, 2021

Ahead of tonight’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, MLive’s Ansar Khan asked Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill about the state of one Thomas Greiss, who will be starting this evening as an 0-6-and-2 goaltender during the 2020-2021 season:

“I’m not worried about Greisser at all,” Blashill said. “He’s mentally in a great spot. He’s been through the rigors of the NHL. He’s an even-keeled person. He knows games like (Wednesday) happen and he’s going to move on. I think said he it to our goalie coach (Jeff Salajko), he’s been in those games before and he’ll be in them again. That’s just the reality of playing goal. I think he has a good demeanor about him. We just all have to grind together and find ways to play better hockey and find ways to win.”

The Red Wings (2-7-2) face the Lightning (6-1-1) again tonight at Amalie Arena (7 p.m., Fox Sports Detroit), when Greiss, in all likelihood, will get another chance for his first win. He will need more support from a team that is winless in seven (0-5-2) and is averaging only 1.91 goals per game (30th in the NHL).

“He started off playing real good, he just didn’t get much offensive support,” Blashill said. “He should have wins on the board. He certainly played good enough to win. Like the rest of our team, all our games have slipped a bit. I think confidence is a factor in that.

“We have to find a way to grind through and get our confidence back. The only way is to grind your way to some wins. I think Greisser is in the same boat. We certainly don’t want to give up the kind of chances we gave up (Wednesday) at the start of the game. We want to make the game easy on him, and I think for the early part of the year enough times we did that.”

Continued

Yes, this Tweet is worth its own post, because it spells out the stark differences between the Lightning and Red Wings over the course of Tampa Bay’s 17-0-and-1 record over the Red Wings of late:

A look at how we stack up tonight! ? #DETvsTBL pic.twitter.com/rg3U0B3n4W

— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) February 5, 2021

Ugly, ugly numbers.