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Final Summary - Detroit was playing well starting in the third. The Texier goal (and failed challenged) reversed momentum. After the kill, Detroit really picked up play again. I am so impressed with this group and how they doin’t give up. I’d guessed before this series that CBJ would win Monday 4-2 (they won 3-2) and Wings would win 3-2 in OT tonight. The group came through in a big way. This team’s signature seems to be bouncing back and learning. Everyone is trying to figure it out. Mantha goal was nice, and will help to get him going more. I forgot he only played 4 games in 2020 after a long injury. He’s still finding his stride. It’s ok to be excited about this new look team. CBJ brings so much to the table. Seth Jones is a beast, Savard does so many things right. The Wings were able to keep pace in a very impressive way.
2nd period summary - Jenner with a perfect wrist shot to beat Bernier early in the period. Still not much flow, but a well placed shot on the rush. CBJ opens the wings power play with a breakaway after a turnover by Hronek. Detroit sets up a really nice cycle and leads to a Mantha tying goal after a Larkin hard shot deflected by Bertuzzi’s skate. Much better PP work. That power play really gave Wings a ton of momentum. Ryan goal a result of continued pressure shift after shift. Beautiful shot. Ryan first ever Wing to score 4 goals in 3 games (must be a caveat, Mantha lit it up last year). I’m giving the team full marks for getting pucks on net and getting better pressure on the cycle. Lines were reunited and the team is feeling it. Bernier giving timely saves, and the team has backed him up.
First Period Summary - the period had less flow than a kinked garden hose. Shots were 8-7 in favor of CBJ, but chances were limited on both sides. Tight checking in all three zones, no real sustained pressure on either side. The “Bingo Balls” has killed the flow that was coming together (my opinion) and faceoffs are not going well for Detroit. Lots of continual play without a whistle, lots of up and down.
:24 - Rasmussen faceoff, loses, Detroit maintains possession looking for a cycle. Merrill shot goes off of Jenner and out of play
:43 - O zone Rasmussen faceoff - waived, Mantha wins, Detroit can’t hold in on the zone
Columbus goes down ice, Wings get the puck quickly out. Dumped back in by CBJ. Rasmussen attempts dump in and goes for change. CBJ D zone entry. Shot, stopped by rebound. Zadina takes it down ice, CBJ gets it back, offsides on D zone entry
2:00 - Neutral zone faceoff - Wings win, bet puck down into O zone. Wings unable to keep it in the zone, back down ice. Staal falls and turns the puck over. Wings get the puck all the way down for change. CBJ back in Wings zone, Zadina skates out and into O zone. Shot block leads to pressure by CBJ in the D zone. Shots 2-1 CBJ at 3:30. Nielsen skates into the O zone, Wings can’t set up the cycle, CBJ down the ice and a shot by Domi can’t be controlled by Bernier. Luckily Wings get it back out. CBJ ices the puck
4:43 - Glendening loses O zone faceoff, CBJ gets the puck down ice. Dangerous chance for CBJ in front of the net. Wings get the puck out, Bertuzzi skates in WIngs set up during a line change, shot block send the puck down to their D zone. Bertuzzi dumps in and goes to change. CBJ gets puck back into Wings zone on a dump in, Detroit gets it out after an offside. Jones leads breakout down to Wings zone. Detroit dumps in and changes puck handled by Bernier, Wings having trouble getting out of the zone. Stretch pass sets Zadina into the O zone. Wings tryin got set up a cycle, held to perimeter, no SOG. Detroit dumps the puck back in and Zadina chases. CBJ controlling with a three man zone entry. Puck back out leads to a rush, misses the net. Mantha down one on one, passes to Rasmussen and the shot is blocked. Back down into the Detroit zone. Detroit ices the puck.
8:23 - D zone faceoff - CBJ wins, Detroit gets the puck down, Glendening holds up on the half wall , CBJ right back out with a rush led by PLD. Wings dump puck down to O zone and change. CBJ skates back down and dumps it into the D zone. Turnover creates breakaway for CBJ and a shot in tight. Rebound back down the ice in Detroit’s O zone. Larkin tries to set up play behind the net, good retrieval. Puck is cycling better, no SOG. Wings forced out, Nemeth dumps it in. Breakaway by CBJ broken up and cleared out. Scrum at the benches causes a stoppage in play.
*Detroit not nearly as strong on faceoffs. Neither team having a lot of success setting up for the cycle. CBJ rushes setting up better opportunities. Detroit behind on shots, starting to pick it up a bit. Very much up and down ice so far.
11:37 - neutral zone faceoff - Red Wings win, puck goes down into their own zone and CBJ sets up the cycle. Detroit hemmed in, Bertuzzi gets the puck to Glendening and he dumps in for a change. Detroit SOG, total now 7-4 CBJ.
11:55 - O zone faceoff - Larkin loses, CBJ quickly out to center. Detroit back down ice, puck in deep and Larkin shoots for a tip on net. Just wide. CBJ back out, Larkin rush back in, SOG and held.
12:44 - O zone faceoff - Filppula - wins, puck exits the zone. Wings get back into the zone but intercept stops SOG. Gagner stopped in the neutral zone and PLD ends up with a back hand attempt on net. No real flow to this one, back and forth. Mantha rushes down ice, holds up, but loses puck. CBJ rush down ice stopped, Detroit breaks out and dumps puck in. CBJ heads back out, ices the puck.
14:52 - O zone faceoff - Larkin wins, Atkinson breaks through and gets puck down ice. Detroit tries to set up in the zone, turn over set up a break for Folighnl. Good back check breaks up the opportunity. CBJ back down ice, very close to Bjorkstrand scoring. Wings clear the puck and go for a change. Wings back in, SOG goes off the post and out. Better looking rush.
16:28 - faceoff won by Filppula, CBjrecovers, but still hemmed in. Pass out to the neutral zone. CBJ attacker waiting at the blue line. They’re trying to set that play back up using a 4 man D with 1 sprung for a rush. CBJ dumps in, Bernier clears to center ice. Mantha with a rush down ice dumps and retrieves, but CBJ goes right back up. Stecher helps to stop a rush by Jones, puck back down ice for a change. Rush by Atkinson broken up, Staal dumps into the Ozone. Bertuzzi circling trying to find a lane, now SOG, puck back out for a line change. CBJ ices the puck
19:22 - O zone faceoff - Larkin loses, CBJ skates the puck out. Wings doing well to close gaps, no SOG. Shots 8-7 CBJ.
Monday’s matinee went to Columbus. Even though Detroit didn’t take the win, a lot of good things are happening. The first period for Detroit saw 13 shots on net, and 12 in both the second and third periods for 37. That speaks of high level goaltending by Korpisalo, and a very strong effort by the Wings. The second period and beginning of the third were the undoing for Detroit. Strong play by Columbus carried over and two early third period tallies were too much to overcome. That said, Detroit kept playing. One thing many fans wanted to see was the team playing with pride. Larkin and Co certainly provided that. Bobby Ryan is an invaluable spark to this squad already. Greiss made many high level saves, and I feel bad that he hasn’t gotten a “W” yet.
On day 2, I’m hoping to see a few things:
1 - Better decisions in passing the puck. Detroit had too many turnovers trying to do drop passes after zone entries, short passes in the neutral zone, and over passing on breakaways. Detroit’s faceoff work is much improved since game 1, and a shot on net for a rebound or a whistle would probably be a solid choice. In the third period, the Wings did make more of an effort to this end, and it showed.
2 - Start with the same fire that we saw in the first and second part of the third period. The team was cycling much better, and Mantha has a big shot that can lead to good things. Stecher made several good plays, and Glendening was money in the faceoff dot. The Larkin and Rasmussen lines both had good looks. Ras stepped in with Fabbri out and made an impression.
3 - keep at it. The team is committed to playing the whole game. Whether things go well or not, keep that effort. Goaltending is keeping them afloat and close during the contests. It’s encouraging to see that the team doesn’t “deflate” when things don’t go right. This is a very different team that is still finding its form, and a lot of good things are happening.
Let me know your thoughts and what you hope to see tomorrow for the second half of the back to back with Columbus. As usual, I will update the blog between periods with notes and analysis. Look forward to seeing you all in the comments!
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