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The 4 games in 6 days cram session against the Dallas has begun. Detroit switched up the roster going with 7 defenseman as it sounds like Vrana came down with a bit of a bug. Is it just me, or with all the white , green and red is it beginning to look a lot like Christmas on the ice in Dallas? Those Dallas reverse retros are making me crave Wrigley’s Spearmint, the gum with a full 22 seconds of flavor that becomes rubber cement soon after.
That’s as close as you can get without winning. It’s disappointing, but Greiss gave the team every chance to capitalize. Luke Glendening stood tall for Detroit tonight as the lone goal scorer. Glendening’s goals were both nicely set up. Watching the first goal in slow motion, Svechnikov was shooting for that rebound. His eyes and body language showed some impressive hockey smarts. A good stretch pass from Biega playing in just his 8th game of the season. The second tally was a beautiful redirect off of a Biega point shot. It seems the 7th defenseman is eager to make his mark in the final stretch. In the third period the Glendening, Erne and Helm line had some really nice sustained pressure. Some of the best in the entire game. I’ve come to really appreciate the effort out of those guys this season.
Richard Panik had a couple of decent chances as well. Many of you know I wasn’t a fan of his from the Syracuse Crunch vs Griffins days. He was a nasty player and shelved a defenseman with a head shot that was never penalized (surprise). But, Blashill was coaching in that series and remembered thinking that RP was the best player on the ice for Syracuse many nights. Sort of the AHL power forward, but the scoring just hasn’t translated as much as hoped in his NHL career. He does have a good shot and can play hard in the corners, for sure.
Through the first 9 minutes of the third period, Detroit was buzzing. Gagner had a goal waived off for interference, but continued to skate hard and create chances. The commercial break at about the 9 minute mark seemed to help the Stars reset. They began bringing a lot more pressure. Getting pucks on net and cycling. Greiss, again, was giving Detroit a chance. The Wings started getting hemmed in, with Dallas circling in the water.
At the 13 minute mark Dallas had outshot Detroit 27-18, but the score remained 2-2. This stretch seems to be taking forever, with a commercial break at almost every minute of play. At the 15 minute mark Detroit played an o zone version of “keep away” for nearly a minute, burning the clock down to 3:57. Another puck retrieval helped Detroit do some more in zone passing with the clock winding down to 3:02. Dallas took a minute to regroup as a new stick was delivered to their netminder. You could see the sense of urgency on captain Jamie Benn and others knowing that they need to get points out of these contests. Detroit started playing chip and change hockey at about 2:25, truing to frustrate any attempts of Dallas to create sustained pressure.
Another chip in at 18:30 saw Detroit burn about 5 seconds before Dallas got the puck down the ice. An off side forced them to tag up and Detroit sent the puck 200 feet. Final minute of play, and Dallas still can’t gain possession in the Wing’s zone. A dump in with 40 seconds and Detroit still maintained possession. Detroit iced the puck with 10 seconds left, and Dallas lined up for a faceoff. The Stars won the draw, but were unable to capitalize. The teams headed for Overtime, shots 32-19 in favor of the stars. Greiss, again, giving the group an opportunity to take a point.
Dallas won the opening draw and set up their rush behind their own net. The Stars really like to spread out and pick up speed to attack during 3 on 3. It’s almost like a sling shot. They’ll skate a full 50 feet, and then use their edges to gain some speed. The late man comes flying down the ice. Detroit had a beautiful chance at 1:30 with Zadina just misting on a hard slap shot. Detroit seemed to struggle with man on man coverage and Dallas used this to try and create opportunities. Panik had a decent rush at the net at about 2:40. Detroit won the following draw, but ended up going all the way back to their own zone to set up. Gagner came into the zone at 3:30 with some slick puck handling but was supposed. A Dekeyser turnover gave Dallas a chance to close it out, but Greiss came up big.
With 30 seconds left Detroit setup behind their own net for an end go end breakout. Dallas shut it down and came back down the ice with speed. Greiss made a nice save in tight, and the teams were headed for the shootout. Robertson opened the shoot out with a 5 hole shot on Greiss. Larkin followed up with a beautiful backhand that trickled 5 hole as well. Joe Pavelski waited out Greiss, but the netminder stayed with him shutting down the attempt. Sam Gagner came in with a lot of dekes and head turns but unable to capitalize. Hintz came in and attempted to go far side, but no go. Adam Erne’s follow up attempt was likewise shut down with a nice stick save. Dallas’ next attempt resulted in the puck trickling off the stick and no shot. Svechnikov came very close to ending the shootout but Khudobin got a foot on nit. Dallas scored on the next attempt with a nice move by Gurianov. Hronek was unable to convert and Dallas took the win.
I’ve gone into this before, but it bears repeating. Luke Glendening is the kind of NHL pro that deserves a ton of respect. Luke made the University of Michigan hockey team as a walk on. That roster is often 2/3 full with kids who have been drafted (some quite highly). I’ve only known one guy who attempted to make that squad as a walk on, and he said the process was brutal. (Max Pacioretty’s departure for Montreal had opened a spot, no pressure). Luke went on to become captain of that team and played 4 seasons.
From there, he was offered a tryout to the ECHL (Toledo Walleye). Again, no one gave him a job. He had to earn it. I saw him play once, and he scored the lone goal that night. He was then offered a tryout for the Grand Rapid Griffins, and made the leap. By this time he’d caught the eyes of the Red Wings management and, yep, was given another tryout. And he made it. After his first year in the league, he decided that he would need to improve on faceoffs if he was going to try and stick. Years later, he’s the best in the NHL. Never drafted, nothing given, earned the tryout, earned the career. As not just a player, but as a human being, Luke is the kind of guy you would want your kids to watch. He took the long road to the NHL, and realized he had to keep getting better. Leading this league in any category is a feat usually reserved for the all stars. It’s good to see the local guy get in there and make the grade.
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