POSTGAME: 2 MINUTES? NAH, 2 POINTS

Tonight’s meeting was an important one for both teams. The Wings came in on a two game win streak, desperate to make the playoffs and keep the streak alive. Meanwhile, the Jackets have lost 9 of their last 15 and have been trying to recapture some of the magic they had earlier in the season. 

This was a battle the Wings would lose if they got into a special teams war with the deadly Columbus power-play. Both clubs were looking for more consistency in the crease and both came into the game relatively healthy. Neither team was taking this one easy. 

Detroit has found themselves on the wrong end of the first goal of the game pretty consistently this year. They looked to repeat their performance against Nashville and hopefully net the first one this game. Just 3:22 into the first period Nick Jensen managed to put away his second career NHL goal on a great feed from Larkin:

It’s nice to not be chasing early but sadly the lead wouldn’t last the period. The game was quick in the first, lots of back and forth, Detroit with a ton of good looks. The Zetterberg line was buzzing early but failed to bury any chances. About halfway through the frame the Jackets got themselves a favourable bounce:

Off a skate and right back to Dubi who snuck it in short side. A few minutes later we saw the Jackets take their first lead of the game with Atkinson’s 26th of the year. Yes, that it more goals than Detroit’s top two scorers combined:

Bad defensive coverage there especially on a guy scoring at the pace Atkinson is this season. 

That’s how this period would end. Shots were 14-10 Detroit after one showcasing the pace this first period took. 

The second period was much less eventful than the previous frame. It’s no secret Detroit’s power-play is awful so when they went up on a lengthy 5v3 power-play most fans sat back and wondered how they’d manage to blow this one. Maybe though some of that Columbus PP magic rubbed off in warm up and with some nice patience by Abdelkader and Seth Jones lack of commitment to either the shooter or the pass, Thomas Vanek buried his team leading 13th:

The rest of the period was fairly tame. Both teams with some looks, some good saves from both goalies and some bounces going both ways. 

Much of the same in the third as we saw in the second. This was a game of two teams who just really didn’t want to lose. Dump it in, one man deep, two hang back and hope for a turnover. Regulation would end with shots tied at 24 a piece. After getting 14 shots in the first the Wings only managed 10 more for the rest of the game, including a sad 3 shots in the third. 

This overtime basically summed up the Wings season so far. Some defensive collapses leading to a big dependence on the goaltender. Some good looks but the inability to finish. Some questionable personnel calls (no Larkin at all in the most skating-dependent scenario of professional hockey) and the odd interesting idea that will never, ever see enough work/exploration to produce the desired results. Blashill put out Nyquist, Athanasiou and Sheahan at one point for an o-zone face off and I got giddy thinking about the possibility. They only have one defenceman who can actually score so why bother putting out the others? Of course this lasted maybe 30 seconds but I would love to see it again.

We know how this stuff goes sometimes though and tonight was just the Jackets night thanks to the stripes:

My issue is that 99% of the time, that gets called in the NHL. After finishing this game I flipped over to Nashville vs. Vancouver just in time to watch PK Subban not even break the stick, but simply slash it out of the hands of another player and get penalized for it. This is everyone’s issue with officiating and player safety. the consistency is never there unless it’s choosing to not suspend Marchand for slew foots. The Wings didn’t deserve to get screwed like this and they were having a rare excellent overtime. It’s these situations that just deflate a team desperate for points. 

Washington-Columbus-Minnesota-St. Louis-Washington-Pittsburgh. Good lord.