Postgame: No Riots in Vancouver
5 years ago
The Red Wings were in Vancouver this afternoon and had a very 2018-19 Detroit Red Wings-esque game. Teasing us with some skill and then giving up some soft goals.
The highlight of the overall game was definitely Elias Pettersson’s return and the Canucks Messiah scoring within the first ten minutes of the game. Good for them to have such a skilled player and change the franchise for good.
But the Red Wings were just okay as well. Coming from behind to take the one-goal lead but eventually letting it slip through their fingers and losing in the end.
Wings lose 3-2 to the Canucks and are now securely in the bottom-five in the NHL.
Worth Mentioning
- The first period was highlighted by a solid effort from Larkin’s powerplay unit and caused the Wings to be up 11-3 in shots on goal at one point in the period. The period finished 11-9 for the Wings in shots.
- Thomas Vanek had a total of three shots on the powerplay in that period. I guess playing against his old club might be working.
- Halfway through the second period, after some excellent pressure from the whole team, the Wings tie it up with a stellar goal from Frans Nielsen.
- A nice tic-tac-toe play from Nyquist and Mantha to set-up the rushing Nielsen to bang it past Markstrom with a one-timer.
- After 35 minutes, the Wings had a 66% advantage in even-strength shot attempts – a rare game where they’re controlling the puck more than their opposition.
- That battling for possession paid off with the Wings taking the lead late in the second period.
- Vanek tips a Danny DeKeyser pass and it ends up past Markstrom to give the Wings the 2-1 lead.
- As the second period died down, the Wings had to head to the PK. Bernier had an excellent couple of minutes and faced some vital scoring chances for Elias Pettersson and killed it instantly. Looking the most mobile he has in a Wings jersey.
- In the first half of the third period, the Canucks loaded up their top line with a Pettersson-Horvat-Boeser line and it lasted for three seconds because they scored immediately after the faceoff.
- A weird scramble in front of the net and Horvat was able to just turn around and put it in between Bernier’s legs.
- With just over six minutes left in the game, the Red Wings knew what was needed to be done. To give up a goal to a bottom-six forward and handover the lead.
- Antoine Roussel won the game for the Canucks with a deflection directly in front of Nielsen and Bernier.
- Nielsen’s goal was his 450th career point, an important milestone for the Danish forward.
Final Thoughts
The Red Wings seemed to have the greater number of scoring chances, or whatever qualifies as one, but they were spread out and never looking completely dangerous. Their goals were deflections or from passing plays, but they never looked dangerous in that high-danger area in front of Markstrom.
While the Canucks had less raw numbers, they were really concentrated in front of Bernier. Not shooting until they saw the whites of Bernier’s eyes, that’s how they were able to win this game in the end.
The Wings won the shot attempt battle, with a 59.3% CF at 5v5, helped by their insane second period where they had a total of 29 shot attempts at even-strength.
Overall, the Wings showed flashes of some skill but was just giving up too many key opportunities late in the game for them to hold onto the lead.
Next, the Red Wings are in Edmonton on Tuesday night to face against the Oilers.
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