POSTGAME: SATURDAY MATINEE

The Wings found themselves coming into this Saturday matinee on a five game slide. This shouldn’t be a surprise to many given the quality of competition and if anything Red Wings fans have spent more time researching the 2017 draft than they have been checking the standings. 

The reality is the Red Wings are one of the few sellers this year and this tough slide has only helped cement that fact. Find the positives in everything I guess eh? 

This one got rolling in a different direction. Instead of giving up the first goal like usual, the Wings actually found themselves up 1-0. Furthermore, it was a power-play goal. No, I’m serious check it out:

Where would this team be without Zetterberg? They’d be hanging out with Arizona and Colorado, that’s where. 

Shots came out even 10-10 after the first frame, two successful PK’s and a PP goal for the Wings and they left the first period with the rare lead. 

Coming into the second period the Wings were looking to keep the momentum rolling and it only took three minutes before they managed to strike:

Excellent stick by Mantha in the neutral zone sent the play 3v1 the other way. When you don’t know what to do with the puck the safe bet is to toss it to the captain. Patience, patience, patience and boom, Z throws it perfectly to the trailing Tatar. The reunion of the Tatar-Z-Mantha line has been solid since the Nyquist suspension in a year where Z has seemed to turn back the clock. 

Just when it looked like the Wings were going to make it out of the first two frame up 2-0 they gave up a late goal to rookie Zach Sanford:

A quick second guess between Vanek and DeKeyser of who has who and it was enough hesitation for Sanford to slip through. 

Detroit was badly outshot 11-5 in the frame and entered the third with Washington pressing hard. 

Detroit once again tried to kill an entire period playing the defensive game. This is despite their lack of actually ability to play solid defence and notably worse without Mike Green who missed the game due to illness. Watching it seemed as though it was just a ticking time bomb where everyone was waiting for the Caps to sneak one through. With less than five to go, they managed to pot one:

A juicy rebound and some decent hand eye and the Wings found themselves heading to yet another overtime. 

The Wings and Caps match up nicely in OT. Neither team really going for it and often opting for the safest option when either team is pressed. Evident by the Caps multiple passes back to Holtby often allowing tired Red Wings to get a change instead of pressing them. Not surprisingly, this one remained deadlocked and the Wings went to shooters to maintain their undefeated shootout record. 

Vanek and Kuznetsov both had impressive moves to send the shootout past the first few rounds. After a few misses keeping things tied, the Captain once again stepped in to bail his team out. Here’s a look at the three shootout goals:

Zetterberg was rarely used in shootouts before this season, yet has been consistently one of the best shooters on the team in 2016/2017. Once again, Z is the hero. 

No rest for these guys as they line up against the Penguins nearing the end of their nightmare stretch. Keep rolling out the guys, hopefully make some deals and start planning ahead. There isn’t much to attempt to salvage of this year.