WINGS POSTGAME: Bertuzzi’s historic night pushes winning streak to six
By Tom Mitsos
5 years ago The Detroit Red Wings extended their winning streak to six games, as they beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 on Tuesday night at Little Caesars Arena.
THE HIGHLIGHTS
- Ruled on the ice as a save, after video review, it was determined Tyler Bertuzzi scored a power-play goal on Matt Murray to give the Red Wings a 1-0 lead about midway through the first period.
- With 21.5 seconds left, Phil Kessel tied the game at 1 off a nice pass from Sidney Crosby on a 2 on 1.
- About midway through the second period, Bertuzzi notched his second goal of the game, off nice passes from Dylan Larkin and Darren Helm. It was Bertuzzi’s fourth straight multipoint game.
- Anthony Mantha extended the lead to 3-1 in the third period. Larkin threw a lob pass into the offensive zone, and Mantha corralled it and snuck it past Murray.
- Mantha added an empty-netter to secure the win. With an assist on Mantha’s goal, Bertuzzi became the first player in Red Wings history to notch four consecutive three-plus-point games.
- Jimmy Howard had another fantastic game, making 38 saves.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The Red Wings slowly are climbing out of the basement of the NHL standings and hurting their chances at a top-two pick along the way.
I’m still torn on these last nine games. On the one hand, watching them win against playoff teams is fun even if it generally involves Howard standing on his head. The youth movement is in full swing, and Larkin, Mantha, Bertuzzi and Andreas Athanasiou have taken over as the leaders. The Red Wings have averaged 3.5 goals per game over their past nine.
But on the flip side, Jack Hughes or Kaapo Kakko would really speed up the rebuilding process, and it looks like the Red Wings will be picking closer to the 8-10 range rather than the 1-4 range.
One can only hope coach Jeff Blashill sees what progress his young players have made and lowers the ice time for the aging veterans at the start of next season.
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