Wings Postgame: Couldn’t Patch Up the Game

After a close call with the Buffalo Sabres last night, the Detroit Red Wings arrived in Montreal in hopes of winning their second in a row, and taking a shot at a playoff spot.

However, they suffered yet another third-period collapse, but this time, they didn’t have the lead to support it, and the Canadiens would be victorious in a 4-3 win.

The Wings, as has been the tradition lately, had a poor start to the game. It started 8:23 into the period, as Max Pacioretty made an excellent (and possibly lucky) deflection past Petr Mrazek to open the scoring to give the Habs a 1-0 lead. It took just three more minutes for the Habs to strike again, as Paul Byron pounced on a rebound in front of the net (WITH NO ONE COVERING HIM!!), and the Habs were up 2-0, with Mrazek getting yanked after just seven shots.

Jimmy Howard came in relief to shake things up, and was solid, especially late in the first when he robbed Alex Galchenyuk of giving the Habs a 3-0.

The second period was much the same, as the Habs were skating circles around the Red Wings early on, until the midway point of the period when Alexei Emelin interfered with Dylan Larkin. Detroit would get a five minute power play in hopes of getting back in the game.

And get back in the game they did, as Gustav Nyquist and Anthony Mantha would tally only 44 seconds apart to tie the game before the power play would end. Shortly after that power play, Mike Brown got a double minor for roughing and cross checking Niklas Kronwall, and the Wings would return to the power play. Mike Green would fire a shot past Mike Condon, giving the Wings the go ahead goal going into the third.

The Wings had a scare early in the third, as Emelin would score to tie the game just three minutes in, but Brown interfered with Howard in front, and the goal would be called back. However, Sven Andrighetto would score shortly after, and there was no interference this time, so the Habs would tie the game.

At about this time, the New Jersey Devils beat the Boston Bruins 2-1, which meant that a win for Detroit would put them in third in the Atlantic. So, it was time for the Wings to take charge, win the game, and finally get into a playoff spot, right?

Wrong. Midway through the third, the Wings were chasing the puck in there own zone, and after several passes by the Habs, the puck would end up on Pacioretty’s stick, who would make no mistake, and fire it home for the lead. The Wings would press hard for the tying goal, but no dice, as Detroit would find themselves the losers in a 4-3 affair.

Sadly, the Red Wings were outclassed by one of the coldest teams in the NHL tonight. They got off to a slow start, and never recovered until the power play goals in the second. Even then, they still didn’t get to work at even strength until the Habs scored their two goals in the third, but they couldn’t get anything past Condon.

The Wings finished the game with a 58.41% 5v5 Score-Adjusted CF%, but it resulted in no goals, with all three coming on the power play.

Much like last night’s game, the MVP seemed like all but Howard’s to lose, coming in relief the night after beating Buffalo, and shutting the Habs out as the Wings came back and won. Except that didn’t happen, and Howard finished with a .900 SV% on 20 shots (exactly like last night).

So, the MVP goes to Pavel Datsyuk. He set up the tying and go-ahead goals in the second on the power play, while at even strength he dominated possession with a 67.64% 5v5 Score-Adjusted CF%.

The Red Wings quest for a playoff spot continues as they host the Minnesota Wild on Friday at 7:30 pm. Keep an eye on the Philadelphia Flyers tomorrow as they play the Washington Capitals at 8:00 pm.