Wings Postgame: OMG

The Red Wings came into tonight’s game having won their last two games. Despite the tough opponent in the Nashville Predators, the Red Wings continued their streak with a 5-3 win.

It was an uneventful first period, as neither the Wings or Predators scored. Both Mrazek and Rinne were solid, as they both stopped 15 shots in the frame. However, it escalated quickly after that, as the Wings got on the board with a Justin Abdelkader deflection on a Ryan Sproul shot on the powerplay. It was reviewed for goalie interference, but Abdelkader didn’t touch Rinne enough for it to be overturned. Despite not getting the goal, it was Sproul’s first NHL point.

Subban responded about 10 minutes later with a bullet of his own on a 5-on-3 powerplay to tie the game for Nashville. Just 18 seconds later, Nashville scored again, as Ribeiro had a nice little dangle in front of the net to deke out Mrazek, and give the Preds the 2-1 lead. Just when it seemed like Nashville would leave the period with the lead, Drew Miller scored on an accurately fanned shot with just 40 seconds left to tie the game.

It got even better for the Red Wings, as Tatar scored 1:10 into the third to give the Wings a 3-2 lead. About 10 minutes later, Nyquist scored a goal that was almost identical to the one that Tatar scored, ironically both were for their first goals of the season. The Predators responded four minutes later on a 4-on-3 powerplay thanks to a Roman Josi slapshot, and suddenly it was a 4-3 game. Luckily, both Calle Jarnkrok and James Neal were undisciplined, and the Predators weren’t given the opportunity to tie the game, since they were down two men. Darren Helm scored the empty net goal for safety measures, and the Red Wings would beat the Predators in a 5-3 win.

It

It was a solid outing for the Red Wings, especially considering the skill on the Predators blueline. The team took the smart approach and took as many shots on Pekka Rinne as possible. As a result, they were rewarded with the win, thanks to consistently strong play throughout all three periods.

Gustav Nyquist is tonight’s MVP, as he assisted on the first goal of the game, scored the game winning goal, and had a strong possession game, with a 68.18% 5v5 CF%. He definitely had some sheltering though, as he had a 100% offensive zone start percentage.

You don’t have to wait too long, as the Wings play again tomorrow as they host the San Jose Sharks at 7:00 pm. You can catch the game on Fox Sports Detroit, or CSN California.