WINGS POSTGAME: Sharks spoil Zadina’s debut
By Tom Mitsos
5 years agoFilip Zadina made his NHL debut, as the Detroit Red Wings hosted the San Jose Sharks on Sunday afternoon at Little Caesars Arena. However, the Sharks came back from a two-goal deficit, beating the Red Wings 5-3.
THE HIGHLIGHTS
- On his first shift, Filip Zadina was on the ice for a goal against, as a Tim Heed point shot deflected off of Michael Rasmussen‘s skate and past Jonathan Bernier. The goal against wasn’t Zadina’s fault — just an unlucky bounce.
- Zadina originally started on a line with Michael Rasmussen and Luke Glendening, but Jeff Blashill quickly got the line blender going, putting him on a line with Larkin and Rasmussen and then later with Jacob de La Rose and Rasmussen.
- Late in the first period, Darren Helm tied the game at 1-1 with a nice wrister past Aaron Dell.
- With less than a minute to go in the first, Gustav Nyquist took a couple of whacks at a puck in the slot, finally getting past Dell to put the Red Wings up 2-1.
- About midway through the second period, on a delayed penalty against the Sharks, Justin Abdelkader found Mike Green, who slipped one past Dell to give the Red Wings a 3-1 lead.
- A Brent Burns point shot cut the Red Wings’ lead to 3-2 with about six minutes left in the second.
- About two minutes later, Joe Pavelski, from his knees, slips one past Bernier to tie the game at 3-3.
- And the onslaught continued, as Pavelski tipped a point shot that beat Bernier over the shoulder to give the Sharks a 4-3 lead.
- Pavelski notched the hat trick late in the third period on an empty-net goal.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Another game, another blown lead. It’s becoming all too familiar for the Red Wings, but the #LoseForHughes crowd no doubt has to be happy. The team was competitive for about one-third of the game, but the team still loses and doesn’t gain any points.
Zadina was fine in his debut. He recorded one shot on goal with one attempt and was a minus-1. He played less than 10 minutes at 5 on 5 (1:01 on the power play), which I pretty much expected. Blashill is not one to put a lot of trust in rookies, so it’s not surprising to see his ice time limited.
What we’ll have to keep an eye on is if Blashill loosens the leash and gives Zadina more ice time as he gets more games under his belt.
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