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After a solid road victory on Monday afternoon, the Detroit Red Wings were hoping to stretch their winning streak to three games with former division rival, the Columbus Blue Jackets in town.
Luckily for Detroit,
Jonas Gustavsson's apparent return to form has come at just the right time for the Red Wings, as "The Monster" made 36 saves on the evening to lead the Red Wings to a 2-1 victory on home ice to move to 5-2 on the young season.
The past 48 hours have provided a reminder as to why the Red Wings signed Gustavsson back in July 2012 to serve as the primary back-up to
Jimmy Howard. As I stated back at the
time of the signing, Gustavsson is more than capable of playing well if there is a need to spell Howard due to ineffectiveness or an injury (such as the bruised left hand #35 is currently dealing with).
Gustavsson's best work likely came during the opening 20 minutes when he turned aside 18 shots while Detroit got outplayed by the Blue Jackets, enabling the Red Wings to regroup in the dressing room while nursing a 1-0 lead.
Not to be forgotten, fellow countrymen
Daniel Alfredsson continued his opportunistic play of late, pouncing on a loose puck in the slot to slap home his first ever goal as a Red Wing to provide Detroit with that aforementioned lead. His five points in the past three contests since being moved off a line alongside
Stephen Weiss and
Johan Franzen, have aided the top pairing of Datsyuk and Zetterberg in carrying the offensive load for the Red Wings this past weekend.
Other stats & notes:
*** Impressive work from
Joakim Andersson (10 for 15, 67%) and
Stephen Weiss (15 for 26, 58%) in the face-off circle. Puzzling night for
Pavel Datsyuk at the dot, winning only 40% of his draws (6 for 15).
*** The even distribution of minutes for the Detroit forwards. The top nine forwards ranged in TOI (time on ice) of 14:57 (Cleary) to 17:46 (Zetterberg). Excellent use of his club's depth up front by
Mike Babcock, especially given a situation with his team playing their 4th game in 6 nights. It is a luxury not all teams are able to utilize.
*** Solid contribution from the Red Wings 4th line, who were extremely positive from the perspective of advanced statistics, particularly
Jordin Tootoo and
Luke Glendening. Both had a Corsi For % of 71.4% during 5-on-5 action. (10 shots towards Columbus goal vs. 4 shots against Detroit's goal while they were on the ice.)
*** Also interesting to note that Babcock did not put out his 4th line once to take a defensive zone face-off. This likely has to do with Babcock attempting to shield
Luke Glendening in the face-off circle until he garners more experience.
Cory Emmerton took 3 defensive zone face-offs in his most recent contest vs. Phoenix last Thursday. Glendening has only taken 1 defensive zone face-off in his three games played.
On the horizon....a date tomorrow night with the 6-0 Colorado Avalanche in Denver, under the guidance of rookie head coach and beloved Detroit sports figure,
Patrick Roy.
Should be a dandy!
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The Red Wings website (through Bill Roose), announced the news regarding
Darren Helm's rehab assignment this weekend in Grand Rapids:
With the potential of both
Patrick Eaves and Helm being able to return from the long-term injury reserve by the latter portion of next week, it would not surprise to see some further roster shuffling by the Red Wings within the next 7-10 days.
Whether that means a couple of players placed on waivers, or a minor trade or two to once again become roster and cap compliant once these injured players return, assuming new injuries aren't incurred during that time period.
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In addition, a minor roster move this morning by the club:
As a result,
Jimmy Howard will either be able to start tomorrow night in Denver, or at bare minimum, serve as Gustavsson's backup.
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