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A picture of perfection

February 18, 2017, 6:50 PM ET [7 Comments]
Bob Duff
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
In a season where not much has gone right for them, the Detroit Red Wings remain the picture of perfection in the shootout.

Captain Henrik Zetterberg tallied in the fifth round of the shootout Saturday to give the Wings a 3-2 victory over the NHL-leading Washington Capitals and bring a halt to their four-game losing streak and five-game winless sked.

“We haven’t been very good in overtimes (3-10), so there’s probably two theories there,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. “One is to try to do some different things to win in overtime. One is to just drag it to a shootout.”

A couple of times during the OT session, Blashill rolled the dice and played three forwards in a bid to end it.

“Early in the three-on-three we did some different things to try to win and once we got later I said to myself, ‘Let’s get this thing into a shootout,’ because we seem to find a way to win in shootouts.”

Petr Power
On the subject of confidence, Detroit goalie Petr Mrazek seems to have located his supply of the elixir.

Mrazek made 34 saves Saturday and after Zetterberg scored, foiled Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin on the shootout-deciding shot.

“It’s always special when a player like that goes against you in the last one and you make the save,” Mrazek said.

He stopped four of five shooters in the shootout.

“They have lot of guys there that can shoot the puck,” Mrazek said. “They can score on the breakaways.”

As to his improved play between the pipes, Mrazek felt his formula for success was a simple one.

“Just try to be big in the net and try and find a way to stop more pucks,” he said.

Ericsson Surgery
Detroit defenseman Jonathan Ericsson has undergone surgery to repair the fractured wrist that figures to end his season, but the concern for his well-being is far from over.

“The problem with Big E’s injury is it’s just a bone that blood doesn’t flow to easily, so it’s going to take a while to heal,” Blashill said.

Hockey For Everyone
The Wings’ celebration of Hockey For Everyone month was put on hold due to the death of team owner Mike Ilitch but prior to Saturday’s game, youth and adult hockey players representing a variety of areas and communities, including ethnicity and gender equality, socio-economic status, LGBTQ and those with disabilities, served as honorary puck drop captains.

“I think the initiative is great,” Blashill said. “I think opening up the sport to all is awesome.

“I was a friend with Brendan Burke. He was on Miami when I was (an assistant coach) at Miami. That spearheaded a lot of this, his unfortunate passing. I’m friends with Patrick Burke, who has done tons of work for this so I think it’s a great initiative.

Brendan Burke, the son of Calgary Flames president of hockey operations Brian Burke, was a student-manager with the Miami RedHawks hockey team who announced publicly that he was gay in 2007. After his death in a 2010 car accident, Burke’s brother Patrick, along with his father, launched the You Can Play initiative to combat homophobia in sports.

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