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It probably wasn’t the formula the Detroit Red Wings gameplanned to avoid blowing a third-period lead but you know what?
It worked.
Captain Henrik Zetterberg scored the winner in the shootout as the Wings rallied from a 3-1 first-period deficit for a 4-3 victory Tuesday at Winnipeg over the Jets, allowing the Wings to complete a 2-1 road trip.
“We weren’t leading,” Zetterberg said with a chuckle about what was change in the Wings during the final frame of regulation time. “Maybe that’s what was different. No, but I think we played better. We kind of kept going what we did in the second.”
A dreadful opening frame saw the Wings fall behind 3-1.
“Everyone in here knew it wasn’t the way we had to play,” Detroit forward Anthony Mantha said.
Zetterberg felt the Wings got back to the basics after their dreadful start.
“Even though we scored right after they scored, the first period wasn’t our best,” Zetterberg said. “They had more pace and they won more battles than we did. But we felt from the second period on we played pretty good.
“We got our legs going and we won more battles.”
The captain was hopeful that a solid third-period performance would prove a stepping-stone to solving Detroit’s late-game woes.
“I think when you do that for a while and you keep doing it, you get more experience with it and it’s easier to play with confidence in third periods,” Zetterberg said.
Digging Deep
Currently, with six regulars out, the Wings have collected points in eight consecutive games, going 5-1-2 over that span.
“Right now the standings are so tight, one or two points could make a great difference at the end of the year, and those are the hard points we need to make it up,” Mantha said.
Detroit coach Jeff Blashill sees little difference between this stretch and the previous one that saw the Wings go 2-8-1.
“I think when we’re playing good hockey we do a good job of getting out of our end fast,” Blashill said. “We haven’t had as much O-zone time as we’d like but when we get out of our end fast and play fast in the neutral zone we’re a good hockey team.
“We’ve done a pretty good job with the exception of Pittsburgh game of not giving up lots of chances and not giving up too many easy chances. But I don’t think there’s huge differences between that stretch and when we didn’t win. I think the differences are miniscule in the league and it comes down to making big plays at big moments.”
They Shootout, They Score
The Wings are now 4-0 in the shootout.
That’s right. The team that went 13-29 in the shootout the previous four seasons is unbeaten in the NHL’s game-deciding penalty-shot competition in 2016-17.
“It’s nice to get the second point, especially where we are in the standings,” Zetterberg said. “We need all the points we can get. Once you get there, you might as well go for the second one.
“We had some key saves from (goalie) Petr (Mrazek) and you’ve got to be a little bit lucky when it goes to overtime and the shootout, and we had a bounce to our side tonight.”
Zetterberg was referring to Mrazek’s OT breakaway save on Winnipeg’s Brian Little.
As for the shootout, Mrazek tries to treat it as if it part of the regular game.
“It’s just any other breakaway in the game,” Mrazek said. “Go out and stay big and try to make the save.”
Lash on, Lashoff
Brian Lashoff played his second straight game on the Detroit defense and while his play wasn’t spectacular, he didn’t make any glaring mistakes, and the way things have often gone for the Wings rearguard this season, that can be viewed as a quiet victory.
“I just kind of focused on being persistent and staying out and worked on the things I need to do to get back up here, and when I got back up here, to be able to contribute and not just be up here, not just a guy who was here to fill in,” Lashoff said of his time with AHL Grand Rapids. “I wanted to be up here contributing for sure.”
Blashill likes the experience factor that Lashoff has brought to the Detroit blue-line corps.
“He goes back for pucks and is strong on it, and can take a hit to make a play,” Blashill said.
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