Not much has gone right for the Detroit Red Wings this season but in one aspect of the game, they remain the picture of perfection.
Detroit is 8-0 in the shootout after the NHL’s only unbeaten shootout team used that method to defeat the Arizona Coyotes 5-4 on Thursday.
Six of Detroit’s eight shootout wins have come on the road.
“I think coming into it, they were the second-best in the league,… Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said of the Coyotes, now 6-2 in the shootout. “It’s two teams that have done a good job.
“Our goalies have done a real good job of stopping. Thomas Vanek’s not here anymore, but he added an element, (Frans) Nielsen’s done a good job, Nyquist’s done a good job. So we’ve got guys that can score in the shootout and our goalies have done a good job stopping them.…
Wings goalie Petr Mrazek foiled all three Coyotes shooters, while Gus Nyquist was the only Detroit shooter to get the better of Arizona goalie Mike Smith.
Thursday’s shootout featured the two most productive shooter scorers in NHL history, and both missed.
Mrazek made a glove save to stop Arizona’s Radim Vrbata (45 career shootout goals). Detroit’s Frans Nielsen (44 goals) fired a backhand wide of the target.
“I was hoping he was shooting high glove,… Mrazek said of Vrbata. “When he stopped in front of me, I just put the glove a little bit down and I was (showing) him the high glove there and then put the glove back.…
Powering Up It was also a rare night of success for Detroit’s much-maligned, NHL-worst power-play unit, which scored twice.
“We’re starting to really click in a sense,… Wings defenseman Mike Green said of their work with the man advantage. “I think that especially with the two units, with the younger guys now, they have a lot of speed, so getting them the puck up the ice and letting them skate in, they’ve done a good job on the entries.
“Then within the zone it is about composure and I think we have a lot more composure as of late.…
Cally And Cali Detroit forward Mitch Callahan was inserted into the lineup in place of Luke Glendening, giving Callahan’s family from Whittier, Calif. a chance to see him play in the NHL in person.
“My parents are flying in (from L.A.) and they’re going to fly back out after the game,… Callahan said. “I got a bunch of cousins that are renting an RV and making a little boys trip out of it. Everyone besides my dad, it will be the first time them watching me play on NHL ice.…
The drive is around 5-6 hours to get to Glendale, Ariz., a trek that is quite familiar to Callahan “We used to do that drive all the time when I was younger to play in tournaments in Glendale and Scottsdale,… Callahan said.
Wing For A Day If a defenseman was recalled from the minor leagues and didn’t play, was he really in the show?
That was the question left to be answered in the case of Brian Lashoff. Recalled from AHL Grand Rapids for Thursday’s game on an emergency basis, Lashoff didn’t suit up and was returned to Grand Rapids immediately.
“Yeah, there were two question marks after last night, all of which are fine so then the emergency is terminated,… said Blashill, who didn’t elaborate any further on who the ailing members of the Detroit rearguard were.
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