Moments after he’d won the game for the Detroit Red Wings, Jakub Kindl blew a kiss.
Was it simply the excitement of netting the overtime winner in a 2-1 road victory Friday over the Toronto Maple Leafs, or was Kindl directing it toward Leafs coach Mike Babcock, the man who buried him deep in his doghouse last season, Babcock’s farewell campaign as Detroit coach?
We’ll never know. Kindl didn’t say.
“I went to get (the puck) and I saw there was a lane open, so I just tried to skate through the middle,… Kindl explained. “I don't know if it was a little bit of two-on-one. Maybe their D-man was expecting that I was going to make the play.
“I don't know who that was, to be honest, maybe Z (Henrik Zetterberg) or (Dylan) Larkin, I'm not sure right now. (The Toronto defenseman) kind of bit on it and it just ended up going in the net.…
Kindl’s goal was the latest salvo in an increase of productivity from Detroit’s back end, which has posted 2-5-7 totals during the club’s current three-game winning streak.
“When you look at our D corps, we have a lot of guys who can carry the puck and can make a good play, so again we get feedback from our coaches, they want us to keep carrying the puck and making plays,… Kindl said.
Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg indicated getting the rearguard involved more in the attack was part of the gameplan from training camp, but somehow the blueprint veered off course once the regular season got underway.
“We need that,… Zetterberg said. “I think the league is so tight now you have to create odd-man rushes and you do that by getting the D involved.
“We worked on that a lot in training camp. We kind of got away from it a little bit when the season started, but we emphasized it the last three or four games and it’s been helping us.…
As pleased as he was to see his defenders get up and help decide the outcome of the game, Detroit coach Jeff Blashill wasn’t as excited about their performance in getting the puck out of their own end. The Wings spent far too much of the game bottled up in the defensive zone, a problem that has reared its head more than once this season.
“I didn’t think our D played at the level we need them to play at tonight,… Blashill said. “It caused us a little bit of strife to get out of our end. I think our D are better than they played tonight, I think they’ll be better on Sunday (against Dallas). They’re going to have to be.
“They did a decent job of jumping into the play. We didn’t see it as much tonight because we didn’t exit our zone well enough.…
Milestone Man, The Sequel Already having picked up his 500th NHL assist and 800th NHL point Saturday at Ottawa, Zetterberg opened the scoring with his 300th NHL goal, a freak tally that was going to miss the net until Toronto goalie James Reimer stuck his leg out and deflected the puck into the goal.
“I was just trying to get it on net there,… Zetterberg said. “To be honest with you I don’t know how it went in. I haven’t seen a replay on it yet, either. It was a good dump.
“I just tried to use the D as a screen and get it on net. But I don’t think I actually got it on net. I think it was a little wide. But it must have hit his pad and deflected in.…
Zetterberg joined Gordie Howe, Steve Yzerman, Alex Delvecchio and Sergei Fedorov as Red Wings to achieve all of these milestones in a Detroit uniform.
“Obviously when you retire and you’re looking back, it will mean a lot,… Zetterberg said. “Right now you’re in it and it’s fun to reach these numbers.
“I couldn’t have done it without the players that have been surrounding me for all these years. Without them I would not be close.…
Hall of Famers Fedorov and fellow former Red Wing Nicklas Lidstrom, both headed into the Hockey Hall of Fame Monday, were on hand for the game and Lidstrom dropped the ceremonial first puck.
“When I came over Nick was a huge help for me,… Zetterberg said. “It was just Nick and (Tomas) Holmstrom who were the Swedes on the team when I was 22 coming over.
“He’s a big part of my career and a big part of the kind of person I am.…
“We’ve been marking this day on the calendar for a while and looking forward to this game. Obviously just playing Toronto in Toronto is special.
“Having Nick and Sergei here and being a little bit a part of their weekend is special.…
Ferraro Hurt Detroit forward Landon Ferraro suffered a lower-body injury early in the first period and did not return.
“I’d say he’s day to day but I don’t expect him Sunday,… Blashill said.
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