Henrik Zetterberg garnered a couple of milestones, Tomas Tatar and Gustav Nyquist got rolling and most importantly of all, the Detroit Red Wings got themselves a much-needed victory.
A 5-3 verdict on the road Saturday in the back end of a weekend home-and-home set with the Ottawa Senators saw Detroit’s moribund power play start clicking and Tatar and Nyquist, last season’s top goal scorers, both dent the twine.
Tatar, who finished the night with two points, now has three goals on the season, while Nyquist, who also collected a pair of points, has lit five red lamps.
“We need them,… Zetterberg said. “They’re huge. The last two years they’ve been the goal-scorers on our team.
“We need them going. They’ve been playing good; they’ve been creating chances but haven’t really gotten goals. It’s nice that they got one each tonight.…
Both of them scored on the power play as Detroit went two-for-three with the man advantage.
“Special teams are huge thing, we probably lost some games because we lost the special-teams battle, especially on the road,… Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. “Tonight we won a game because we won the special-teams battle.…
Captain Milestone When Detroit captain Zetterberg assisted on Tatar’s goal to open the scoring, it was his 500th NHL assist. When he figured with another helper on Nyquist’s goal to make it 2-0, that was his 800th NHL point.
“(Teammate Drew) Miller told me a few games ago that I was close,… Zetterberg said. “I’m happy I reached it. I’ve played with a lot of great players. I’ve got to thank them.…
It was left to others in the Detroit dressing room to deliver the superlatives regarding Zetterberg’s achievements on the ice.
“It’s incredible just to sit next to him in the locker room and see how he works and then just to play with him,… linemate Dylan Larkin said. “He’s probably the best player I’ve ever played with, just how poised he is and calm with the puck, and he’s an even better guy and a great leader.
“I couldn’t be happier for him.…
Added goalie Petr Mrazek: “It’s an honour to play with a guy like that.…
That’s A Wrap Teenaged rookie Larkin scored his first game-winning goal as an NHLer, displaying his impressive speed by scoring on a second-period wrap around.
“I just saw the goalie (Craig Anderson) come out,… Larkin said. “He’s pretty aggressive.
“I used to do it all the time in the levels before, but I didn’t think it was going to work. It was good to see the open net there.…
O From The D Detroit got goals from defenseman Danny DeKeyser and Jonathan Ericsson, just the fourth and fifth goals scored this season by Red Wings blue-liners. Detroit’s rearguard finished with five points on the night.
“It makes a big difference,… Zetterberg said. “We got away from that a little bit.
“We worked on that a lot in camp, to get the D involved. Somewhere along the line here we kind of forget to get them involved in games.
“We talked about it before our last game at home, we wanted to get the D more involved. I think that happened the last game and today it was better.…
Happy Homecoming Mrazek played his junior hockey from 2009-12 with the Ontario Hockey League’s Ottawa 67’s so he was excited to garner a win the first time he played in the city as an NHLer.
“Nice city, great fans and nice building,… Mrazek said. “I have some good memories here. I played a couple of games in this arena before so it's nice to be back.…
Halloween Memories There was no time for trick or treating for the Wings as they were busy taming the Senators on Halloween night, but they’ll always have the memories.
“I'd always be a sports-related theme,… Larkin recalled. “Not anything special.
“I'd just wear my Wings jersey and I'd wear rollerblades so I could get to the houses faster and cover some ground.…
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