Gustav Nyquist insists he doesn’t utilize a special stick for shootout opportunities.
“I don’t have a lucky shootout stick,… Nyquist said.
Maybe he does now.
The Detroit Red Wings right-winger changed sticks at the bench, and then deftly slipped a backhander through the pads of Darcy Kuemper to earn the Wings a 5-4 shootout victory over the Minnesota Wild Tuesday at Joe Louis Arena.
The reason for the stick switch was necessity.
“I was lucky,… Nyquist explained. “I flexed it and it cracked.
“I didn’t shoot the puck so I don’t think it would have broken anyways, but lucky I did that, I guess.…
The Wings also felt fortunate to get the win after squandering a 4-1 third-period lead and going to the shootout, where they are now 2-7.
“We’ve had some troubles with that,… Nyquist said of the shootout. “I don’t know our stats, but they’re not good. Every win you get in a shootout is a nice bonus point there.…
As for fumbling away the lead, Nyquist felt the Wings got away from the system and let Minnesota skate back into the game.
“I think we just didn’t stick to our system or help (goalie Petr) Mrazek,… Nyquist said. “They got on the inside, had a few whacks on a couple of goals. That’s something we need to sharpen up.
“After they tied it up I thought we started executing again and had some chances, but overall we’ll take the win.
“It’s not a good feeling, letting it get away after being up 4-1 going into the third, but that’s not the case now. We’re happy in here. It’s a nice feeling to go win the break with five wins.…
They’re Going Streaking Detroit heads into the NHL All-Star break with five straight wins and riding its longest winning streak in nearly five years.
The Wings’ last six-game winning streak was Feb. 8-19, 2012.
Making the stretch even more impressive is that it’s come with both of Detroit’s regular goalies, Jimmy Howard (groin) and Jonas Gustavsson (shoulder) on the injured list and rookies Mrazek and Tom McCollum manning the pipes.
“We won in a shootout, which is positive for our team,… Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. “I think we went 5-0 coming into the break. In that time we played some good teams, too.
“When Howie got hurt if you’d have said that Mrazek was going to go 4-0 and McCollum was going to go 1-0, Jimmy B (Detroit goalie coach Jim Bedard) would have probably called that but the outside world wouldn’t have believed that.
“It’s good for our guys going into the break.…
The First One Teemu Pulkkinen, who was leading the American Hockey League with eight goals when he was recalled from Grand Rapids, now has an NHL goal, and it was a beauty.
Armed with a powerful one-timer that’s been compared to Hall of Famer and former Wing Brett Hull, Pulkkinen stepped into a sweet feed from Stephen Weiss and hammered a drive past Minnesota goalie Devan Dubnyk to open the scoring.
“I was waiting for six games now so it was good to get that,… said Pulkkinen, proudly holding up his milestone puck. “Obviously it was a great pass from Weisser.
“I kind of had an easy job there because I was in the middle and I just shoot it.…
Weiss is impressed by the power possessed by his new linemate.
“He’s a shooter, so when you get a chance in certain situations I’m trying to look for him as much as possible, and that was a great shot by him,… Weiss said. “It wasn’t an easy pass to handle. I’ve seen a lot of him, especially in Grand Rapids. I played a little bit with him down there and he doesn’t need a lot of time to get it off.…
Like Hull, Pulkkinen seems to be able to go stealth and slide into openings to unleash his powerful drives.
“He knows where he’s dangerous and he can find holes, then it’s up to the rest of us to try and find him when he’s in a good a shooting spot,… Weiss said. “Luckily tonight we were able to do that. Sometimes they don’t go in, but tonight it went in.…
Petr Power If anyone doubted the bounce back abilities of Mrazek, who was pulled after allowing three first-period goals in Sunday’s 6-4 win over Buffalo, he silenced them with a solid performance in the shootout, foiling both Mikko Koivu and Zach Parise.
“The shootout, it’s 50-50,… Mrazek said. “The first one, (Parise) missed it. The second one, I thought (Koivu) was going to go high glove, so I was prepared for that.…
The 22-year-old continues to impress his teammates, displaying the demeanor of a grizzled veteran.
“You just look at him and you see it,… Detroit defenseman Brendan Smith said of Mrazek’s confident swagger. “That's the kind of guy he is.
“Those moments don't frighten him, so that's big for us.…
Follow me on Twitter @asktheduffer