Third period - Greiss was joined by Jonathan Bernier in the “I gave you every chance and you couldn’t do it” club. Detroit managed 29 shots on goal, but to no avail. Chicago even briefly pulled their own goalie in an act of charity, the Wings were still unable to capitalize. Debrincat’s empty net goal seemed a bit over celebrated, but that’s coming from a place of immense frustration. Chicago outscored Detroit’s efforts, again. The team is loaded with scoring, and can get the puck out of their zone. Both Chicago net minders are having career seasons, which helps greatly. Somehow, Detroit isn’t in last place yet. Ottawa has a massive -29 goal differential to Detroit’s -19. Buffalo is behind Detroit, but with 5 games in hand. Unfortunately, the Ottawa dumpster fire comes right at the time the league is changing the draft. As in this game, in the draft Detroit just can’t catch a break. There are, again, positives in Detroit’s game, but it is overshadowed by an absolutely anemic power play. At some point, someone else needs to be in charge. It is beyond dreadful. To be sure, Chicago is the surprise team in the Central. Nashville has swapped places with the Blackhawks and is looking at a fire sale. Detroit has 1 point in 4 games against Chicago. That is a strong sign that the team isn’t meeting even the lowest expectations at this point.
Second Period - I’m running out of things to say about Detroit’s power play. The theatrics of it all could only be topped if Doug Flutie and Frank Thomas skated out with a bottle of NuGenix. “You’ll get stronger, better workouts with more success, and the fans will love it too”. Make GNC the new helmet sponsor. Bernier has been very good. Kudos to Kurashev for turning a 1 on 3 into a highlight shootout goal. Play on dear friends.
First period - not nearly as good a period for Detroit as the last game. Even though Chicago struck twice in the first on Monday, Detroit’s play on the ice seemed more steady, better controlled. Chicago, on the attack, is so far beyond what Detroit is able to cover at this point. In their own zone, the Wings are puck chasing and puck watching. Bernier did a yeoman’s task to keep this tied. Detroit started to have some better rhythm toward the end, with a really nice opportunity for Fabbri that was air-mailed over the net. In essence, the zones on the ice right now for Detroit are like the three buttons on a sport coat. Always, sometimes, never (top, middle, bottom). Always - Detroit is finding ways to move the puck in the O zone. Sometimes - Detroit is jamming up the neutral zone and shutting down momentum for Chicago. Never - Detroit cannot get the puck in their own zone right now. Avoid it at all costs. Chicago took over in the second on Monday, about halfway through. We’ll see how it goes tonight.
A very good effort was enough for Detroit to gain a single point in OT. I’m still impressed with the Christian Djoos goal. He waited out the forward covering him, and picked the top corner. That was a beautiful shot. Namestnikov’s drive to the net is paying off as the season continues. It’s a nice development as the team is getting to know one another.
In an interesting move, Detroit has promoted Evgeni Svechnikov to the practice squad before the rematch against Chicago. Givani Smith was sent down. Part of this, I’m sure, is that there is a “clock” on players that have passed through waivers. If you keep them on the squad or roster too long, they will have to go through the process again. Smith may be getting some better minutes in Grand Rapids for the time being. Svechnikov had an important goal last Saturday. You can read a recap of the game here. The former first round pick has 2 points (1G, 1A) in 3 games played.
I’m not sure if this is just a practice squad opportunity, or a pat on the back for a good performance. Players from the AHL make a higher percentage of their salaries when up on the squad. Unless there’s an injury we don’t know about, probably not too much to read into here.
At the beginning of the season, Detroit had a pattern. Before Zadina and Fabbri were out, it was lose, win, lose, win. The back to backs offer an interesting opportunity to make adjustments. Detroit has to have the same defensive commitment. Bernier and Greiss both help the team stay in it. Bernier just gets better “run support”. I’m not sure if it’s a coincidence that he plays on the second game of these 2 game stints or no. If Detroit can break out, it could be a promising game. Although, Greiss ends up being shafted a bit more.
The power play is atrocious. Any advancement on that front would be welcome. We’ll see what practice lines look like tomorrow. Let me know what you think we’ll see in this second tilt.
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