Since he was told he’d not be returning to junior, you could say that Detroit Red Wings rookie forward Michael Rasmussen has come to the fore.
Or, to be more precise, gone to the front - the net front.
One of the many reasons why Detroit has won eight of the last 10 games is Rasmussen’s work in front of the opposing goal. In Saturday’s 3-2 overtime win over the New Jersey Devils, Rasmussen tipped in a Mike Green shot at 13:37 of the third period to make it 2-2, as the Wings rallied from a 2-0 deficit for the victory.
“Ras has done a good job as a young guy getting his big body in front,” Green said.
At 6-6, Rasmussen presents an opposing figure to look around and find the puck.
“It’s tough because he’s so big and he’s thick, too,” Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard said. “It’s tough to see around him, especially being six foot one, it’s tough to see around a lot of guys in this league.
“With Ras being out there, it creates a lot of havoc for the goalies because you can’t really look over him. You gotta look around him.”
It was the third straight game that Rasmussen, 19, has scored. In his last 10 games, has five goals, three of them on the power play. Detroit is 11th in the NHL with the man advantage (22.4 percent) and Rasmussen leads the team with his three power-play goals.
“He’s an excellent net-front guy and I think he’s a good player everywhere else,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. “So where is a guy going to separate himself in the NHL? To me, it’s net front for him. I thought that when I watched him last year. I think he’s going to score lots of goals in this league because he knows how to go to the net, he knows how to tip pucks, he knows how to screen, he knows how to leverage his body.
“I think he’s going to be a real good net-front guy for a long time.”
Under Helm-ed
Now there’s something you’ve seen before - Darren Helm is injured. And as usual, it’s serious. Helm suffered an upper-body injury when hit by New Jersey forward Travis Zajac in the first period.
“He’ll be out for some time,” Blashill said. “I don’t have his time period yet. I’ll know more on Monday but he’ll be out for some time.”
Since the start of the 2012-13 season, Helm has missed 138 games.
Here’s Johnny
Backup goalie Jonathan Bernier made 38 saves for his second straight victory. Bernier is the first Detroit goalie other than Howard to win back-to-back starts since Petr Mrazek - Jan. 31, 2018 (2-1 over San Jose) and Feb. 2, 2018 (4-1 at Carolina).
“I feel like me and Howie are pushing each other every day and we’re trying to do our best every game to win some hockey games and that’s our only job,” Bernier said. “I can’t control how many games I’ll play.”
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