Mrazek’s shutout, Athanasiou’s first goal lift Wings to win over Caps

 

By @StefanKubus –

DETROIT – Alex Ovechkin’s hunt to break Sergei Fedorov’s record for most goals by a Russian-born player will have to wait.

Despite putting 15 shots on goal, himself, Ovechkin was thwarted by Red Wings goaltender Petr Mrazek, as Mrazek stopped all of them and 38 in total to lead Detroit to a 1-0 victory over the Washington Capitals Tuesday night at Joe Louis Arena, on a night that Fedorov was honored for his Hockey Hall of Fame induction no less. In front of his mom and sister, Andreas Athanasiou scored his first career NHL goal in just his second game.

“I thought for lots of the game, we did a lot of good stuff,” Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill said. “I thought for 50 minutes we played very well, I thought the second period was really, really good again. We’ve still got to continue to hit the net more, but I thought we did lots of good stuff. I didn’t think on the penalty kill we were good enough, we gave up too many one-timers from Ovi there and they obviously gained momentum there the last ten, but that’s going to happen. They’re a really good hockey team, so a good two points.”

Blashill joked that the strategy all along was to wear Ovechkin down by letting him shoot.

“Well, we had a little plan to tire him out,” Blashill said. “We thought if he could get 15, he’s got ice bags on his arm right now, so we’re going to try to come up with a different plan.”

Mrazek was dialed in all night, especially late when he made more than a handful of saves on Ovechkin alone en route to his sixth career shutout and first of the young season.

“I knew he was going to shoot from anywhere,” Mrazek said. “You could see it from the beginning, he had seven shots in the first period, so I was trying to be focused and be out of the crease every shot he had.”

MORE: Sergei Fedorov returns to Joe Louis Arena for Hockey Hall of Fame honoring

In front of his mom and sister, Andreas Athanasiou broke a scoreless tie at 4:06 of the third period for his first career NHL goal in just his second game. Blashill said what he has done in this short period of time has made an impact on he and the rest of the coaching staff.

“What AA did when he came up here is said he wanted to stay, he’s said that through his play, so he gives us lots of speed, he gives us I think an accountability defensively. That’s the biggest thing, he’s got to continue to be accountable defensively, which I think he was.”

Detroit thought it had the game’s opening goal at 5:56, as it appeared the puck had crossed the Caps’ goal line, but officials determined that video review was inconclusive and thus the game remained scoreless.

Finally, at 4:06 of the third period, it was Athanasiou who broke the deadlock, scoring his first NHL goal from a goal-line angle virtually. After making a nice move around Caps’ defenseman John Carlson down the left wing, Athanasiou nearly lost the puck, corralled it near the goal line and threw it on net and the puck somehow squeaked through Washington netminder Braden Holtby’s gear and in.

“I just try to play my game, obviously there are good players out there, so I just do my best to help the team win, whether that’s drawing penalties or getting pucks on net and scoring, so just try to do my best every night,” Athanasiou said.

His coach was more impressed by how Athanasiou put himself in position to create the scoring chance more than anything.

“The best part of that play was that he got the puck in his own end and skated it down the ice, so you’ve got to skate the puck out of your zone to have success,” Blashill said.

MORE: Athanasiou impresses in Red Wings’ NHL debut

With a powerplay late in the period, Ovechkin and the Caps’ powerplay peppered Mrazek and continued to do so when the team pulled Holtby, an aspect of the Wings’ penalty kill that Blashill said certainly needs attention before the two teams square off again next Wednesday.

Notes: With 19 shots on goal, Ovechkin bested his previous season high of eight, set in both his previous game and on Nov. 3. The NHL record for shots in a game by an individual is held by Hall of Fame defenseman Ray Bourque, who had a staggering 19 on March 21, 1991.