Wings capture 800th all-time Joe Louis Arena win with 4-2 decision over Calgary

 

By @StefanKubus –

DETROIT – For Detroit, the third time truly was the charm Sunday night.

In their third crack at it in the same week, the Red Wings finally secured all-time win No. 800 inside Joe Louis Arena with a 4-2 victory over the Calgary Flames. Dylan Larkin and Gustav Nyquist each scored their 12th goals of the season, Brad Richards potted his third of the year and Justin Abdelkader added an empty-net goal. Petr Mrazek stopped 26 of 28 shots. Danny DeKeyser also chipped in with a pair of helpers.

“We wanted to come out better than we did the last game, and we did,” Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg said. “Overall, I thought we played a good game. Got a little tight during the end, 4-on-4 and they pulled the goalie so a power play basically, but it was nice when Abby got the empty-netter to get the two points.”

Blashill obviously didn’t have too much time to reflect on being part of the 800th win, but said that it really was a special moment.

“It is a big deal in the sense that this place is great, the history here is amazing. To be a part of that is a pretty cool thing.”

Photos by Andrew Knapik/MiHockey

Detroit had a pair of man-advantage opportunities against the league’s 30th-ranked penalty kill in the opening period, but was unable to generate much offense on either attempt. Detroit then saw Calgary’s power play shortly after, also the league’s worst statistically, but with the Wings keeping the Flames off the board, both teams skated off knotted at zero after 20 minutes.

Just 1:23 into the second period, Larkin was called for hooking. And on the ensuing power play, Calgary’s Dennis Wideman scored with a point shot through traffic, beating a well-screened Mrazek to give the Flames the 1-0 lead.

But at 7:46 of the frame, Larkin made up the minor penalty by potting his team-leading 12th of the season, a rebound goal, to even things up at one aside. And 45 seconds later, Richards wired his third of the season home, a blast from between the tops of the circles that found the top corner. Richards delayed just for a second during his wind-up before taking the shot, which allowed the defender to hit the ice completely and miss the block.

“I think Richards has been real good even before he started scoring,” Blashill said. “I thought his play was real good. The production just wasn’t necessarily coming, but we stuck with it because we thought the process was really good and, now, the production is starting to come. I mean, that shot… that’s an unreal shot.”

Gustav Nyquist helped put Detroit on top by a pair late in the period, as his low seeing-eye shot from the top of the right circle made its way through traffic and found twine on the short side.

Up 3-1, that left Detroit 20 minutes away from that milestone victory at Joe Louis Arena.

“I think the more cushion you give yourself, the better chance you’re going to be able to win hockey games,” Blashill said. “Certainly, goals like that in critical moments are big.”

The teams traded power-play chances early in the third period, but neither were successful.

With the teams playing 4-on-4 late in the game, Calgary pulled Ramo for the extra attacker with just over four minutes left to effectively have a power play. And it worked, as Dougie Hamilton’s bomb from the point squeaked through Mrazek with 2:59 left to pull the Flames to within one. However, Abdelkader iced the game at 4-2 with an empty-netter.

The Red Wings host the New Jersey Devils Tuesday night before heading into Christmas break.

“We probably could’ve came in blindfolded and started better than we did the other night (against Vancouver), so it was good that we bounced back from a goal and didn’t let that affect us and got back in the game and kept going, pushing,” Richards said.