Red Wings rout Oilers Saturday night in Helm’s return

Darren Helm scored in his season debut Saturday night. (Photo by Tom Turrill/MiHockey)

By Staci Burlingame – 

Despite some significant roster changes, the Red Wings had no problem filling up the scoresheet on Saturday night.

The Red Wings beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-0 in a late west coast contest to extend their win streak to three games.

Peter Mrazek got the start in net for Jimmy Howard after back-up goaltender Jonas Gustavsson suffered an injury earlier in the week. The Griffins’ goaltender made 14 saves, while Darren Helm scored in his return to action, to lead the Red Wings to another win.

Mrazek, who is 2-2-1 with the Grand Rapids Griffins this season, recorded his first NHL win of the season in his first appearance of the year.

Helm made his season debut with the Red Wings after a lengthy back injury sidelined him for almost all of last season.

He made sure to make his debut a big one, as he netted the first goal of the night for the Red Wings on a breakaway goal at 14:51 of the first period.

Less than 30 seconds later, Red Wing’s Thomas Tatar picked up a rebound to make it 2-0 at 14:24 of the first. Joakim Andersson was rewarded with the assist.

Edmonton’s goaltender, Richard Bachman, was replaced by back-up goalie Jason LaBarbera after suffering an injury in the first period.

The second period would stay in favor of the Red Wings, and they added another goal. Defenseman Jakub Kindl put a one-timer passed Edmonton’s goaltender at 13:05 of the second to make it 3-0.

An aggressive Red Wings team would prove to be too much for the Oilers, who would give up two more goals in the third period.

Andersson put the Red Wing’s up 4-0 when he found a loose puck in front of Edmonton’s net at the 12:06 mark.

Todd Bertuzzi topped the scoring off with a power-play goal from Kindl and captain Henrik Zetterberg at 10:17 of the third period.

Detroit is now 3-1-2 in their last six games, with an overall record of 9-4-2. Saturday’s loss marked the fifth straight for Edmonton; they are now 3-10-2.

The Red Wings will end their road trip with a game in Winnipeg on Monday night before returning home against Dallas on Thursday.