The Detroit Red Wings were seeking not prolong their two-game losing streak, but the mighty Colorado Avalanche had other plans for their rival.
The Avs jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and never looked back in a 7-3 victory that saw a lot of offense and little for Detroit to be happy with. The loss sends the Red Wings (13-12-3) to their third straight loss and second in consecutive nights.
The Red Wings actually outshot Colorado for most of the first period but were down quick…and early. After taking a 2-0 lead on goals from J.T. Compher and Andre Burakovsky, Darren Helm–of all freaking people–scored on a breakaway to dig the Wings into a 3-0 hole. Thomas Greiss saw his night end rapidly and in came Alex Nedeljkovic for relief.
Detroit would finally find the back of the net on a beautiful two-on-one goal set up by a deft defensive effort by Moritz Seider. Seider poked the puck away, styming a golden opportunity for Colorado, and then flipped it to Pius Suter, who streaked down the ice with Vladislav Namestnikov on his left wing. Suter dished a beauty to Namestnikov and he buried it, earning his 100th career goal and cutting the deficit to 3-1.
Joe Veleno would cut the lead to 3-2 early in the second period but the Avalanche seemingly flipped a switch and got goals from Nathan MacKinnon and Burakovsky again as the three goal lead was restored. The unfortunate part was that Detroit was buzzing after the Veleno goal and actually had a four-on-two opportunity that was disrupted by MacKinnon. He then turned it up the ice and would eventually bury the fourth Colorado goal.
Samuel Girard then added to the misery making it 6-2 and then the cherry on top of the poop sundae–Lucas Raymond went down the tunnel after suffering what looked like a knee-to-knee hit. Luckily, he would return later but this was the mood:
Filip Hronek added one on the power play, a one-timer from the point to draw the Wings back within three, 6-3. There’s been a lot of video featuring Hronek practicing clap bombs. It seems to be paying off, as it marks his third goal of the season.
The third period started out with some great chances for Detroit, but Darcy Kuemper masterfully sent them away. Back to back penalties from Danny DeKeyser and Sam Gagner slowed that momentum, and it took some time for Detroit to get its jump back.
Zadina continued to be victimized by any help from above when it comes to scoring. The youngster was seen visibly frustrated, and even yelling at himself as he skated back to the bench following a save on one of his shots. Cale Makar added an empty netter late to put Colorado up 7-3.