The Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers faced off for the second time in four days, this time at Little Caesars Arena. It would be a similar result.
Moritz Seider and Filip Zadina scored power play goals, and Michael Rasmussen sealed the insurance goal with an empty netter as the Red Wings knocked off Philadelphia 4-2.
Tyler Bertuzzi would get on the board first for his 23rd of the year, giving Detroit a 1-0 lead. Vladislav Namestnikov had a beauty of a chance in alone on Carter Hart but was stoned, preventing a two-goal first period lead for the Red Wings.
The second period started with a Flyers power play that Detroit killed, but the momentum continued to be in Philly’s corner. They finally got a shot on net when Troy Stecher ripped one at Hart, which was at the 12:47 mark of the second period. Detroit’s offense from there started to get its legs back. Thomas Greiss continued making timely saves, including a beauty on the kill.
Cue Zadina. The winger who’s been snakebitten all season long buried one off a puck that deflected from Dylan Larkin‘s stick and gave Detroit a 2-0 lead.
Greiss would come through again with another big save to preserve the lead.
The Flyers would finally break though on the power play with a blast from Keith Yandle with just 7.5 seconds remaining in the period. Greiss had no chance being completely screened.
The third period would see the Red Wings needing to kill another penalty and it was Moritz Seider scoring on a Red Wings power play.
Minutes later, Wyandotte, Michigan native Gerald Mayhew crashed into the boards and was cut on his face, having to leave the game. The one-time Mr. Hockey for the state of Michigan had been flying down the ice on a scoring chance and was tripped up by Greiss’ stick. All the best to the Roosevelt grad in what was a scary moment at LCA.
The Flyers would score seconds later on a shot that found its way through Greiss’ pads, tightening the score to 3-2.
It was helter-skelter hockey as the great Doc Emrick would say for stretches of the dying moments in the third period but the Red Wings would secure the win on Rasmussen’s empty net goal, contested by a tossed stick which made it an automatic goal, nullifying two great passes from Sam Gagner and Larkin, which would have been assists.