The Detroit Red Wings made it close for a while, but the Colorado Avalanche proved much the better team.
Wednesday’s contest at Little Caesars Arena pitted the Stanley Cup-eyeing Avs against the wild-card-hopeful Wings, and just like their first meeting, Colorado scored first, and scored more. Credit the Wings for getting within a goal at 2-1, but the Avs pulled away with a 5-2 victory.
The Wings (23-23-6) had their chances — a puck hit a goalpost on a power play; Pius Suter missed an open net in the third — but the Avs closed on theirs. Gabriel Landeskog scored 1:12 into the game, and Tyson Jost scored at 11:47 of the first when he got to a loose puck in the crease before Gustav Lindstrom. Filip Zadina used his seventh goal to make it 2-1, but Nazem Kadri scored late in the second and Valeri Nichushkin scored early in the third.
Robby Fabbri added his 14th goal when he converted on his team’s third man advantage, with Moritz Seider earning his second assist of the game. Landeskog bookended the action by scoring into an empty net in the final minute.
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The Avalanche beat the Wings 7-3 in December. This time, they were without their top scorer, Nathan MacKinnon, who was unavailable because of a lower body injury. The Wings regained Carter Rowney and Vladislav Namestnikov from lower-body injuries, andm with Joe Veleno recalled from the minors, Givani Smith was scratched.
It was the Wings’ first game in a week, but while they had a break, the Boston Bruins won twice to open up a 10-point lead for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Larkin’s assist
Dylan Larkin picked up his 200th career assist when he set up Zadina’s goal, and then added another assist on Fabbri’s goal to fatten what has grown to an eight-game point streak. Starting with two goals and an assist Jan. 29 against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Larkin has produced six goals and 10 assists, and has delivered multi-point games six times. Larkin’s 27th assist came when he got the puck in his own zone and fed Seider, who raced up ice and fired a shot at Pavel Francouz that Zadina knocked in off the rebound.
Makar’s assist
Coach Jeff Blashill noted the day before the game that the Avs can come at an opponent “like shot out of a cannon.” Being prepared didn’t make it any easier; the Wings spent the opening minute chasing around their own zone and it only took the Avs 1:12 to put the puck behind Thomas Greiss. Cale Makar, the defensemen drafted at No. 4 overall in 2017, weaved the puck towards Detroit’s net and fired a backhand shot that hit Greiss’ pad; Landeskog then popped the rebound in for his 24th goal.
Helm’s assist
When Darren Helm earned an assist on Landeskog’s goal, it was Helm’s first point in 15 games. In fact, it was his first point since Dec. 10, when he scored a goal against his former teammates when the Wings were in Colorado. Helm was a part of the 2008 championship squad during his tenure with the Wings, which spanned 2007-21 and lasted 744 games. He has provided a good veteran presence as the fourth-line center for the Avs, who are one of the best teams in the NHL.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her book, The Big 50: The Detroit Red Wings is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.