The Detroit Red Wings faced off against the Philadelphia Flyers for the first time this season at home after a three-game road trip out west. That road trip did not start out well against Colorado, then got better against Arizona before ending well with a win against Las Vegas.
The Detroit Red Wings needed a win to build on the momentum that they had from the road trip. The Flyers were coming into the game fresh off a loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, so they were looking for redemption.
Overall I think the Wings played a good game. They kept the game even through most of the night and stumbled, quickly giving up the two goals in the third period.
The Detroit Red Wings lose a nail-biter to the Flyers on their return home.
The Flyers ended up with 31 blocked shots and received an outstanding performance from their goalie Carter Hart. I was happy to see the Wings not give up and feel sorry for themselves when they went down by two goals. They pushed hard at the end and came close to tying the game and grabbing at least one point.
1st Period
The Red Wings got off to a somewhat slow start in the first period. After an excellent performance in Las Vegas, Ville Husso started in net for the Wings again. Husso was solid in the first period under some heavy pressure at times from the Flyers, coming up with some big saves. The Flyers were playing a physical game, putting some big hits on the Wings along with some cheap shots. They were looking like the Broad Street Bullies of the old days. Hits in the first period favored the Flyers 16 to 5.
In the second half of the period, the Red Wings got their skates going and played better. The first power play of the game went to the Wings. Unfortunately, they were not able to get a single shot on goal. After the power play had ended, the Wings got some energy and made a big push getting them a lot of good chances. Carter Hart was up to the task and was able to keep the first period scoreless.
2nd Period
The second period started off well for the Wings as they pushed hard, helping them to get some decent chances, although they were not great chances. There was a lot of up and down the ice for the first half of the period. Neither team could keep control of the puck for an extended period to set up consistent offensive pressure.
In the latter half of the period, the Flyers ended up on the power play when Michael Rasmussen and David Perron were put in the box along with Travis Sanheim from the Flyers for what I consider the usual pushing and shoving after the whistle. Husso came up big during the penalty kill, grabbing pucks that I’m not sure how he was able to see. The Flyers pushed hard with the man advantage. However, the Wings killed off the penalty. With 11 seconds left in the period, Sanhiem hit Perron with the high stick putting the Wings on the power play to start the third.
3rd Period
Starting off the third period on the power play did not result in a goal for the Wings, as they could not get set up. Afterward, Rasmussen had a great opportunity to get the first goal of the game, only to be robbed by a Flyers defenseman blocking his shot with his leg! The up-and-down ice play continued, with both teams getting odd-man rushes that they couldn’t finish.
Just before the period’s halfway mark, the Flyers got a break, and Kevin Hayes caught Scott Laughton with a nice pass. He was able to get Husso to drop down as he skated by putting the puck right under the bar for the game’s first goal. Not long after that, Dominik Kubalik made a big mistake giving away the puck, and Travis Konecny found Noah Cates in the slot, who scored the second goal for the Flyers.
With just under four minutes left, the Wings pulled Husso to try to get back in the game. They pushed hard and were able to sustain possession in the Flyers zone and created some opportunities with Dylan Larkin ringing a shot off the pipe. It looked like the Wings were going to get shut out when Lucas Raymond finally buried the puck, giving the team a chance!
The Detroit Red Wings got possession of the puck and moved it back down in the Flyers’ zone. They kept pushing, and with only seconds left, Raymond put a shot on goal, and it just happened to hit Carter’s pad and was so close to crossing the line I jumped out of my seat!
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Although the game ended in a loss, they can be happy with how they played at the end and didn’t give up. Raymond continued his impressive play even though he was targeted by the Flyers all game.