*Photo from MLive.com*
One of the reasons for the Detroit Red Wings having a successful season as the rebuild nears an end is Moritz Seider. Safe to say he has continued to live up to the billing. Seider scored, Tyler Bertuzzi scored, and the Red Wings defeated the Philadelphia Flyers with a 4-2 win in Detroit on Saturday night.
With the win, the Red Wings have now swept a home and home series with the Flyers, as they had beaten them in Philadelphia by a 6-3 score on Wednesday. The Red Wings get over .500 with the win, with their record now at 22-21-6, 5th place in the Atlantic Division. Besides Seider, Dylan Larkin led the way with a 3 assist performance.
Getting the start after a long stint in Covid-19 protocols was goalie Thomas Greiss. He hadn't played since January 9, and had been in protocols since January 17. Greiss had a great first start back, saving 32 of 34 shots, posting a .941 save percentage. His record improved to 7-7-1 in 16 starts on the season.
Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill said of the home and home sweep that "I didn't think we were as crisp as we were in Philadelphia, but Greiss played very, very well. He was really strong coming back off that layoff. He controlled the game and the puck stuck to him."
Bertuzzi scored 5:36 into the game to give the Red Wings a 1-0 lead, in what would prove to be the only goal of the first period. Filip Zadina doubled the lead to 2-0 on his 6th goal of the season, coming 9:37 into the second period. With just 8 seconds left in the second, Keith Yandle scored his first goal of the season and his first in 85 games, dating back to February 22 of 2021, making it 2-1 after two periods.
The 3rd period started slow, until Seider scored with a bullet on the power play, his 5th goal of the season making it a 3-1 Red Wings lead. Scott Laughton scored 44 seconds later, cutting the deficit down to 3-2, thanks to his 9th goal of the season. It was Michael Rasmussen who sealed it with an empty net goal with 1:40 left to play.
Larkin said of having Zadina play with him that "Coach talked to me at the All-Star break about putting Namestnikov back with Rasmussen and bringing Zadina back to our line. I played with Zadina last year, and I know he works hard. He's struggled some this year, but he's been working to make us better."
It was Carter Hart who started in net for the Flyers, getting tagged with yet another loss, with the Flyers having lost 15 of their last 17 games. Hart turned aside 20 of the 23 shots Detroit sent his way. That was good for a .870 save percentage as Hart's latest loss sends his record to a low 9-16-5 mark in 30 starts this season.
Laughton said of the game that "Obviously, this isn't the result we wanted, but we skated a lot better and we were working together. We've got to keep building on that and hopefully get something going."
The Red Wings get back in action with a Monday night contest against the Minnesota Wild, with Alex Nedeljkovic in line to get the start. The Flyers head to Pittsburgh to face their rival Penguins, where Hart is expected to start again.
Comments
Post a Comment