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Red Wings Beat Predators Again

Detroit 2-0 vs Nasvhille, 0-3 vs rest of NHL

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Andrew Copp, Red Wings
Andrew Copp scored twice in a 5-2 Red Wings win over Nashville.

As the Detroit Red Wings were throttling the Nashville Predators 5-2 on Saturday afternoon, the outcome was serving to emphasize the ruthlessness of sport.



There’s no compassion to be found on the playing surface. It’s the law of the jungle. Another team’s suffering is your chance to pounce and devour them.

With the win, the Red Wings are now 2-0 this season when facing the struggling Predators, with an 8-2 goal differential. Detroit is 0-3 in the club’s other games this season. The Red Wings have been outcored 15-6 in those losses.

Nashville (0-5) and the San Jose Sharks remain the NHL’s only winless teams.

“We came in desperate and it’s hard to win that way on the road,” Detroit goalie Alex Lyon told Bally Sports. He made 36 saves for his first win of the season.

“I can’t say enough about the compete of the guys. It’s always tough to win on the road, especially in this building.

“It’s just awesome. We’re gonna come closer from this.”

Kasper Solid In Season Debut

Summoned from the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins, Marco Kasper was solid in his season debut. Skating on the third line between Michael Rasmussen and Jonatan Berggren, they helped to create the first goal. Vladimir Tarasenko would score it, with assists from both Berggren and Kasper.

“Great game,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. “I put (Kasper) in every situation.  Really comfortable with him. I like what it does to our lines. It balances them out really well. That’s a positive.

“We were hoping he’d give us a little spark and I think it did.”

For Kasper, it was his first NHL point in his second NHL game.

“I’m getting out there and getting involved,” Kasper said. “On the forecheck, hitting guys, backcheck, stuff like that.

“I think overall a really good team effort. Playing good defensively and also scoring on our chances.”

Five Goals Red Wings Season High

The five goals, including a pair of empty-net tallies, was a season high in goals for Detroit. It was a welcome sight for a team that saw 75 goals from last season go out the door over the summer.

Andrew Copp would score twice, giving him three goals in the two games against Nashville. Simon Edvinsson also scored.

“Everything gets magnified early in the season when there’s such a small sample size, but you never want to lose two in a row,” Copp said. “You definitely don’t want to lose three in a row.

“It was good to right the ship a little bit, kind of get a good feeling back in the room.”

Nashville Goal Overturned

A huge turning point in the game came when a first-period goal that would’ve given the Predators a 2-0 lead was overturned for offside. It was the Red Wings video staff of LJ Scarpace and Jeff Weintraub who made the call to challenge the goal because Nashville had gone offside entering the Detroit zone.

“Good job by our video guys,” Lalonde said. “Got the right call there and then we bounced back with a goal, which I thought was huge, and then a really good second period.”

Considering Detroit’s difficulties early in the season, going down 2-0 that quickly on the road could’ve proven fatal.

“Huge,” Lalonde said. “You get yourself down 2-0 . . . we can talk about how good our process has been, we talk about out guys to stay on task, we’re doing this well, we’re doing that well – we’re on a two-game losing streak and you’re a little fragile.

“It gets magnified at the beginning of the season. Now you go down 2-0 in an environment like this, that’s huge.”