Detroit Red Wings
Red Wings Postgame: Mrazek Delivers, Score Fest And Slug Fest
Red Wings end six-game skid
If you think the Detroit Red Wings went a long time between victories, imagine how Petr Mrazek must’ve been feeling.
A 7-3 home-ice win on Wednesday over the Buffalo Sabres brought a halt to Detroit’s six-game losing streak. Making his return as a Red Wings netminder, Mrazek made 23 saves for the victory.
12 years after his NHL debut, Petr Mrazek is back where it all began. ❤️
📺: @NHL_On_TNT & @SportsonMax ➡️ https://t.co/4TuyIATi3T pic.twitter.com/m57vuV3fVk
— NHL (@NHL) March 12, 2025
“A win, some big saves, some timely saves, some confidence through him and throughout the team,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan said. “So all those things are real positive for us right now.”
It was Mrazek’s first appearance in a Red Wings uniform since Feb. 18, 2018, when he lost 3-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs, also at Little Caesars Arena. His previous win for Detroit came Feb. 17, 2018. He won 3-1 at the Nashville Predators.
Season Highs For Red Wings
The seven goals for Detroit was a season high. And not a single tally came from a Canadian. Americans Patrick Kane (one) and Alex DeBrincat (two) were good for three goals. Austrian Marco Kasper scored twice. Russian Vladimir Tarasenko and German Moritz Seider also scored.
The Red Wings also accumulated a season-high 67 penalty minutes, 61 of which was assessed during a bawdy third period. Center Michael Rasmussen picked up a fighting major for a tilt with Alex Tuch. Later, Dominik Shine, Kasper, Kane, Simon Edvinsson and Albert Johansson were all assessed 10-minute misconducts.
The PIM total was the highest recorded by the team in a game in nearly 22 years.
Some late-game theatrics between the Sabres and Red Wings. 👀 pic.twitter.com/8wFEdtGQ9k
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 13, 2025
McLellan didn’t mind the extra-curricular activity by his team one bit.
“I think there was an element of that in Ottawa, too (in Monday’s 2-1 loss), where we were prepared for a battle,” McLellan said. “We were prepared to play along the boards or prepared to play in the blue paint.
“Sometimes the whistle goes and there’s more play after that. But we did it as a team there, and we did it as a team tonight. And there’s nothing wrong with that. That type of play can’t hurt a team. It can only help.”
Ice Chips
The Red Wings are 7-0-2 in their last nine home games against the Sabres . . . DeBrincat scored his 30th goal of the season. He has 32 points in the past 30 games . . . DeBrincat became the seventh active U.S.-born player to record at least four 30-goal seasons, joining Auston Matthews (8), Kyle Connor (7), Max Pacioretty (6), Jake Guentzel (5), and teammates Kane (5) and Dylan Larkin (4) . . . Larkin equaled a career high with three assists . . . Seider leads all Red Wings defensemen in games played (65), assists (31), points (38), power play goals (3), power play points (20), shots (134), hits (177), blocked shots (147) and average time on ice (25:09).
Kasper may have an NHL record as the first guy to get a misconduct and never leave the game. I wonder what would’ve happened if he scored again. Great game. Wish the Red Wings played with that intensity and energy more often.
Johansson was also back out there. Either officials or scorekeeper screwed up.
Crazy. Those rookies.
The referee did say “77 Det gets two for roughing, 72 Buf gets two for roughing, Everyone else on the ice gets a misconduct.” I can see how that throws a crew for a loop.