Detroit Red Wings
Red Wings Fall to Mammoth In Last Game Before Break
After a stirring victory on Monday, and with a three-week break on the horizon, the Detroit Red Wings were looking to start their Olympic break on a hot streak.
The Utah Mammoth thought differently and made it stand up with a 4-1 victory at the Delta Center.
The loss dropped Detroit into a third-place tie with the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference after Montreal beat Winnipeg 5-1.
The Red Wings were coming off a 2-0 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Monday, Colorado’s first shutout loss of the season.
Any hopes for a repeat were snuffed out early when Utah’s Sean Durzi scored 57 seconds into the opening period. Nick Schmaltz made it 2-0 midway through the first period with a 5-on-3 power-play goal, notable in that the Mammoth are 30th in power-play scoring this season.
Dylan Guenther effectively put the game out of reach at the 4:41 mark of the third period with his team-leading 25th goal.
Dylan Larkin scored Detroit’s only goal when John Gibson was pulled for an extra attacker late in the third period.
Clayton Keller finished the scoring, netting an empty-net goal with 2:18 remaining.
Red Wings Takeaways
Larkin’s goal gave him 50 points on the season for the fifth year in a row . . . Detroit’s Erik Gustafsson and Utah’s Olli Maatta were healthy scratches . . . Utah swept the season series, winning both games by 4-1 scores. Detroit outshot Utah 40-25 . . . The Red Wings are off until the season resumes on Feb. 26 at Ottawa.
Key Stat
The Mammoth are 25-5-2 when Nick Schmaltz has recorded a point this season.
Key Moment
Utah seized the momentum in front of their home crowd on Durzi’s goal less than a minute into the contest.
Broken Wings,
We can’t help ourselves, what did we have this game 10-11 icings, our forecheck vanished entirely, we can’t pass for $]-[IT! TM said they will be holding a mini-training camp over the next two weeks; I sure hope stick drills and passing are on the training schedule.
The guys picked up the pace in the 2nd and 3rd, but our shooting is predictable and Karel Vejmelka was at the top of his game. Utah also knows how to play defense in their own zone.
It’s like everything we did right in Denver 48 hours earlier, we go braindead in Salt Lake City. We got extremely lucky in Denver, make no mistake…
Now we are tied for third place in the Atlantic, and I hope these next two weeks they work out what’s standing in their way of becoming a Championship Team.
We’ll have a better idea where the ground is under our feet after the Ottawa and Carolina games. I sure hope this crew takes this break seriously and makes the commitment necessary to their game and renew their conviction to excellence…
The level of execution I witnessed tonight gives me serious doubts about the survival of our playoff hopes…
PBB
At least they can work on their golf game
Well said PBB and if The Sabers win tonight we will be in a wild card spot.
What a cluster-F of a game. Larkin gets speared in the nuts and he ends up with the penalty because he lost his cool. The refs missed way too many calls on Utah throughout the game.
That being said, PBB is right that everything they did right in Colorado they did wrong in Utah. It’s that lack of consistency that McLellan keeps talking about.
Hopefully, Yzerman can find some help before the trade deadline (and unload an anchor or two in the process). Stil hoping for a D-man along the lines of Connor Murphy and a 2nd-line center (like Trocheck). Fingers crossed.
OTC,
Usually I try not to break hard on the “Blues” because being a former official myself you just can’t see everything.
However, Larkin is not known for embellishing, I think in this instance a little consideration was in order. Stop play, consult with the other zebras on the ice and get it right. He did just get his stones rattled.
I am also seeing Larkin being tossed out of faceoffs far too often, what’s up with that? Officials in any sport don’t make decisions to crack down on a behavior or element of rules interruption without league approval.
Did the NHL make any statements regarding faceoffs that any of you recall? Larkin sure gets tossed a lot!
It does appear the crew on the ice didn’t have their best game either…
PBB
Ken Daniels made mention a couple of games ago about the league being more strict about faceoff rules. But they’re taking waaaay too long to drop the puck these days. It’s almost like they think it’s their job to fake guys out.
Amen on that one OTC, I find myself yelling at the tube “Drop the Damn Thing” this change is creating an element within the game that teams obviously were not ready for.
The linesman is standing there having an ongoing conversation with the two players in the circle before the damn puck is dropped. What on God’s green earth is so shattering about a puck drop that requires a conversation to get it done???
Go figure???
PBB
It will not happen, but a partial roster shakeup would be nice. Would like a GR call-up for such a shakeup.
I would call up MBN, but they are probably concerned about his ELC.
Has Danielson picked up his SOG in GR?
Hopefully, Yzerman can find some help before the trade deadline
Yeah, right