On Oct. 22, the Detroit Red Wings traveled to New York to play the Islanders for the league’s “Frozen Frenzy” day. If you tuned into the game to see some offense and goal-scoring, you were sadly disappointed as the Red Wings pulled out a 1-0 victory thanks mainly to the play of netminder Alex Lyon.
Lyon Stymies Islanders
Heading into the game, the Islanders averaged the second most shots on goal while the Red Wings averaged the second most shots allowed. With those two mixed, it was expected that Lyon would be tested quite often in the game, and that was the case immediately. With the Islanders coming out firing, he made several saves in the first period alone that bailed out his defense.
That was the night’s theme for the Red Wings netminder, as he made 29 saves and was by far the team’s best player on the ice. Since signing with the Red Wings last offseason, Lyon has been a saving grace for the organization, and that has continued, especially in the team’s last two victories.
With the recent play of Lyon and free agent signing Cam Talbot, the Red Wings netminders have looked relatively solid so far but need some help from their defense in front of them to help limit the number of chances and shots they have to face every night. Allowing as many shots as they do could easily end up being a recipe for disaster at some point.
Offense Unable to Generate
The Red Wings’ offense struggled against the Islanders for all three periods. Some of it was self-inflicted, thanks to sloppy play through the neutral zone and turnovers ending any momentum. Mixed in with that was the solid defensive play from the Islanders. The Red Wings didn’t get on the shot chart until almost nine minutes into the first period when Patrick Kane scored the lone goal of the game, marking his first on the season thanks to a nice pass from another offseason acquisition, Vladimir Tarasenko.
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With the team’s skill and high-level offensive players, the Red Wings should be able to find more consistency with their offensive game and record more than the lowly 11 shots they tallied on Ilya Sorokin. Throughout the game, head coach Derek Lalonde did seem to try and get something going from his forward group by mixing up the lines to generate some more offense, but overall, it seemed to be a struggle for the Red Wings to get much going in the victory.
Top D-Pairing Continues to Look Solid
Since being paired up by Lalonde, Simon Edvinsson and Moritz Seider have been heavily relied on to carry the load defensively. The sight of the two young budding defensemen on the ice together is a sight that many Red Wings fans have been hoping to see, and to this point, they have not disappointed. Between the two of them, they played 24:22, respectively.
Defensively, they have been a solid pairing, using their reach and length to their advantage to keep opponents away from the net. They did just that against the Islanders plenty of times. When the Islanders did find themselves in a position to get a good look at Lyon, Edvinsson continued to show a willingness to put his body on the line, blocking three shots in the victory and showing that he is more than capable of being a lead guy alongside Seider. If these two youngsters can continue leading the way from the back end of the ice, the future of the defense will be in great hands.
Not the Prettiest Win, but It’s Still a Win
While it was not the greatest of nights offensively, being able to steal a game they did not have any business winning is a good sign to a certain degree. The Red Wings must bounce back as they face off against the high-powered New Jersey Devils on Oct. 24.
