The Detroit Red Wings welcomed the Carolina Hurricanes for a Friday night matchup. Both teams have been on opposite ends of the quality-of-play spectrum lately. The Red Wings entered the game on a two-game losing streak, while the Hurricanes rode a three-game win streak into the game against Detroit. A tightly contested game saw the Red Wings get a massive two points to keep their playoff hopes alive in a 5-3 victory.
Game Recap
The first period stayed quiet until the midway point, with the Red Wings tallying two goals within 30 seconds. Ben Chiarot was the beneficiary of a rebound off the post from an original shot off the stick of Alex DeBrincat. Chiarot got into a one-timer off the redirection and buried his first goal in 22 games to give the Red Wings a 1-0 lead. A turnover by the Hurricanes forced by Marco Kasper led to Lucas Raymond having the puck at the side of Pyotr Kochetkov and trying to find Elmer Soderblom out front. The pass deflected off Soderblom’s stick and ended up back on Kasper’s for a tap-in goal backdoor. The Red Wings would take a 2-0 lead into the locker room after the first 20 minutes.
The Hurricanes came out in the second period and played more of their style of play compared to the first period, where they seemed off their game. They buzzed around the offensive zone and put massive pressure on the Red Wings’ defense. While the Red Wings did an adequate job of handling the pressure, it did lead to an early goal from Jackson Blake, thanks to a turnover by Justin Holl behind Cam Talbot’s net. Blake received a quick pass from Seth Jarvis to beat Talbot in tight to bring the game to a 2-1 score less than two minutes into the middle frame.
The game stayed that score until the period’s midpoint, with the Red Wings again scoring in a flurry. This time, Patrick Kane scored a breakaway goal after getting the puck on a fumbled play by the Hurricanes at the Red Wings’ blue line. The goal marked Kane’s 100th point as a member of the Red Wings and pushed him to 491 career goals. He also passed Mike Modano for most 20-goal seasons by a US-born player with 17. Michael Rasmussen scored 20 seconds later on a goal right out in front of Kochetkov, when he was left alone in front of the net after a defensive breakdown by the Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes did cash in on a friendly bounce off a shot from Justin Robidas, which deflected off Eric Robinson and went straight into the air and over Talbot into the back of the net with just over seven minutes left in the second period. They also controlled the offensive pressure for most of the period, outshooting the Red Wings 16-7 in the middle 20 minutes, and held a 23-14 advantage overall.
The third period was more of the same, with Carolina controlling much of the offensive zone time. Still, Talbot stood tall for the Red Wings outside of a goal scored by Brent Burns off a shot from the point that appeared to be deflected by Red Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson and beat Talbot. DeBrincat added an empty-net goal to give the Red Wings a 5-3 win.
Talbot made 30 saves in the win, helping move the Red Wings to 35-33-7, while Kochetkov saved 17 shots as the Hurricanes drop to 46-25-4. The Red Wings are off until Sunday (April 6), when they take on the Florida Panthers. The Hurricanes have a quick turnaround, playing the Boston Bruins tomorrow night (April 5).
