Weekly Review: February 19-25th

Weekly Review: February 19-25th

Though the week started off nicely for the Wings with a hard fought win over the San Jose Sharks to get their 23rd straight home win but things quickly faltered as they proceeded to lose the next three games. The good news of ace goaltender Jimmy Howard making his return from injury was marred by the fact Pavel Datsyuk will miss 2 weeks getting knee surgery.

Game 1: San Jose Sharks @ Home (Win: 3-2)

Detroit grew their Home Winning streak in this match by besting the San Jose Sharks. Henrik Zetterberg opened the scoring with a trademark backhand over Antti Niemi in the first. Drew Miller would add another goal thanks to some hard work by Justin Adbelkader. Adbelkader would grab a rebound from Joey MacDonald and skate down the ice passing to Drew Miller, who then passed it back to Adbelkader. Adelkader shot on net and Miller picked up the rebound netting his 12th of the year. A weird bounce of the puck off the top of the net on a Sharks power play would lead to Logan Couture cutting the lead in half. In the 3rd period Darren Helm would restore the insurance marker with a slap shot set up by Drew Miller. Joey MacDonald made a number of key saves in the period however a rebound he left out let Patrick Marleau score his 23rd of the year to bring the game to within one goal, but it would be too little too late as the Wings were able to hold the Sharks off to get the win.

Drew Miller has really showed he can step up when needed in this game and as always its nice to see him clicking with the likes of Adbelkader and Helm.

Game 2: @Chicago Blackhawks (Loss: 2-1)

Jimmy Howard made his return from his broken finger in this game, but it was announced that Pavel Datsyuk would miss 2 weeks with knee surgery. Detroit also continued to slump on the road as they failed to get the win and end Chicago's resurgence in the Central Division. Things started out well as Valtteri Filppula scored five-hole on Corey Crawford on the power play. However that would be the only goal the Wings would score and Chicago rookie Jimmy Hayes would lead the comeback scoring on a wrist shot in the 2nd period and getting an assist on Marcus Kruger's goal as he tried to jam in a wrap around which lead to a rebound for Kruger to net the game winning goal. Corey Crawford had a bunch of key saves late in the game which kept this one away from the Wings. 

Game 3: Vancouver Canucks @ Home (Loss: 4-3 SO)

The Home Winning Streak was ended as the league's hottest road team came to town. This was a disappointing game not only because the streak was ended but because Western Conference Powerhouse Vancouver Canucks were able to march in to the Joe and come out with a win, something the Wings will have to stop if they want to go deep into the playoffs. The speedster, Darren Helm would open the scoring by blocking a Kevin Bieksa point shot and breaking down the ice and wresting it past Roberto Luongo. The lead would be erased in the 2nd as Alexander Elder's point shot would be redirected by Henrik Sedin to brother Daniel who put the puck past Jimmy Howard. New-comer to Detroit, Kyle Quincey would get his first goal as a Red Wing in the 3rd. Left alone in the slot Adbelkader would feed Quincey who roofed the puck for his 6th goal of the year. Cody Hodgson would get a lucky break as he shot the puck on net and it bounced in off of Niklas Kronwall's skate evening the game at 3 a piece. Detroit would regain the lead though as Darren Helm hit the post with a great shot and Justin Adbelkader would bang the puck in. Though the game would get sent to OT and later Shoot Out as Vancouver would pull their goal and score with their big guns on the ice, a nice slapshot from Daniel Sedin set up by brother Daniel and Ryan Kesler. In Shoot Out all 3 Detroit shooters were held scoreless and Alexander Burrows would put the puck past Howard give Detroit their first home loss in 112 days.

Game 4: Colorado Avalanche @ Home (Loss: 4-3)

Detroit would loss again at home after winning 23 in a row. Colorado came out fast and hard and had some superb goaltending by J.S. Giguere en route to their 4-3 win. Gabriel Landeskog would open the scoring as a beneficiary to some grinding down low by Ryan O'Reilly and Steve Downie for his first goal of the night. A turnover on a Detroit power play would lead to David Jones snapping in his 15th of the year sending the Wings to the dressing room down 2-0. In the 2nd period Gabriel Landeskog would score his 2nd of the game by sneaking into the slot and snapping the puck in the net, once again set up by Ryan O'Reilly and Steve Downie. It wouldn't be until the 3rd, on a Red Wings power play that the Detroit would get their first goal. Hudler hid on the left side wing and accepted a Fippula pass to snap in his 19th goal of the season. Detroit's momentum would be quenched as Steve Downie would bounce in a rebound off of Ryan Wilson shot. Now down 4-1 the Wings would not give up as Jiri Hudler would net his 2nd of the night by simultaneously screening J.S. Giguere and redirecting a Zetterberg shot into the net. Valtteri Filppula would bring the Wings within 1 goal by wresting in a rebound off of a Hudler shot, however that would be as close as the Wings would come in this one, losing 4-3.

In a game where hot goaltending held Detroit from a win its clear they miss superstar Centre Pavel Datsyuk.

***

Despite the win against San Jose this week was ultimately a disappointment for the Red Wings. Three losses, including the end of their Home Win Streak and loss of Pavel Datsyuk. Next week they only have two games against bottom dwellers Columbus Bluejackets and Minnesota Wild so hopefully they can use that time to regroup.