Weekly Review: February 5-11th

Week: February 5-11th

Well I missed this week's preview due to computer issues, but here is the week in review. Coming off a tough Shoot Out loss to the Oilers last week the Red Wings had a lot to prove, especially when the Oilers came to town on Wednesday putting Detroit's Home Streak in jeopardy.

Game 1: @Phoenix (Loss: 3-1)

Another Road Loss for Detroit who has been struggling to pick up wins away from the Joe Louis Arena. Joey MacDonald got the start in this game due to Jimmy Howard's finger injury and despite getting a loss in this game he played will stopping 20 of 22 shots. Phoenix's Boyd Gordon opened the scoring with an unassisted wrister. Martin Hanzal would score in the 2nd on a the power play to increase Phoenix's lead. The Wings would cut the lead in half when they went on the power play thanks to Johan Franzen with assists from Zetterberg and Datsyuk. Despite the lack of scoring in this game from the Wings it was good to see the Wings Top Guns start scoring again. Despite this push Detroit would have to pull Joey MacDonald in the 3rd and Martin Hanzal would finish the game with an empty netter goal. The Wings need to pick up their road play, and perhaps after 4 games on the road they were a bit worn out. It was good to see some solid play by MacDonald and the top line connecting for goals.

Game 2: Edmonton @ Home (Win: 4-2)

Being beaten by Edmonton last week made this game tense as Detroit's home win streak was put in jeopardy. However, Detroit came out swinging in this one, Johan Franzen started the scoring on the Power Play with a tip in via an Ian White point shot. In the 2nd period Cory Emmerton would backhand a goal in via a Justin Abdelkader pass. Its always good to see this line connecting for points. The Oiler's would climb back in to this game thanks to Sam Ganger who scored once at the end of the 2nd, and on the Power Play early in the 3rd. Drew Miller would get the game winner with a backhander goal past Khabibulin. Henrik Zetterberg would put get the insurance marker a few minutes later to put this game away. Justin Abdelkader had 2 assists in this game and 9 penalty minutes, its good to see he can contribute on the scoreboard and shake things up as well. Joey MacDonald had a solid game again stopping 15-17 shots.

Game 3: Anaheim @ Home (Win: 2-1 SO)

This game was a real nail bitter but Detroit ended up getting the win in Shoot Out extending their home win streak to 19 wins in a row. Anaheim Tough Guy, George Parros ended his goal scoring drought by tipping in a Rod Pelley point shot, but Justin Adbelkader would tip in a Jakub Kindl shot evening up the game. Niklas Lidstrom would hit the post a few times in the game but the score would remain 1-1 throughout the rest of the game sending it to Over Time and later a Shoot Out. Todd Bertuzzi would again be the Shoot Out hero, taking the puck slowly up the middle of the ice before quickly deke to his back hand and lifting the puck over Jonas Hiller. Joey MacDonald made some key saves in this game and if he keeps up playing this way while Jimmy Howard is out this will be great for the Red Wings

***

Despite losing their first game of the week the Wings won both of their home games extending their streak to 19 games. The big news this week was Joey MacDonald's excellent play in net and Justin Adbelkader's effectiveness in scoring and adding grit to the Wings line up.