There wasn’t much to the game, not in the way of scoring chances, big saves, or chippiness.
The Detroit Red Wings had another chance to measure themselves against an elite opponent, with the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday’s slate at Little Caesars Arena. The Wings came up short on power plays, and that led to a 1-0 loss.
Other than that, it was an even, mundane game. Ville Husso was good, but there weren’t many quality chances against him. Neither did the Wings generate many. Husso was pulled for an extra attacker with about two and a half minutes to play. Final shots were 27-27.
The Wings’ attempt at rallying took a hit in the third period, as Dylan Larkin did not finish the game. An explanation was not immediately available.
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It was the fourth straight game against an opponent projected to compete for the Stanley Cup. Over the past week the Wings defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning, played poorly and lost to the Florida Panthers, and lost in overtime at the Dallas Stars.
The Wings were scheduled to depart immediately after the game to Minnesota, where they play Wednesday.
Playing from behind
The slashing call on Adam Erne was somewhat questionable, but the Canes’ execution during the power play was masterful. Defenseman Brett Pesce had the puck at the blue line and sent it down low to Jesperi Kotkaniemi, the guy the Montreal Canadiens drafted at No. 3 in 2018 only to lose him to an offer sheet to the Canes. (That was the year the Wings took Filip Zadina at No. 6.) Kotkaniemi forwarded the puck to Seth Jarvis near the goal line to the left of the net; Jarvis flipped a backhand pass across the slot to Brady Skjei, whose shot from the right circle beat Husso at 17:20 of the first period.
Disadvantaged
Defenseman Brent Burns was called for hooking David Perron eight minutes into the second period, and was sent to the penalty box again at 13:36 for hooking Dominik Kubalik. That gave the Wings two power plays less than four minutes apart. The Wings have generally at least gained momentum from their man advantages this season by creating good scoring chances. But the Canes’ penalty kill was aggressive and disruptive, and the Wings didn’t even manage a shot on rookie Pyotr Kochetkov over their first two power plays, but did give up a chance against. A third power play, with less than two minutes to go in the third period, didn’t generate much in the way of chances before an offsetting penalty to Kubalik. The Wings outshot the Canes, 13-6, in the second period.
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Perron honored
Prior to puck drop, there was a nice five-minute tribute to Perron in recognition of having played his 1,000th NHL game Saturday. Perron has played only 28 of them for the Wings, but he has brought grit and goalscoring to the lineup. Steve Yzerman, on behalf of the Ilitch family, presented Perron with a watch, Oskar Sundqvist handed out flowers to Perron’s wife and children, and Dylan Larkin delivered a silver stick. Perron was gifted an all-expenses-paid golf trip by Wings teammates.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.
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Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings stymied by Carolina Hurricanes, 1-0
