After jumping out to a 3-0 lead in Anaheim tonight, the Wings had to scramble late as they fended off the Ducks for a 4-2 victory.
Detroit was able to kill of two penalties during the final 5 plus minutes of the game before Brad Stuart banked a shot off the boards and into an empty Anaheim net to seal the victory.
Aside from two goals given up, Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard was spectacular. He (Howard) managed a highlight reel save on Bobby Ryan in the second period of the game before making some nice saves in the final minutes keeping the Ducks from tying the game.
Henrik Zetterberg opened the scoring for Wings in the first period as he was able to backhand the puck past Anaheim goaltender Jonas Hiller. Johan Franzen and Brad Stuart (2) were the other goal scorers for Detroit.
With the win, Detroit was able to salvage a .500 record on the road trip finishing 2-2 including a sweep of Southern California.
Tonight’s game was delayed for about 25 minutes during the first period when power went out in the Honda Center due to rainy weather conditions.
The Majors Detroit Facebook Player of the Game: Jimmy Howard
Jimmy Howard made 32 saves including one beauty on Bobby Ryan in the second period. In addition to this he was also able to hold off Anaheim’s late sure on the power play to preserve the Red Wing victory.
The Majors Detroit’s Player of the Game: Jimmy Howard
The Majors Detroit’s Zero of the Game: The Red Wings Power Play
The Wings were 0 for 6 on the power play tonight which could have ended up costing them the game if Anaheim was to tie the game late. Detroit was 2 for 3 against San Jose last Thursday but prior to that didn’t score a power play goal since November 8th against Colorado.
A look ahead
The Wings head home as they take on the Calgary Flames Wednesday.
The Bottom Line
Overall the Wings had a pretty good game tonight as they were able to end the road trip on a high note. Still they’re going to need to get that power play going as the season progresses.
Ref: ESPN.com, Mlive.com, KansasCity.com (image)
