The Detroit Red Wings are back home after giving their confidence the much-needed shot in the arm.
They played a great road match on Saturday, and rode on outstanding singles To a 4–2 win over the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena.
This was the Wings’ only second victory in 12 matches, six of which came on this trip, but they have been playing well since losing at Tampa Bay without much bonus.
Adam Ernie said, “It’s hard to keep coming into the hall as if we played well and didn’t come out with two points. I hope we can keep playing until Monday.”
Ernie contributed a goal in the first half, but it was Luke Glending that starred. In his first match after dealing with concussion-like symptoms, the strong defensive player had spent a career night with a goal and two passes.
“It was good for him to be back,” said coach Jeff Blashel. “He’s a big part of our team. He can win a big showdown, he’s a guy with heart and soul. Our guys know what he brings to the table. Getting his offensive bonus is a good thing, I think he worked hard on his skill set to make himself a better hockey player.”
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Winning raise the wings to 4-10-2. Four wins in 16 attempts aren’t many, but the Wings saw the opening of a tumultuous month. They lost five players to COVID-19 in the opening week, Jonathan Bernier missed two weeks due to an upper body injury, and Tyler Bertuzzi has not played since Jan 30 due to an upper body injury.
Ernie and Fabry were among those who spent two weeks in quarantine after they tested positive for COVID. Fabry returned immediately after the start of this trip, and on Saturday contributed his third goal in four matches, and the 50th goal of his career.
“I thought we’d started the season really well,” Bernier said. “And when we lost all these men, we took a lot of us.” “But our last four or five games have been very good. We just have to keep doing the right things.”
Bernier made a good outing on his return, stealing Matt Duchenne with a sprawling glove repelled late in the first half and making 11 out of 21 in the third. But Bernier got a helping hand, too: his team-mates played well in defense, and Ernie, Glending and Valtteri Filpula all contributed five points.
“I don’t think we’re a team that will score an enormous number of goals, unfortunately, but some nights you will need players you don’t expect to score every night, to score. It feels good to win,” said Ernie.
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It is only the third time that the wings have scored four goals. Dylan Larkin did his best to score five goals and scored eight shots on the net.
Although playing power dropped to 4 to 51 in the season, the wings looked dangerous, moving the disc well and messed around the net and scored six shots.
After starting the journey with a 5–1 loss at Tampa Bay, including abandoning three goals in the first five minutes, the wings looked respectable in the rematch against the Stanley Cup holders and in the Florida and Nashville miniseries. The first match against the Predators was tied until the last minute, When the wings made a mistake that led to a loss. The answer is to go back and punch.
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“We have played good games in a row since we were embarrassed against Tampa,” Blashel said. “I thought we could have been rewarded in the last game against Nashville, the second game against Florida. So it’s good to find ways to win. We walked out after what was really a gut punch and lost last night. We talked about it as a group, these are the moments that really show your personality and you have to. Find a way to play great hockey. “
They started six home-grown matches against Chicago Blackhawks on Monday.
Contact Helene St. James on hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter Embed a Tweet. Read more about Detroit Red Wings And subscribe to our site Red Wings newsletter. Her book, The Big 50: The Detroit Red Wings is available from AmazonAnd the Company: Barnes & Noble And the Triumph Books. Personalized copies are available via her email.
