The teams started the game like prize fighters circling one
another for an opening. Neither team
recorded a shot in the first five minutes.
The game opened up a little bit after that, though, and it was the Red
Wings that scored first. Valteri
Filppula was the exclamation point on a tic-tac-toe passing play that started
with Carl Colaiacovo at the top of the right wing circle. His pass to Mikael Samuelsson was redirected
onto the stick of Filppula, who shoveled the puck into the far side of the net
from the edge of the left wing circle before goalie Michal Neuvirth could get
across his crease.
Less than two minutes later the Caps tied the score. Mike Ribeiro notched his sixth of the year
after some gritty work by Brooks Laich in front to keep the puck from being
covered by Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard. Laich
had several whacks at the puck, and although he could not find a hole in Howard’s
pads, his last whack caromed to Howard’s right where Ribeiro was alone to stuff
he puck inside the post at the 11:01 mark of the period. That would be the last of the scoring in the
first period, the reams tied at one goal apiece and the Red Wings having a 9-4
edge in shots on goal.
The second period looked a lot different from the first, at
least for the home team. The Red Wings
came out of the locker room flying. They
recorded the first eight shots of the period, but none managed to find its way
past Neuvirth, who was single-handedly keeping the Caps in the contest. He could not keep his net entirely clean,
though. The Red Wings’ ability to
control the puck in the offensive zone for long stretches paid dividends late
in the period when Kyle Quincey threw a harmless looking shot toward the net
that appeared to be going wide to Neuvirth’s right. The puck struck Cory Emmerton’s left skate,
however, and changed direction just enough to sneak through Neuvirth’s skates
for the tie-breaking goal at 16:04. It
would be the only goal the Red Wings would record in the period, a surprising
result given that the Wings would outshoot the Caps by a 19-6.
The Caps took advantage of Neuvirth’s stonewalling the Wings
in the second period by tying the game just 68 seconds after the intermission. Alex Ovechkin took a pass from Mike Green at
his own blue line and started up ice with Jonathan Ericsson back for the
Wings. Ovechkin freight-trained his way
up ice, pushing Ericsson back. As he
crossed the blue line he feinted a cut to the middle and slid the puck through
Ericsson’s skates. Picking it up on the
other side of Ericsson in the left wing circle, Ovechkin rifled a wrist shot to
the long side of Howard and inside the far post to tie the game.
That was the way the game stood for almost 16 minutes. But with just over three minutes remaining
the Wings broke the tie when Pavel Datsyuk got his stick in the way of a
cross-ice pass from Mike Green to Roman Hamrlik. Datsyuk split the defense and skated in alone
on Neuvirth on a clean breakaway, finishing off the play with a deke that drew
Neuvirth off balance enough to give Datsyuk an opening to slide the puck through
and into the back of the net at 16:59.
The Caps could manage little pressure after that, recording
only one shot on goal in the last 3:01, and the Red Wings extended their home
streak of not losing in regulation to five games with a 3-2 win over the Caps.
Red Wings 3 – Capitals 2
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