Detroit Dismantles the Coyotes Tank

 Detroit was dealt an early blow when it was announced just before puck drop that Kronwall would not be playing due to mysterious lower body injury. While this could have a major impact on the Red Wings in the future, it should have made little difference going up against an Arizona Coyotes team in the heat of the McEichel derby. However while the management wants the Coyotes to lose no one told the payers on the ice; they battled all night long and forced the Red Wings to come from behind on 4 separate occasions just to earn the overtime point. However the impressive comeback effort was denied in overtime when Arcabello registered his second of the night to give the Coyotes two unwanted points.

With Kronwall out, the Red Wings started with Ericsson and Kindl serving as the 3^rd pairing for the night. While Quincey and DeKeyser as the top unit is terrifying I am interested to see Smith and Zidlicky get a bigger role. As would be expected the Wings started out well, generating a number of chances in the first 5 minutes. Despite Detroit’s territorial advantage a shot from the half wall bounced off John Moore in front and past Jimmy Howard to give the Coyotes a surprising 1-0 lead. The Wings were unable to capitalize on a late power play and headed into the 2^nd down 1 despite the 13-5 shot advantage.

The Red Wing’s onslaught continued in the second and it finally paid off just 3 minutes in as Glendening deflected one by Smith to tie the game at 1. Just before the midway point, Ericsson was called for holding and on the PP the Coyote regained the lead when Arcabello found some space in the slot and beat Jimmy Howard thanks to a screen by Brendan Smith. Once again the Red Wings responded, a great pass by Kindl sprung Abdelkader for a breakaway and he tied things up, 2-2. Arizona would just not go away, as another deflection by Moss beat Howard to give Arizona a 3-2 lead heading into the third, despite Arizona registering only 9 shots to that point.

Despite an overwhelming shot advantage, the Red Wings were forced to come from behind once again. Thankfully, it took only 2 minutes for a shot by Kindl to beat Mike Smith and bring the Wings back into a draw. The comfort did not last long as Zidlicky was called for a 4-minute penalty followed immediately by Helm spearing Smith, giving Arizona a 5-3 advantage for a full 2 minutes. Some incredible penalty killing by the fourth line got the Wings back to even and the Joe rocking. All the momentum from the kill was quickly eliminated when Abdelkader was sent to the sin bin for setting a very nonsubtle pick on Doan. The Coyotes made the Red Wings pay as another deflection by Moss beat Howard to make it 4-3 with 10 minutes remaining in regulation. However when Erat was called for holding with just under 7 minutes remaining it was the Red Wings’ chance on the man advantage. Enough chances for the leagues’ leading power play and they are due to cash in, and they finally did. After Smith turned aside a blast by Zetterberg, Nyquist batted the rebound out of mid-air to tie the game a final time and send us to overtime.

After the Red Wings got a number of good chances in overtime, the Coyotes would finish it off thanks to some poor defending by Zidlicky and DeKeyser. Arcabello snuck in on a semi-breakaway, which was enough for him to beat a very weak effort by Jimmy Howard.

As crazy as it seems this was a good sign for the Wings. Going against the 2^nd worst team in the league I had every expectation that the team would mail it in and do just enough to get by. However that plan quickly went out the window when the Coyotes scored 3 times on the first 9 shots. Despite the early deficit the Red Wings clawed back 4 separate times to tie the game. As this young squad heads down the stretch, Babcock will ensure that the structure is there. Tonight we saw that this team has the will and determination to battle back when things aren’t going well. While it may have been against one of the league’s worst teams, after two weeks of subpar efforts it was good too see this team continue to battle.