The Red Wings were out for revenge against the Minnesota Wild. They had lost heartbreakingly just a few days prior, which gave Detroit a little extra motivation. They converted that motivation into a win, taking down Minnesota 3-2.
Minnesota started the game out hot. It only took eight minutes for the Wild to get on the board, as Marco Rossi scored on the power play. Matt Boldy and Jared Spurgeon picked up assists on the play as the Wild got out to a 1-0 lead. Rossi now has goals in each of his last three games and looks like he’s sliding into a hot streak. Then just four minutes later, Jakub Lauko scored his third goal of the season to put Minnesota up 2-0. The entire line got some action, as Devin Shore and Yakov Trenin were credited with assists.
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It was a quiet start to the second period. Neither team was able to get much of any offense going. That was until Detroit scored on just their second shot of the period. Vladimir Tarasenko scored his eighth of the season, assisted by Erik Gustafsson and Marco Kasper. The very next shot also went in the back of the net. This time it was Simon Edvinsson, who scored the game-tying goal. It came from passes by Alex DeBrincat and J.T. Compher. The rest of the period was quiet, and even though the Wild only gave up four shots, two of them went in.
The Wild offense did everything they could to tie the game in the third period. They peppered Talbot, putting ten shots on him compared to three given up by the Wild. Unfortunately, out of those three shots, one went in. It was again Edvinsson who scored the eventual game-winning goal, assisted by Albert Johansson and Elmer Soderblom. Minnesota wasn’t able to find the back of the net for the rest of the game, going on to lose in regulation 3-2.
Filip Gustavsson has had a great season so far. He is top ten in most major goaltending stats and has played great for Minnesota this season. This game was completely out of the ordinary for him, as he let up three goals on just 16 shots. Perhaps it was fatigue from 4 Nations, or maybe just his first game back from the tournament. Regardless, Gustavsson will likely be able to bounce back from this performance.
This game left much to be desired for Wild fans. Minnesota jumped out to an early 2-0 lead and just needed to protect the lead to steal another two points. They did just that, holding Detroit to just seven shots in the last two periods, unfortunately, Gustavsson had an uncharacteristically bad game. This was Minnesota’s shortcoming and will look to fix that Thursday against the Utah Hockey Club.
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