Author Archives: John Rothwell

K-Wings set Guinness record in OT win over Cyclones

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KALAMAZOO, MI – The Kalamazoo Wings (1-0-0-0), proud ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Vancouver Canucks, took down the Cincinnati Cyclones (0-0-1-0), 3-2 in overtime, in the Home Opener Saturday at Wings Event Center. During the first intermission, the K-Wings established a new Guinness World Record for the Most People Simultaneously Waving Foam Fingers with 3,414.

Josh Bloom (1) scored his first professional goal just 17 seconds into the overtime period to give Kalamazoo the victory. Bloom received the puck from Quinn Preston (1), skated through the slot and fired a wrister from the left hashmark under the glove of Cyclone netminder Jon Gillies (0-0-1-0) for the win. Collin Saccoman (1) earned the secondary assist on the game-winner.

Jay Keranen (1) started the scoring with a goal just 1:56 into the game. Davis Codd (1) came over the blue line with the puck and found Jon Martin (1) driving right circle, who gave a great centering pass to Keranen rushing down the slot to bang it home.

The K-Wings made it 2-0 as Preston (1) deflected a high-slot slapper by Joe Arntsen (1) at the 4:19 mark of the first period. Arntsen picked up his first professional point with the assist.

Cincinnati struck back with a power play goal at the 17:15 mark of the first period.

After a scoreless second, the Cyclones tied the game with a goal at the 10:59 mark of the third frame.

Jonathan Lemieux (1-0-0-0) earned the win in net stopping 20 of 22 shots by Cincinnati. Kalamazoo went 0-for-1 on the power play while the Cyclones were 1-for-2 with the man advantage.

The K-Wings now head to Fort Wayne to face the Komets (2-0-0-0) at 7:35 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 26 at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.

Orange Ice, presented by Infuse Wellness, is set for Sunday, Oct. 27 at 3 p.m. as the K-Wings host the Cincinnati Cyclones. Come to Wings Event Center in your spookiest outfit for the costume contest at the end of the first period on-ice for prizes (Space is LIMITED | Register on arrival). Also, a rare opportunity to skate the ice post-game is available for all fans ($5 skate rental). Get your tickets HERE.

With K-Wings match report

Red Wings stay alive for wild card, down Canadiens, 5-4, in OY

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In Detroit, Lucas Raymond scored the tying goal for the Red Wings to extra time with the visiting Montreal Canadiens on Monday night.

Raymond forced the extra session with s snap shot from the slot with 1:17 left on the game clock.

“It’s amazing that we could find a way to get two points again tonight,” Raymond said. “We obviously don’t want to put ourselves in that position, but this was huge.”

He scored his second of the game with 15 seconds left in the extra session for  a 5-4 win.

“I thought [Larkin] was going for a breakaway, but he was tired, so I tried to jump into the play,” he said. “I was pretty tired, too, so I just want to get off a shot.”

The win keeps the Red Wings in the hunt for the second wild card in Easter ]n Conference.

Alex Lyon made 17 saves in the win.

Detroit moved to 40-32-9.

Montreal had a 4-1 lead headed to the third period before Detroit rallied with three in the third.

Brendan Gallagher scored to give the Canadiens a 1-0 lead at at 4:25 of the first period, scoring off a rebound. .

Montreal kept the pressure on, and Justin Barron pushed the lead to 2-0 at 6:15.

Detroit got that one back on a strike by J.T. Compher at 8:11 for a 2-1 deficit, scoring off another rebound in the game.

“We know that all we did tonight was give ourselves an opportunity to finish the job tomorrow,” Compher said. “All we can do is control our game, but we have a chance.”

Montreal dropped to 30-36-15.

In the middle frame, Montreal’s Rafael Harvey-Pinard scored at 5:15, for a 3-1 advantage.

Gallagher collected a double at at 15:26 of the second, after a turnover by Detroit.

“We did a pretty good job of silencing the crowd for most of the game,” Gallagher said. “They got a couple goals, got a couple octopuses on the ice, and the building really got going.”

In the third third period, Compher collected his double to start the Detroit rally at 15:59.

Detroit trimmed the deficit to 4-3 on a strike by Alex DeBrincat, scoring from the left circle.

Sam Montembeault made 30 saves in the loss.

Red Wings stay alive, down Maple Leafs, 5-4, in OT

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In Toronto, the visiting Detroit Red Wings blew a 4-1 lead on Saturday night when the Maple Leafs hit for three goals in the middle frame to tie the game, 4-4.

Dylan Larkin rescued the Red Wings’ season, for now, when he scored off the power play with 41 seconds  gone in the extra session to give the Wings a 5-4 win.

“That’s one of the biggest of my career and I’m hoping this year to have some more big goals,” Larkin said. “You can’t feel any better. I knew Kane was going to look for that play, and I just had to have my stick on the ice and he was going to hit it. I didn’t even see it go in… To see all the boys rush over, man, what a feeling.”

The Red Wings moved to 39-32-9, they are tied with the Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.

James Reimer made 32 saves in the win.

“It’s special. Nights like this, you want to play well and you want to win and it just makes it that much more special,” Reimer said.

In the first period, the Maple Leafs grabbed a 1-0 lead on a power play marker form Mitchell Marner at 8:35.

Detroit replied with a four spot.

Alex DeBrincat started the outburst at 10:02, scoring off an odd man rush. for a 1-1 tie.

Simon Edvinsson put the Red Wings in front, 2-1, at 13:39, scoring from the left circle.

DeBrincat collected a double at 17:37, scoring off the power play for a 3-1 lead to Detroit.

“We’ve been fighting for our lives here and the sacrifice, the attitude of the guys has been unbelievable and we got rewarded tonight for all the hard work we’ve done the last stretch here where we haven’t been getting rewarded,” Larkin said.

David Perron expanded the advantage to 4-1 with 19 seconds left in the first.

“We’ve been fighting for our lives here and the sacrifice, the attitude of the guys has been unbelievable and we got rewarded tonight for all the hard work we’ve done the last stretch here where we haven’t been getting rewarded,” Larkin said.

The Maple Leafs dropped to 46-24-10.

In the middle frame, the Maple Leafs finally got their act together, scoring three times to get even.

“We just started playing more direct,” the Leafs Auston Marner said. “That team has got a lot of firepower throughout their lineup. You [mess] around with the puck in front of them and they can make serious plays… They have very active defense that can find holes too, and we didn’t do that very well in the first covering that. I thought going forward we did a much better job.”

Nicholas Robertson  closed the gap to 4-2 at at 9:04 with a shot from the left circle.

Matthews scored his 69th of the campaign at 10:23, scoring off the power play to trim the deficit to 4-3

“He asked me for [a goal] during the game so I gave it to him, but he didn’t ask for two,” Reimer joked

Toronto’s John Tavares tied the game, 4-4, at 17:22 .

“The players decided it was important,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. “That’s it. We know how to play. When we play, we show what we are capable of.”

Ilya Samsonov made 27 saves in the loss.

Red Wings fail to build off win, drop 2-1 decision to Caps

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In Detroit, the Red Wings dropped a 2-1 decision to the visiting Washington Capitals on Tuesday night.

Detroit is now a point back of the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.

With the win, the Capitals reclaimed the second wild card spot.

“We were able to weather the storm there and settle in,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “[Lindgren] made some massive saves.”

Charlie Lindgren made 43 saves in the win.

Washington moved 37-30-11, snapping a six-game skid.

“We knew how important this game was,” Lindgren said. “Obviously, we’re coming off a few games in a row where we were on the wrong side of it and playing against a team right next to us in the standings.

“I felt like it was a must-win situation.”

After a scoreless opening stanza, the Capitals took a 2-0 lead with a pair of goals in the middle frame.

Dylan Strome staked the Caps to a 1-0 lead at 17:47 of the second, scoring off a shot for the right circle.

Alex Ovechkin pushed the lead to 2-0 with eight seconds left in the second.

“Oshie [made] a tremendous play on the blue line, and I was kind of 2-on-1,” Ovechkin said. “I knew there was maybe 15 or 20 seconds left in the period, and I tried to shoot the puck and hope it goes in. I’ll take it.”

Detroit dropped to 38-32-8 off their sixth loss in eight games.

“We’re all just trying to process this game,” the Red Wings’ Dylan Larkin said. “There are a lot of emotions right now. I thought we played well, but that goalie just has our number right now.

“It’s very frustrating.”

Patrick Kane scored with two seconds left on the game clock in the third period to deny Lindgren the shutout.

“Maybe we could have gotten more traffic around him, but you just have to tip your hat to their goaltender,” Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said. “He was outstanding.”

Alex Lyon made 21 saves in the loss.

Red Wings find themselves back in a playoff position

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In Detroit, if you got the arena in the first intermission, you were in for a long boring 40 minutes.

The Red Wings scored three straight goals in the first to take a 3-0 lead over the visiting Buffalo Sabres on Sunday.

All within the first 7:37 of the game.

Tage Thompson hit off the power play at 13:16 of the first to cut the deficit to 3-1, but that was all the scoring in the game.

“We had a game plan, but they got one and we turned it into two, and we turned that into three,” Thompson said. “It was all self-inflicted wounds, and then we had to chase the game.”

Alex Lyon made 37 saves i the win.

“When the guys give you a start like that, you want to reward them,” he said. “I thought we did a good job of shutting down the game and making them 200 feet to get a chance.”

Detroit moved to 38-31-8.

“Finding a way to close out games like is difficult, especially against a team like that,” Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said. “I thought [Lyon] was our best player in the third period (17 saves). That team had some really good looks that he kept out of the net.”

With the win, the Red Wings displaced the Pittsburgh Penguins from the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Sabres dropped to 37-36-5.

“You see a lot of games where you put that many pucks on the net and a bunch bounce in for you,” Sabres coach Don Granato said. “There were a lot of pucks that the goaltender never saw and hit him. We had chances, but we needed one to go in.”

Detroit is five points clear of the Sabres for the second wild card.

“If you can’t win more than three games in a row, you probably aren’t going to make the playoffs,” Buffalo’s Alex Tuch said.

 

Lucas Raymond staked the Red Wings to a 1-0 lead with a goal at the 53 second mark of the game, scoring off a shot from the slot.

“That wasn’t our best game, but we came out with a huge win,” Raymond said.

Patrick Kane  scored at 4:24 to push the Red Wings into a 2-0 lead. He bull rushed the net after splitting the Buffalo defense for the goal.

Dylan Larkin stretched the lead to 3-0 with a power play strike at 7:37.

“I think what this team got out of its system is getting Dylan Larkin back,” Lalonde said. “I wish we had done a better job without him (4-10-0 this season), but the stats are remarkable. We’re going to be a .600 team with him and a .200 team without him.”

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 21 saves in the loss.

Andersen, Canes shut out Detroit, 4-0

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This time of year it is difficult to determine who is putting pressure on whom in the Stanley Cup playoff race.

On Thursday night, in Raleigh, the Hurricanes downed the visiting Detroit Red Wings, 4-0, in response to, or to apply, pressure  to the New York Rangers who sit atop the Metropolitan Division ladder.

Frederik Andersen made 24 saves in the win.

“We took it to them. We were ready to play,” Andersen said. “We didn’t really get rewarded in the first period, but obviously we did in the second. We got a nice lead and hung onto it.”

The Canes punched their ticket to the playoff with the victory, the sixth straight under coach Rod Brind’Amour

“It’s unfortunate it gets overlooked a little because of where we sit,” Brind’Amour said. “You forget how hard that is to accomplish, and to do that with (eight) games left. That’s impressive, and these guys deserve credit for that. It’s a huge accomplishment.”

All four goals were struck in the middle frame.

Sebastian Aho staked the Canes to a 1-0 lead at 4:42 of the middle frame. He scored off a deflection at the left side of the cage.

“I get to play with great players and play high minutes and the power play,” Aho said. “So, I expect myself to produce. It’s always nice to score goals and get points, but I try to look at my game a little differently, like how do I do all three zones in the game and if I’m on it. Obviously, tonight was a good game and that’s why we were able to get scoring chances.”

Seth Jarvis pushed the lead to 2-0, hitting off the power play at 5:39.

“Momentum is huge, so when you score like that to kick it off, you always want to get the next one,” Jarvis said. “We did a good job of sticking with it for the most part and making it tough to come back.”

The Red Wings dropped to 36-30-7 off their 11th loss in 14 matches.

“We knew we were going to be up against it tonight,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. “Where our lineup was, to have that happen to you right before the game is kind of a stinger. That’s a tough team to play (with) 11 forwards with the pace they play at.”

Detroit is two points back of the Washington Capitals, hold the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, and who lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-1 on Thursday.

Continuing the outburst in the second period, Martin Necas stretched the advantage to 3-0 midway through the period, scoring off a shot through a maze of sticks and legs.

Carolina added a final strike in the period, and game, when Brady Skjei hit at 16:23 for the 4-0 final. He followed up his own shot and picked up the rebound for the goal.

“I think we’ve done a good job of cementing ourselves as a top team in this League,” Jarvis said. “Making the playoffs is one thing, but we have a bigger goal in mind. It’s a good start, but we’ve got a lot of stuff to take care of.”

James Reimer made 29 saves in the loss.