In Detroit, a little offense goes a long way. On Thursday night, the Red Wings scored four goals and Thomas Greiss made 22 saves in a 4-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.
Troy Stecher struck for two goals for the Red Wings.
“I could take that shot 99 more times and never score,” Stecher said. “I just closed my eyes, let it go and got a bounce. That’s a huge lift for the team.”
Chicago dropped to 20-19-5 with the loss.
“There were two huge points up for grabs tonight and we didn’t get it done,” the Blackhawks’ Dylan Strome said. “Nashville losing tonight is a good thing, but we have to go out there and find a way to get two points against [Detroit] on Saturday.”
Chicago took a 1-0 lead in the game on a goal from Duncan Keith.
Newcomer Jakub Vrana, scored in his debut with the Red Wings.
“I was worried we might go to 4-on-4 and not have him, but I wanted him to be out there with [Dylan] Larkin and [Filip] Zadina after the kill,” Blashill said of his decision to use Vrana to serve the penalty. “It worked out really well.”
Detroit improved to 16-23-6.
“We’re a better hockey team than we were at the beginning of the season, and a lot of that is due to our young players,” Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill said. “We’ve got 11 games left and we can’t waste a second of that opportunity to keep improving.”
Michael Rasmussen topped off the offensive outburst for Detroit with an empty-net goal for the final.
“I was trying not to think about a hat trick, but everyone in the locker room was telling me to shoot every time I got a chance,” Stecher said. “It would have been nice, but I’m very happy to get my first two-goal game.”
Kevin Lankinen made 24 saves in the loss.
“Detroit’s a good team and they are playing a patient, simple game,” Keith said. “We only got one goal tonight, but we had chances. We’ve just got to find a way to get those extra goals on Saturday.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.