According to oddsmakers at BetDSI, the Red Wings are the slight favorite on the road, as they are getting odds of -110 to win, while the Oilers are getting odds of +100 to win. “We need to keep plugging away”. Absolutely. Are the results good enough? “It’s easy to get frustrated in results, whether it’s a power play or the game, but we can’t let frustration cloud our mind”.
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When you look at the Red Wings offense, it’s Henrik Zetterberg’s line – Dylan Larkin and Justin Abdelkader – and not much else.
The Oilers tacked on two more goals in the second period, including a Connor McDavid highlight just 6:33 into the frame.
Detroit ended the night with 70 shot attempts compared to Edmonton’s 43, but had 24 of those attempts blocked and missed the net on 17 others. “But the missed ones… you want to make goalies make saves. That’s something we can talk about, but the focus is we got those opportunities and let’s continue to get those opportunities”.
Oilers’ netminder Cam Talbot was outstanding in goal again, stopping 28 of 29 shots to grab his first win at home. Though Detroit outshot the Oilers in the end, the two-goal deficit was too much for them to come back from as they accepted their third loss in a row while the Oilers won their third.
There is no doubt that McDavid is a generational talent, and that Larkin doesn’t have the amount of hype or numbers coming into the National Hockey League that he features, but Larkin is poised for a very promising career with the Red Wings and I believe he will definitely contend for the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie by the end of this season.
Detroit coach Jeff Blashill felt they are making progress in terms of power play presence.
“Hank’s line has played real good and they’ve carried us”. A great play between Nail Yakupov and Mark Letestu worked out as the centerman shot on the pass to score his first of the season. Mrazek made the initial save, but the puck bounced in off of Kyle Quincey’s skate. “We had two huge blow-ups and you can’t win with big blow-ups”. Not surprisingly, both have been happy to move the biscuit along and simply do whatever is necessary to put them in the best possible situation to succeed and allow McDavid to do his thing. Though the team finds themselves in the hole, Detroit hopes that they can get back in the right direction and make the battle of the rookies one to remember. “We have to produce more and try something else to produce, and not just the first line”. Neither has a goal, and each has two assists apiece.
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“We know what has to be done, what has to be better”.
