Comments (1) | Add a comment
All-business Red Wings tie record home streak
-
Paul Sancya/The Associated Press
Red Wings forward Johan Franzen, right, celebrates his tiebreaking goal in front of Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Braydon Coburn during the third period Sunday at Detroit. The Red Wings' 4-3 victory was their 20th straight at Joe Louis Arena, matching the NHL record for the longest home winning streak.
Tools
-
Red Wings goalie Joey MacDonald stops a shot by Flyers right wing Wayne Simmonds during the first period. MacDonald had 26 saves. Paul Sancya/The Associated Press
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DETROIT -- The Red Wings have finally begun to embrace a record they've been chasing.
Detroit equaled an NHL mark with its 20th straight home victory, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 on Sunday on Johan Franzen's tiebreaking goal early in the third period, along with timely defense and saves.
"We haven't talked about this at all," coach Mike Babcock insisted. "We talked about it tonight because it happened."
The NHL-leading Red Wings have been more focused on trying to keep their edge in the highly competitive Central Division and Western Conference, not their streak on home ice.
"We don't want to talk about it," defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom said. "We just want to keep it going. Just go out there and play and win games. That's the approach we've had."
The league mark was set by the Boston Bruins during the 1929-30 season and matched by Philadelphia in 1976.
"We definitely wanted to keep them from tying the record," Flyers wing Scott Hartnell said. "We're all disappointed about that."
Detroit can break the record with a win Tuesday over the Dallas Stars at Joe Louis Arena.
"It's not too often you get a chance to do that," Red Wings goalie Joey MacDonald said.
Philadelphia rookie Brayden Schenn had two goals, helping the Flyers take the first of two leads they couldn't keep against a team that hasn't lost at home since Nov. 3 against Calgary.
MacDonald overcame shaky clearing attempts that led to two goals and finished with 26 saves.
"What I liked was how he played after a mistake," Babcock said.
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 21 shots for the Flyers.
Bobrovsky's head was on a swivel in the opening minute of the third period, when Henrik Zetterberg and Lidstrom made diagonal passes to set up Franzen in front of the net for his league-leading 10th game-winning goal.
"There's not much you can do about it when they're zinging it around like that," Hartnell said. "They picked us apart a few times out there, and that was the difference."
Lidstrom played in his 1,550th game, the most by an NHL player who spent his entire career with one team. He broke the mark set by former Red Wings great Alex Delvecchio.
"That's something special," said Lidstrom, Detroit's captain. "(Delvecchio) came down on Friday and congratulated me and we took a picture together. That means a lot to me."
Fans stood and chanted, "Let's go Red Wings!" during the final minutes and cheered wildly when the clock hit zero.
"It felt like it was a little bit of a special game," Franzen said.
Early on, Philadelphia took advantage of facing MacDonald instead of Jimmy Howard, who missed his fifth straight game with a broken right index finger. The Red Wings are hoping Howard will return Friday at home against Nashville.
MacDonald misplayed a puck behind the net to help Schenn score late in the first period and couldn't clear a rebound early in the second, setting up Schenn's second goal that put the Flyers ahead 2-1.
Pavel Datsyuk tied it 2-all a few minutes later on a power-play goal from the left circle.
MacDonald didn't have much chance to stop Maxime Talbot's go-ahead goal late in the second period. Talbot got behind Detroit's defense and flipped the puck past MacDonald.
Zetterberg's one-timer a couple of minutes later tied the game at 3 entering the third.
Fired-up fans at Joe Louis Arena wanted to see a league mark matched, and one of them hurled an octopus on the ice during the national anthem, an act usually reserved for a playoff game.
"That says it all about the atmosphere in here," Franzen said.
Comments
Terms & Conditions
The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsiblity of the authors. The Review-Journal does not review comments before publication nor guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by the comment policy. If you see a comment that violates the policy, please use the Report Abuse button.
Some comments may not display immediately due to an automatic filter. These comments will be reviewed within 24 hours. Please do not submit a comment more than once.
Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background.
RSS
Twitter
Facebook
Elite teams come and go, but the Red Wings are really special in that they have made the post-season playoffs for 20 years running with no end in sight. This streak is the longest in the history of the planet for any team in any sport. Yeah, it's my favorite team, hence my nickname, but I am a Hockey fan first and I appreciate the skill of all Hockey teams and the various players who make this game so entertaining. If you are not familiar with the sport, catch a game on TV and you'll be hooked.