The Detroit Red Wings walked into Tuesday night at 1-3-1 with one job, which was to climb out of the hole. They did not do it. New Jersey left Little Caesars Arena with a 5-4 overtime win on a Jack Hughes breakaway 1:19 into the extra period, and Detroit is 1-3-2 through six games. The single point the Red Wings salvaged belongs almost entirely to Emmitt Finnie and a second line that was the only group on the ice all night that consistently looked dangerous.
Finnie (1G, 1A, 18:20 TOI) centered Alex DeBrincat (2G, 1A, 21:25 TOI) and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard (1G, 1A, 19:00 TOI), and all three finished plus-4. Every other Detroit forward finished even or in the red. Every time that line was on the ice, it did something positive to keep up the momentum. Finnie was the player of the night with his offensive and defensive play, and it still was not enough.
A First Period Detroit Would Like Back
The Red Wings started this game poorly. Errors led to multiple chances for New Jersey and left John Gibson out to dry. The Devils arrived in Detroit without having scored the opening goal in any of their first five games, and that lasted about six minutes: Evan Rodrigues scored the first goal of the game, and, as Elliotte Friedman pointed out, the first goal of the Frozen Frenzy. Detroit and New Jersey had the 6 p.m. ET opener on a night when all 32 teams played.
That first goal was only a matter of time. Detroit did not play well at all and was unable to take control of the game. During the first period, Jersey was shredding Detroit, and it wasn’t even close on an effort scale. New Jersey finished the night with a 37-27 edge in shots on goal. One bright spot in the period was Viktor Arvidsson. Day in and day out, he maintains his hard-working play style and grittiness, and he is a coach’s player.
Emmitt Finnie’s World
Emmitt Finnie tied the game with 1:25 left in the first period off a lob pass from Michael Brandsegg-Nygard at center ice, beating Jake Allen cleanly for a beautiful goal. Brandsegg-Nygard took the primary assist and Anton Johansson picked up the second, which was his first NHL point in six career games. Brandsegg-Nygard then put Detroit over the hump 1:43 into the second to give the Red Wings their first lead of the game. Finnie dished it to him in front of the net with a pass as beautiful as his goal in the first, and DeBrincat got the other assist. The start of the second for the Wings was the complete opposite of the start of the game, though they would periodically dip back into how they played in the first. Finnie had multiple good chances in the second and was a man possessed. He was fast, aggressive, and also smart with his 200-foot game. The night left him at two goals, one assist and three points in six games.
Back and Forth
The elevated play by Detroit didn’t last the entire period. Anthony Mantha, a former Red Wings forward, scored his first goal as a Devil on a play that looked familiar to Brandsegg-Nygard’s goal, and the game was tied again. That was followed by a power-play goal from Nico Hischier, Jersey’s captain, which put the Devils back on top. Just when the Wings were looking like the same team they were in the first, they took back control of the puck and put the pressure the other way. DeBrincat scored to tie it for the third time on the night. New Jersey flipped the switch again and forced Gibson to make some great saves, and after tons of pressure, Jersey took the lead back on a goal by Jesper Bratt with 3:08 left in the second.
Even Third and a Decision by Overtime
The third period saw more back-and-forth from both teams. DeBrincat tied the game yet again 5:46 in, with assists from Moritz Seider and Ben Chiarot. Gibson continued to save the Wings with monster stops and finished with 32 saves on 37 shots. Todd McLellan had given Gibson the start over Daniil Tarasov after Tarasov stopped all 30 shots he faced in Montreal. Lucas Raymond wasn’t necessarily bad throughout the game, but every time he had the puck, he looked timid with it. The star forward is still without a goal this season, with four assists in six games. The game ended on Hughes’ breakaway in overtime.
Detroit Sits at 1-3-2 With Philadelphia Next
After how Detroit played in the first, and with the low points the Red Wings had throughout the game, at least they leave with one point. Gibson and the second line were the only reason this wasn’t a complete blowout. It also leaves Detroit at 1-3-2 with four points through six games, one point better than where the night started and still nowhere near out of the hole. Next up are the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday, Oct. 15, at Little Caesars Arena at 7:30 p.m. ET.