Michael Ryder and the Dallas Stars came into a sold out Joe Louis Arena and spoiled the Red Wings homecoming, beating them 2-1.
Ryder scored both goals for the Stars while Brunner scored the lone Wings goal with 3 seconds left in the game. Howard had 32 saves while Lehtonen had 39 saves stocking a fantastic performance.
The Red Wings went into this home opener following a season where they had the best home winning streak in NHL history. They also racked up the most home wins in the NHL.
The Wings swept the Dallas stars last season four games to none.
The Red Wings really needed to heat up their power play at home, starting the season 0-for-11.
The Stars (1-1) came off a slow, 1-0 loss to the Wild.
Dallas’ 40-year-old RW, Jaromir Jagr was held pointless during that game, and was held pointless during this matchup as well.
Detroit needed to use the momentum from a thrilling overtime road win against the Columbus Blue Jackets (1-1).
1st
The Stars came out aggressive and set the tone with Derek Roy, Brendon Dillon, Eric Nystrom and Philip Larsen all accounting hits within the first two minutes of the game.
The Wings countered this play style around the 15-minute mark with a great backhand shot from Zetterberg.
Brunner and Quincey also had shots in this same sequence putting pressure on Lentonen and the Stars.
This surge was abruptly stopped by a soaring slap shot from Michael Ryder from right circle going over the right shoulder of Jimmy Howard. This was Ryder’s first goal of the season, and the stars were up 1-0.
The soaring crowd was deflated for some time after Ryder’s goal and the Stars began to regain all the momentum. The Stars continued their physical play style with the hits favoring them 7 to 0. They also swarmed Howard with shots from Jagr, Roy and Ryder.
Moments later the Wings had a bleak light of hope with a great scoring chance at the 12:08 mark from Kyle Quincey. The shot hit Lehtonen’s shoulder pad and went into the seats.
The Wings started to get a little spark back with a couple groundbreaking hits from Tootoo, who had another great game.
Brenden Dillion, giving the Wings an opportunity to tie the game, interfered with Dan Cleary. The Wings were 0 for 11 going into this man advantage and really needed to show some life. They looked lifeless, again, and only scrounged up one shot on net and 0 for 12 on the power play overall.
The Wings continued their sloppy ways with giveaways by Filppula and Nyquist in their own zone.
The Wings held a 13-9 shot advantage at the end of the 1st. They gave the puck away 5 times to the Stars 0, and were out hit 11-3.
2nd:
Brunner continued his great play from last game with a slap shot, and scoring chance, on Lentonen 20 seconds into the 2nd period. The Stars took control with their own rush getting a scoring chance off the backboard that almost tricked Howard and went in.
Brunner was caught for tripping at 12:24, giving the Stars their first power play.
The Stars tried to feed Jagr the entire power play, giving him 3 shots on net. With 5 seconds left in the power play, Kyle Quincey was called for holding.
The Wings were inches away from tying the game with a shorthanded scoring chance from Filppula that hit the post. He was fed beautifully from Zetterberg.
Moments after the Wings killed consecutive penalties; the Stars Fiddler was called for hooking.
At this point of the game the shots were tied 16-16.
The Wings looked bad on this penalty yet again and continued their slow start going 0-12 on their power play so far.
Jimmy Howard continued his great play with a save on a point lank shot on Jagr with 8 minutes left in the second. The Stars were relentless with scoring chance after scoring chance.
The Dallas onslaught was finally haulted by a holding penalty on Michael Ryder.
The Wings had NO shots on net on this power play and was not 0-for-13 on them.
Dallas was out playing the Wings with both the same or fewer men on the ice. Dallas led in scoring chances (11-3), shots (25-20) at the end of the second period.
3rd:
40 seconds into the 3rd the Wings had one of their few scoring chances with a wonderful shot falling down by Brunner, but Lentonen stopped it yet again. The Wings looked much more energized at the start of the 3rd, beating the Stars to every puck.
Howard continued his great goaltending robbing Ryder on a 2-on-1. Smith also made a great read defensively cutting the pass across off.
After the great save from Howard the Stars answered with another goal from Ryder, shooting on an open net. He had a great feed from Eakin across the ice leaving Howard vulnerable.
The Stars continued their onslaught until a “Sportscenter Top 10” moment gave the Wings some life. Howard was beat on a duke from Ryder, but recoiled and made an amazing glove save keeping the score 2-0.
The two teams continued battling back and forth, but nothing would get past Lentonen.
The Wings catch a break with a little less than 8 minutes left with a penalty on Eakin of the Stars for a hand pass during a face off.
Their Power Play looked a little better but still came up short and were now 0-for-14.
Datsyuk made a brilliant move with four minutes left in the game, duking both defenders and giving the Wings a scoring chance but Lehtonen made another great save.
With 2 minutes left, the Wings pulled Howard giving them 6 skaters down 2-0. They controlled play and had an amazing scoring chance with a minute left by Kronwall and Zetterberg that was again denied by Lehtonen.
The Red Wings got a goal from Brunner with 3.4 seconds left, but the hill was too tall to climb. The Wings fell to the Stars 2-1.
Up next:
The Wings fell to 1-2, and the Stars rose to 2-1
The Red Wings (1-2) next game is Friday (1/25) at 7:30 vs. the Minnesota Wild (2-1).
Matt Smolek
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