Detroit Red Wings flame out in 6-2 loss to Winnipeg Jets: Game thread recap
When: 8 p.m. Friday.
Where: Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
TV: Bally Sports Detroit Extra.
Radio: WXYT-FM (97.1; Red Wings radio affiliates).
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Game notes: It’s a rematch of one of the Wings’ wildest victories of the season, a 7-5 slugfest on Jan. 10 at Little Caesars Arena. The Wings jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period before the Jets narrowed it to a one-goal game midway through the second. From there, the Wings and Jets traded goals with goalies Connor Hellebuyck — six goals allowed on 22 shots faced — and Ville Husso — five goals allowed on 37 shots — taking the damage to their statlines, and Wings defenseman Moritz Seider picking up four assists.
It was a rare stinker for Hellebuyck, the Commerce native who won the NHL’s Vezina Trophy as the best goalie in 2019-20 and finished fourth in the voting in 2020-21. In 27 games since that loss, Hellebuyck has a .909 save percentage and a 2.81 goals-against average while going 12-14-1 for the Jets. The 29-year-old is one of the hardest-working netminders in the league, leading the NHL is saves for each of the past four seasons. (This season, his 1,641 saves are only third, though he’s once again tops in games played.)
The four-assist game brought Seider, the reigning Calder Trophy winner as the NHL’s top rookie, to two goals and 15 assists through 39 games, with a minus-13 rating. Since then, however, he has three goals and 17 assists in just 34 games, while posting a plus-seven rating. In all, the near-22-year-old — he’ll celebrate birthday No. 22 this Thursday as the Wings face the Buffalo Sabres — has 87 points over his first two seasons as a Wing. It’s the second-highest total by a Wings D-man in his first two seasons, behind only Nicklas Lidstrom’s 101 points from 1991-93.
After the second game of the back-to-back, the Wings will get a whole day to recover before facing the playoff-bound Maple Leafs on Sunday night in Toronto, then wrap up their Canadian road trip two nights later against the decidedly not-playoff-bound Canadiens in Montreal on Tuesday. The Jets, meanwhile, have Saturday off before hosting New Jersey on Sunday night; it’ll be the second game of a five-game homestand before they finish the season on the road against Minnesota and Colorado.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings lose to Winnipeg Jets, 6-2: Game thread recap
Source: Yahoo Sports
