Fabbri Scores Two in Red Wings Debut, Helps Detroit Take Down Bruins 4-2
Detroit, the league’s worst team hosted the league’s second-best team the Boston Bruins on Friday night. The Wings carried a -33 goal differential while the Bruins were +20.
Yet it was not a 10-0 blowout as one would expect.
The game began predictably, with David Krejci putting the B’s on the board 1:09 into the contest on the team’s first rush.
But thanks to Dylan Larkin, that momentum was stopped early as he scored just a minute and a half later on a nice wraparound effort on goalie Tuukka Rask. Madison Bowey and Jonathan Bernier assisted.
Then newly acquired forward Robby Fabbri made it 2-1 for the Wings, as he scored on the power play. The 23-year old played all 164 of his NHL games with the team that originally drafted him, the St. Louis Blues. A frequent scratch this season, Fabbri wasn’t fitting into the picture there. GM Steve Yzerman traded fourth-liner Jacob De La Rose in return. Fabbri played on the second line with Valtteri Filppula and Andreas Athanasiou. He also skated on the first power play unit, logging 4:08 of ice time.
He would score again on the man-advantage 1:30 into the second period, this time one-timing a pass from Tyler Bertuzzi past Rask.
Michigan-born defenseman Torey Krug got the Bruins back in the game late in the period with a power play wrist shot, but that was all Boston could produce.
Anthony Mantha sealed the highly unlikely win for Detroit 4-2 with an empty net tally.
Jonathan Bernier
Bernier was excellent, turning aside 26 of 28 shots from the NHL’s best offensive powerhouse.
“It was a team effort tonight,” said Bernier. “Our special teams won us the game tonight. Everyone was on the same page. Everyone worked hard, good forecheck. Even in the third, we didn’t panic. We probably put more pucks on their net than they did, so I thought we did a really good job there.”
“It’s a long season. If you drag on all the losses you go through, it’s going to be a long season. So every day, you come into work, practice, gym, and you get prepared for the game. You’ve got to turn the page really quick in this league; you play almost every other night, so you just got to make sure that, win or lose, you don’t get too high or too low.”
Filip Hronek
Throughout the game, Hronek and Brad Marchand were itching to fight, and it all culminated in the second period. Hronek threw some good body shots while Marchand landed the takedown and a late punch. Throughout the remainder of the game, there were at least three more instances of bad blood between the two as Hronek kept going at the Bruins forward.
The young defenseman has been one of the brightest spots on this year’s roster. He brings every element to the game: determination, physicality, speed, skill, hockey sense, and a booming slap shot.
A Look Ahead
The Red Wings take on the Vegas Golden Knights Sunday at 5:00 ET, followed by a 3-game California road trip of Anaheim (Tuesday @ 10:00), Los Angeles (Thursday @ 10:30) and San Jose (Saturday @ 10:30). Vegas is tied for third in the Pacific, while the Ducks, Sharks, and Kings are in the bottom 3.
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Kevin Sporka
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