The Detroit Red Wings hosted the Dallas Stars in the home finale of the regular season at Little Caesar’s Arena. It hasn’t been the year the Wings were hoping for, although they have already improved on last season’s points total (74) with 80 entering Monday night. The Stars, on the other hand, have been excellent all year, with 102 points. Their offense has been fantastic, as they are 7th league-wide in goals scored.
And it didn’t take long for that offense to show up. Thomas Harley fed a long pass to Roope Hintz near the crease, and Hintz directed it past goalie Ville Husso. The pass was nearly intercepted by Detroit defenseman Simon Edvinsson, but he couldn’t quite get his stick in the lane in time.
Three minutes later, with three Red Wings back, Hintz dropped the puck back to defenseman Esa Lindell, who fired a wrister past Husso from the top of the faceoff circle.
Dallas would strike again with 7:50 remaining in the first. Max Domi went into the corner, beating Edvinsson, and passed to an open Ty Dellandrea in the slot who quickly snapped it in. This would chase Husso out after only facing five shots. Magnus Hellberg would take over for the rest of the night.
Coach Derek Lalonde spoke highly of Husso’s performance this season after the game. “There was some hockey this year where he was excellent, played great for us, won us a lot of hockey games.”
Detroit did have a couple good looks in the period, most notably by David Perron who was positioned in tight for a clean scoring chance, but the puck bounced off his stick before he could fire a shot. Overall, however, it was a very messy period of missed passes and giveaways for the Wings.
The Dallas offense didn’t let up in the second either, wasting no time and scoring in the first minute of the period to make it 4-0 (on only 7 shots). This time Jason Robertson, the team’s leading scorer with more than 100 points, fired a shot over Hellburg’s glove far-side. It was his third point of the night, having also recorded secondary assists on the first two goals.
Not long after, Joe Pavelski made it 5-0 as he redirected a point shot from blueliner Miro Heiskanen. It was Pavelski’s 1,000th career point.
Still in the first half, Dallas had a goal waived off for goalie interference that prevented a six-goal deficit (at least temporarily).
Jamie Benn would make up for that, as a shot from Colin Miller deflected off the Stars captain and past Hellburg to make it 6-0.
Fortunately for Detroit fans in attendance, the final home game would not end in a shutout, as Perron scored late in the middle frame on a pass from Dylan Larkin.
Detroit’s season continues on the road for two final games before the season concludes. They missed the post-season for the sixth straight year. However, the team has shown improvements, and the young roster is filled with talent that will only continue to grow.
Coach Lalonde thanked the fans for their support after the game, despite “a lot of ups and downs” throughout the season.
The Wings’ final games will take place tonight at Carolina and Thursday at Tampa Bay.
Kevin Sporka
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