NHL Update: Detroit Red Wings thrash Toronto Maple Leafs 7-3
One of the most anticipated games, Detroit Red Wings against Toronto Maple Leafs took place this Friday as part of the 85th game in the NHL season. The game took place in the Joe Louis Arena in front of 19,000 people. The Toronto Maple Leafs took
place in their 8th game, while the Detroit Red Wings were playing in their 6th game.
First period
The start to the match was a smooth one as both teams were coming up with positive and effective moves.
Out of the two teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs was quick out of the blocks as they came up with early shots. The Detroit Red Wings made no early shots or plays and it looked as if they were waiting and assessing what their opposition had.
Then suddenly like a blast, the Red Wings exploded with superb game play and very effective shots. One of the shots hit by Jan Mursak was very venomous and went past the goal keeper to give the Detroit Red Wings the lead.
The 42nd shot of the match again saw the Detroit Red Wings scoring to establish a 2 goal lead. This time the goal scorer was Jiri Hudler from a distance of 15 feet. The Detroit Red Wings managed to form a good backline, but they weren’t able to
stop the Toronto Maple Leafs from scoring.
Phil Kessels’s goal cut the lead to one goal with the score board showing 2-1 in favour of the Detroit Red Wings. However, showing nerves of steel, the Detroit Red Wings marched on further cementing their lead by scoring for the third time in the period
in the 19th minute. The goal was scored from 31 feet away from the goal from a Jakub Kindl shot.
The period ended with the score on 3-1 in favour of the home team, Detroit Red Wings. They scored 3 times out of the 10 goal attempts while the Toronto Maples Leafs was able to score once out of the 8 goal attempts.
Second period
The second didn’t match the intensity of the first period. Added to this was the less productivity in terms of goals during the course of the second period.
Both of the teams came up with almost same number of shots as in the previous period, but both teams could only manage to score 2 goals in total. Both teams were seen exchanging good passes and then finishing the move by firing a perfect shot. However, most
of the times the puck was hit straight at the goalie which enabled the goalies to make a lot of saves.
The Detroit Red Wings took the score to 4-2 when they scored through Jiri Hudler who bagged his second goal of the match.
After sitting in a comfortable position, the Toronto Maple Leafs tried to score but failed in doing so. In the 17th minute they were successful in scoring through a snap off from 19 feet by Tyler Boozak.
The score was 4-2 at the end of the second period and promised an exciting third period.
Third Period
The third was indeed one of the most exciting with that provided us with 4 goals.
The first goal of the period saw Niklas Kronwall scoring from 46 feet in the 3rd minute. This put the Detroit Red Wings in a comfortable 5-2 lead.
The Detroit Red Wings managed to score once again due some spectacular play by Johan Franzen. This further cemented their position for emerging victorious with the score going to 6-2 in the home team’s favour.
However, the Toronto Maple Leafs was able to score in the 6th minute of the 3rd period due to lapse in concentration in the Detroit Red Wings defence. The score become 6-3 with this goal from Mikhail Grabovski.
From then onwards, the Detroit Red Wings were able to dominate the game throughout. The Red Wings were able to score once again in the 11th minute through a Henrik Zetterberg goal. The score was 7-3 in favour of the Detroit Red Wings and ended
on the same score.
"It was good tonight. We were moving the puck and moving our legs a bit," said Mike Modano of Detroit Red Wings, who signing a $1.25 million free-agent contract in August after leaving the Dallas Stars.
"Just trying to learn each other on the ice," Jiri Hudler of Red Wings said.
"He's been in the league for 20 years. It's not going to be hard for him to read the ice."
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