TGTW: Red Wings Strong Defensively in Week Thirteen

The Games That Weren’t is one of many projects simulating the games lost by the NHL lockout. In the absence of actual games to write about, I’ll be checking in periodically on the fictional Red Wings’ season.

The Detroit Red Wings didn’t gain any ground in the standings in the NHL’s thirteenth week but they did pick up two wins while allowing only a single goal.

On Tuesday the Red Wings earned a 3-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Winter Classic in Ann Arbor. Mikael Samuellson’s second-period goal and Jakub Kindl’s marker in the third carried the Wings past the Leafs after Henrik Zetterberg’s first-period tally was negated by a James van Riemsdyk goal late in the first. Jimmy Howard needed to make only 18 saves on 19 shots to get the win.

On Friday night against the Nashville Predators, Howard stopped all 24 shots he faced and former Predator Jordin Tootoo scored the game’s only goal, as the Red Wings won, 1-0. Tootoo’s tally with 8:10 remaining in regulation was his third of the season for his new team.

With the wins, the Red Wings kept pace with the Predators and the St. Louis Blues, four points behind them for the Central Division lead. They did add an additional game in hand on each, giving them one on St. Louis and three on Nashville.

Howard moved into first place in the NHL with six shutouts on the season, one more than New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur and a host of others.

The Red Wings will hit the road in Week Fourteen, starting a five-game road trip with visits to Chicago, San Jose, and Los Angeles.