Helm Scores, Mrazek Blanks Oilers as Red Wings Win 5-0

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11 years ago

Rookie goaltender Petr Mrazek stopped all fourteen shots he faced for his first career NHL shutout and Darren Helm scored in his first game of the season, leading the Detroit Red Wings to a 5-0 win over the Edmonton Oilers.

It was Mrazek’s first appearance of the season, having been called up to replace injured Detroit backup Jonas Gustavsson. He is now 2-1-0 in three career NHL starts.

Helm was in the lineup for just the third time since March 17, 2012, having recovered from a series of injuries that ended with back and groin issues. In just his second shift of the night, he scored what would be the game-winning goal, snapping a shot from the left side of the slot past Edmonton goalie Richard Bachman on a breakaway.

Tomas Tatar made it 2-0 just 27 seconds later, knocking the rebound of a Joakim Andersson chance past Bachman from the slot.

Jason Labarbera replaced Bachman in the Oilers’ crease midway through the first period when Bachman left with an injury but things didn’t get better for Edmonton.

At 6:55 of the second, Jakub Kindl took a feed from Daniel Alfredsson and rifled a shot from the right wing through traffic and past Labarbera.

Andersson made it 4-0 at 7:54 of the third period, banging a loose puck at the edge of the crease past Labarbera after a wrap-around attempt by Drew Miller.

Todd Bertuzzi closed out the game’s scoring at 9:43 of the period, beating Labarbera from the right faceoff circle off a feed from behind the net by Henrik Zetterberg on a Detroit power play.

The Red Wings finished the night with one goal on five chances with the extra attacker. Edmonton had three tries with the man-advantage.

Bachman took the loss for the Oilers, stopping seven of the nine shots he faced in 13:52 of play. Labarbera made 19 saves on 22 shots in relief.

The Red Wings will look for the sweep of their four-game Western Canadian road trip on Monday when they visit the Winnipeg Jets.

Johan Franzen missed the game due to illness… In addition to Helm returning, Mikael Samuelsson swapped back into the lineup, replacing Patrick Eaves. Jordin Tootoo was the other healthy scratch… Detroit placed defenseman Jonathan Ericsson on long-term injured reserve to make room for Helm on the roster.