Red Wings Return Home with Win over Predators

The Detroit Red Wings came back home following a six-game road trip and promptly defeated the Nashville Predators, 5-2, on Saturday night.

Tomas Tatar scored twice for the Red Wings, including the goal that saw Nashville goalie Carter Hutton removed from the game.

Hutton, starting in place of the injured Pekka Rinne, lasted just 12:32 after allowing three goals on four shots.

Just 57 seconds into the game, Gustav Nyquist took a centering feed from Tatar on a two-on-one and flicked a shot past Hutton to open the game’s scoring.

With 8:38 left in the opening period, Kyle Quincey’s shot off a Pavel Datsyuk faceoff win deflected off Nashville’s Mike Ribeiro before bouncing off the ice and past Hutton to make it 2-0.

Just 1:10 later, Tatar snapped a shot from the right faceoff dot through a screen by Riley Sheahan and past Hutton to end the Nashville netminder’s night.

Mattias Ekholm got the Predators on the board with 1:22 left in the period, whipping a shot from the high slot through traffic that deflected past Detroit goalie Petr Mrazek for a 3-1 score.

Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg made it 4-1 with a power play goal at 2:14 of the second period. Skating down below the goal line, Zetterberg threw the puck out front, off goalie Marek Mazanec’s helmet, and into the net.

Tatar added his second of the night with 39 seconds left in the middle frame. Tatar drove to the net to take a pass from Riley Sheahan in the corner and knock it past Mazanec for a power play goal.

Nashville’s Mike Fisher closed out the game’s scoring just 49 seconds into the third period, collecting the rebound of a Roman Josi shot in front of the net and lifting a backhander over Mrazek on the power play.

The Red Wings finished the night perfect on two power play opportunities while the Predators scored once on three tries with the man-advantage.

Mrazek made 34 saves on 36 shots in the Detroit net. After Hutton went one-for-four, Mazanec stopped 18 of 20 for Nashville.

The Red Wings are right back at it on Sunday as they host the Buffalo Sabres.