Postgame: Kings @ Red Wings – 12/17

Well, the Wings are loving Saturdays this December. Combined score of 15-3 in the two games on that night this month. They’ll get another chance on December 31st against the St. Louis Blues.

Even with the early lead, the Kings refused to go away for the first half of the game or so, partially because Detroit kept letting up. LA scored twice to cut a three-goal lead down to two but the Wings responded both times, leading by three to end both the first and second periods.

The big story is the third and fourth liners getting goals. Drew Miller and Cory Emmerton had fantastic games and it’s great to see them get on the scoresheet. With the big lead, they each had a chance to finish their hat tricks on a third-period power play but it wasn’t to be.

Not to be overlooked, the Wings stars had some nice plays too. Henrik Zetterberg’s goal was an unreal shot and Pavel Datsyuk’s came off a string of three fantastic plays – Todd Bertuzzi at center ice, Johan Franzen’s pass, and Datsyuk’s tip. Niklas Kronwall and Brad Stuart each scored on rocket shots.

The diversity in scoring really shows how well the Wings were clicking as a team tonight.

Two crazy stats…

Kronwall had three points in a game where the opposition only scored twice and he still managed to go minus-one on the night. He was out for both Kings goals and scored a goal but neither of his assists got him a plus. On Zetterberg’s goal, he’d already left the ice. On Stuart’s goal, it was a power play.

Simpler but no less odd: The Wings were outshot in this one. Honestly, I have no idea how that happened.