The Detroit Red Wings capped off their five-game Western road trip, earning six out of a possible 10 points.
The final game of the road trip was a stop in Las Vegas to face off against the Golden Knights. Despite generating some good chances and forcing Golden Knights goaltender Akira Schmid to come up with some big saves, the Red Wings were ultimately blanked in a 1–0 loss.
This was the first time the Red Wings were shut out under the Todd McLellan era.
The lone Knights goal of the game came just under the halfway mark of the second period.
Jeremy Lauzon took a shot from the blue line, which was blocked by young Red Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson. The puck was quickly picked up by Brandon Saad, and he rifled one toward Red Wings goaltender John Gibson. Gibson was unable to make a clean save off the shot, and with a rebound up for grabs, Golden Knights forward Ivan Barbashev was perfectly positioned just outside the goal crease and ready for cleanup, burying the puck to take the 1–0 lead.
It was nearly a 2–0 game, with the Golden Knights scoring again late in the third period. That goal was overturned, however, with a successful coach’s challenge by Todd McLellan and company, as the play was determined to be offside — extending the Red Wings’ streak to 17 successful offside goal challenges.
“I thought that was a winnable game. We just didn’t get the offense, the bounces or the puck going into the net that we needed. Gibby played unbelievably, which is a positive sign. The PK was good again, but it’s a good learning lesson,” Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin said in a post-game interview.
The Red Wings started off their road trip with a 5–2 win over the St. Louis Blues after just beating them at home in the first of back-to-back games.
Their next stop was in Los Angeles to play the Kings, where they won in wild fashion.
After giving up a shorthanded goal, the Red Wings responded with three goals of their own, two of which came from young Red Wings center Marco Kasper — but that two-goal buffer evaporated with the Kings rallying to tie the game in the final minutes of play. That sent the game to overtime, where what looked to be the game-winner by the Kings was called back under league review for goaltender interference.
With a shootout in place, Red Wings goaltender Cam Talbot stopped all three shots faced to secure the win and keep their three-game winning streak alive.
The Red Wings dropped the next game 5–2 against the Anaheim Ducks, where right wing Troy Terry scored two goals and team leader in points Leo Carlsson notched one goal and three assists. Lucas Raymond and Alex DeBrincat picked up two points each in the loss.
The Red Wings bounced back with a 3–2 shootout win over the San Jose Sharks. James van Riemsdyk was the only player to find the back of the net in a four-round shootout to give the Red Wings another big two points in the win column.
Van Riemsdyk praised Talbot’s presence in net that helped secure that win, as well as Gibson’s performance throughout the season.
“Him and Gibby have both been rocks for us the whole year. Tonight, what a game he played. I think both of those guys — we have a lot of confidence in them. Just the way they’ve been playing, you can feel that through the bench and through the team,” Talbot said.
The Red Wings will get a couple days of rest as they head back home for an Original Six matchup against the New York Rangers.
As of Nov. 5, the Red Wings’ record is 9-5-0, and they are sitting second in the Atlantic Division and fourth in the Eastern Conference.
There is still a long season ahead. But if the Red Wings can keep up their impressive play — with both the new young blood and veteran presence contributing, and with Patrick Kane hopefully back in the lineup soon — there is good reason to believe that this just may be the year Detroit finally sees the postseason again.