Detroit Red Wings stumped by New Jersey Devils, 5-1: Game thread recap
Detroit Red Wings (16-12-7) vs. New Jersey Devils (23-11-3)
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Where: Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
TV: TNT.
Radio: WXYT-FM (97.1; Red Wings radio affiliates).
Game notes: No. 1 overall picks in the NHL do eventually produce — something the Wings will find out should they land one again, though this does not appear the season for that (barring a lottery win from deep in the lottery — the Wings had the No. 15 lottery spot entering Wednesday’s games). Case in point: Center Jack Hughes, a Plymouth product and the No. 1 overall pick in 2019. General manager Steve Yzerman landed a hit five picks later with his first first-round pick as Wings GM, defenseman Mortiz Seider, but Hughes has been fantastic in his fourth NHL season. The 21-year-old has 21 goals and 21 assists in 37 games in the first season of an eight-year, $64 million extension he signed with the Devils last season. (Just imagine what he’ll do with brother Luke, the No. 4 overall pick by the Devils in the 2021 draft, who opted to stay in Ann Arbor for his sophomore season and is leading Team USA in the World Juniors in Canada this month.)
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It’s not ALL No. 1 overall picks for the Devils — though 2017 top pick Nico Hischier is third on the roster with 34 points (16 goals, 18 assists): Defenseman Dougie Hamilton, a former No. 9 pick on his fourth franchise has eight goals and 23 assists, and former Red Wing Tomas Tatar (a second-rounder at No. 60 overall) has nine goals and 13 assists. In goal, it could be 27-year-old Vitek Vanecek, who has a 2.38 GAA and .911 save percentage in 24 games this season, or Mackenzie Blackwood, a 26-year-old who stopped 43 of 47 shots in the Devils’ 5-4 shootout loss to Carolina on Sunday.
The Wings, meanwhile, have had a few days to enjoy their victory over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night; Pius Suter, Lucas Raymond, Elmer Söderblom and Michael Rasmussen scored in the final two periods of a 4-2 win at Little Caesars Arena. All those goals from forwards clogged the path for a return from Jakub Vrana, who was placed on waivers Tuesday as he played for the Wings’ AHL affiliate on a conditioning stint after months in the players assistance program, as did the pending return of Robby Fabbri from offseason knee surgery. Vrana went unclaimed.
Will all those forwards produce again tonight at LCA — on the NHL’s national broadcast on TNT, no less? We’ll see. The Wings’ homestand continues for one more game — hello, Florida Panthers, who visit Friday at 7 p.m. — before they head to Toronto for an Original Six matchup Saturday nationally televised in Canada (CBC). The Devils, meanwhile, zip right back home to Newark for a showdown with the St. Louis Blues on Thursday before a matinee against the New York Rangers on Saturday.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings lose to New Jersey Devils, 5-1: Game thread recap
