Detroit Red Wings struggle keeping Stars off the board in 6-3 loss in Dallas
DALLAS — The Detroit Red Wings began a challenging stretch of hockey with a tough loss.
Playing the first of multiple games that they'll be without two top-six forwards, the Wings spent most of Tuesday playing catch-up with the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center. The Wings left with a 6-3 loss, the third straight game time they've allowed five or more goals.
Daniel Sprong scored the first goal and Jonatan Berggren, stuck in the minors most of the season, scored a big goal in the second period. Jake Oettinger gave up a power play goal to Joe Veleno with around six minutes to play in the third period, but Joe Pavelski scored a power play goal on James Reimer within half a minute.
The Wings went on a power play with 1:47 to play, and also pulled Reimer to have two extra skaters, but Patrick Kane was sent off for holding with 1:11 to play, and the Miro Heiskanen put it away with an empty-net goal.
It was the first of at least a week's worth of games without captain Dylan Larkin, who was placed on injured reserve earlier in the day with an upper-body injury, and the first of six games without winger David Perron, who is out until Dec. 22 serving a suspension for a reckless crosscheck. J.T. Compher (lower body) and Klim Kostin (undisclosed) were also unavailable.
What timing
Sprong scored 5:20 into the first period when he took a pass from Robby Fabbri down low, finishing a hustle cycle deep in Dallas' zone. The lead lasted until 13:35, when Miro Heiskanen beat Reimer with a wrist shot while Joe Veleno was in the penalty box. It was a good start overall by the Wings, who finished the period without Fabbri when he had to be tended to after taking a stick to the face. They were a tenth of a second from going into intermission with a tie game when Esa Lindell took a shot that slipped by Reimer, giving the Stars a 2-1 lead just as the buzzer sounded.
Pushing back
It looked like the Wings were unravelling when Jason Robertson scored off a Lucas Raymond turnover at 11:16 on a rising shot from the bottom of the right circle and Matt Duchene followed up at 13:29 on a tip-in, giving the Stars a 4-1 lead in a matter of a couple minutes in the second period. But the Wings pushed back against Dallas' momentum and were rewarded with a goal at 13:51. Olli Määttä had the puck at the blue line and passed to Shayne Gostisbehere, who strode in with the puck and sent it on net, where Berggren finished the play and celebrated his first goal of the season.
New line
The Wings brought in Austin Czarnik, Zach Aston-Reese and Berggren to offset the absences of Larkin, Perron, J.T. Compher and Klim Kostin, starting the trio from the Grand Rapids Griffins on the same line. Czarnik played 11 games with the Wings earlier this season and appeared in 29 games last season; Berggren scored 15 goals in 67 games with the Wings last season, and was making his fifth appearance of the season, so at least those two came in familiar with the Wings' structure.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings struggle keeping Stars off the board in 6-3 loss
