James Reimer's 2nd shutout powers Detroit Red Wings past Calgary Flames, 5-0
CALGARY, Alberta — The Detroit Red Wings took advantage of, well, the man advantage.
They made inroads on salvaging their extended trip Saturday, rolling out a 5-0 victory in a matinee against the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome. There was added urgency to the outing after the Wings failed to bank points on the first two stops; their Western trip concludes Monday with another matinee in Seattle.
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Goalie James Reimer delivered a strong performance in what was a rare outing for him, coming up especially big in the first period and making 38 saves total for his second shutout of the season. The power play took care of things at the other end, with Patrick Kane and Dylan Larkin both converting. J.T. Compher, David Perron and Lucas Raymond also scored as the Wings feasted on some easy-offense opportunities to improve to 28-20-6.
Reimer reappears
With Ville Husso sidelined again by a lower-body injury, Reimer made his first start since Jan. 14 in Toronto in order to spell Alex Lyon for a game. (Reimer's last time on the ice was Jan. 23, in a relief appearance in Dallas.) The veteran goalie was busy from the get-go, denying Rasmus Andersson in the opening minute and making seven saves through the first 10 minutes, while the Wings only had two shots on Jacob Markstrom. Just past the halfway point, Reimer made a particularly nice save on a wrist shot attempt by Andrei Kuzmenko. Reimer made 12 saves in the first period.
Wings take quick lead
After going scoreless through five power plays Thursday against the Canucks in Vancouver, B.C., the Wings needed 3 seconds of their first-period power play to convert against the Flames. Robby Fabbri, back with the team after missing the first half of the trip to be with his wife and their newborn baby, won the draw against Mikael Backlund, with the puck going back to Moritz Seider. He tapped it over to Kane, whose shot sank into Calgary's net at 14:56. Just 63 seconds later, Compher finished a pass from Lucas Raymond to put the Wings up by two goals.
Doubling up
Larkin made it 3-0 when he tipped Kane's shot during a four-on-three power play five minutes into the second period. Perron followed up a minute and a half later, finishing a set-up by Andrew Copp that earned Perron his 12th goal of the season. That was enough for the Flames, who gave Markstrom the hook when his stat line read four goals surrendered on 12 shots, in 26:41 of ice time. Dan Vladar came in as relief and allowed one goal, a third-period score by Raymond.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. 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.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings shut out Calgary Flames, 5-0
