Patrick Kane pointless as Detroit Red Wings squander 4-goal lead in 6-5 OT loss to Sharks
Patrick Kane's debut was overshadowed by a stunning seven-minute stretch of the second period that saw the Detroit Red Wings build a four-goal lead — and then squander it.
Their collapse against the San Jose Sharks, one of the worst teams in the NHL, came on the night the Wings welcomed Kane to the lineup, a week after he picked Detroit to resume his career. He got to see glimpses of the best of the Wings on Thursday at Little Caesars Arena, and also of their worst, and in the end, a 6-5 loss in overtime.
It was such an odd game — mediocre at the start, not much happening at times, and then an explosion and an implosion in the last half of the second period. Klim Kostin, Michael Rasmussen (twice) and Lucas Raymond combined for four straight goals, but then the Sharks scored twice during a Detroit power play, and twice more at even strength to even it at 4-4. In all, seven goals were scored in 6:46. The Sharks scored their four in 4:29.
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Kane was open to take a good shot early in the third period, but his shot went off a post. Dylan Larkin brought a lively crowd on its feet when he finished a nice feed from Raymond to give the Wings a 5-4 lead with 6:40 to play, but Tomas Hertl scored his second of the game with 1:29 to play, after the Sharks had pulled their goalie for the extra attacker.
Mikael Granlund then scored 37 seconds into OT.
Ville Husso made 34 saves through regulation; the Wings had 31 shots on net in that span.
Giving up leads has been a trend over the past week: The Wings built a four-goal lead Tuesday at Buffalo before sweating out a 5-3 victory, and blew 3-0 and 4-2 leads at Montreal on Saturday before winning, 5-4, in overtime.
So-so start
The Wings started like a team taking its opponent for granted, and the Sharks took advantage by forechecking hard and generating offensive-zone time. Ville Husso made 14 saves the first 20 minutes, including a handful during a power play alone, as the Sharks did a good job maintaining possession. Mackenzie Blackwood made seven saves, two of them on Kane. He had a wrist shot early in the period, and a better chance late in the period when he was open in front of the net and Jeff Petry got him the puck.
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Furious second
After no goals for nearly half the game, there was an flurry of scoring starting at 9:05 of the second period. Kostin scored when he hustled to get to a loose puck off a draw. Rasmussen was credited for two goals 13 seconds apart when shots fired by Daniel Sprong and Ben Chiarot, respectively, deflected in off Rasmussen. Raymond joined in the fun at 13:40. The Sharks called a timeout — whatever was said, or not said, it worked — mostly because the Wings couldn't stop giving up easy offense. Hertl stuck it to the Wings with a shorthanded goal at 14:08, and then Fabian Zetterlund did the same at at 14:46 and Nico Sturm capped the rally with goals at 15:52 and 19:37.
Zadina returns
Filip Zadina, who left the Wings under mutually disappointing circumstances this summer, waved off the "Welcome back" display played on the LCA video screen during a timeout in the first period. In five seasons after the Wings drafted him at No. 6 in 2018, Zadina never showed the scoring touch he did in juniors. Thursday marked his first appearance at LCA since requesting to have his contract terminated after general manager Steve Yzerman was unable to accommodate Zadina's trade request. The termination saved the Wings $1.825 million in salary cap space and $4.56 million in actual salary over the next two seasons. Zadina signed for $1.1 million on a one-year deal with San Jose. He took five points and a minus-19 rating into Thursday's game.
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 blow 4-goal lead in 6-5 OT loss to San Jose Sharks
