Gibson makes 33 saves for Detroit, which is handed first shutout loss under McLellan
LAS VEGAS — Although their five-game road trip didn’t end the way that they would have liked, a 1-0 shutout loss to the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday night, the Detroit Red Wings are heading home feeling encouraged about their time out West after pocketing six of a possible 10 points over the last eight days.
“We showed we can play on the road and in this building especially,” Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin said. “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 unbelievable, which is a positive sign. The PK was good again, but it’s a good learning lesson. We got to execute better and when we get our chances, we got to bury down.”
Netminder John Gibson made a season-high 33 saves for Detroit (9-5-0; 18 points), which was also blanked for the first time this season. At the other end of the ice, goaltender Akira Schmid stopped all 24 shots he faced for Vegas (7-2-3; 17 points) to record his second career NHL shutout.
“I thought it was a close game,” Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan said. “There were chances both ways, but the goaltenders stood in there fairly well. I thought we gave ourselves a chance to win. It would have been nice to have been a little more effective on, at least, the one full power play that we had. That may have been our opportunity, but just not enough sustained offensive time. A team like that can do that to you.”
Nearly 10 minutes into the game, at 9:37, Detroit earned the night’s first power play when Vegas’ Zach White was called for tripping Jonatan Berggren. Although a slashing call on Lucas Raymond just 45 seconds later wiped out the remainder of the Red Wings’ time on the man advantage, nothing came from the ensuing 4-on-4 situation and neither club found the back of the net before the first period concluded.
While the Golden Knights were making a line change, Ivan Barbashev pounced on the rebound of Brandon Saad’s slap shot from the slot that Gibson initially stopped and the Russian forward poked it home for what proved to be the night’s lone goal at 13:45 of the second period. Vegas also had a 23-14 shot advantage through 40 minutes.
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“We understood that net play was going to be real important,” McLellan said. “You look at the one goal they got – they got in behind us. We had enough bodies around it, but we didn’t play it very well.”
Schmid kept Vegas’ one-goal lead intact with a pair of saves on Alex DeBrincat early in the third period, using his body for the first stop that led to the puck bouncing off some traffic in front of him before swatting the 27-year-old forward’s rebound try out of the air with his glove when it came right back to him.
Detroit went back on the power play just past the halfway mark of the final frame but unfortunately came up empty again.
“We came prepared but couldn’t really figure out our game plan,” Moritz Seider said about his club’s power play on Tuesday. “It’s hard against a really good PK.”
And although they successfully challenged Jeremy Lauzon’s goal for offside with 4:54 remaining, the Red Wings couldn’t find the equalizer before the end of regulation.
“I thought we played well,” Gibson said. “You got to credit them. They make it hard to score, block a lot of shots and play well defensively. That was a hard-fought game.”
NEXT UP: Detroit will begin a four-game homestand by hosting the New York Rangers for an Original-Six matchup at Little Caesars Arena on Friday night. Additionally, tickets are still available for this weekend’s Hockeytown Centennial FanFest at Motor City Casino Hotel, which runs from Nov. 6-9, as well as 100 Years of Hockeytown: A Night at the Fox Theatre, set for Nov. 8.
McLellan on the club’s road trip as a whole
“First, we got to get home and get some rest. That’s a big thing. We’ll do that tomorrow. We’ll practice on Thursday and get ready to play again, but there’s some things we improved on. There’s still some things that need work.”
Larkin on getting back to home ice and looking ahead to this weekend’s festivities
“Very exciting. It’s always a tough challenge to come back home after a long trip out West. We’re going to have to be ready, and it’s going to be exciting. We’ve built some momentum and we have great crowds. We want to continue where we left off at home and that’s the exciting part.”
Gibson on what they can take from their play out West
“Build off the things we did well and learn from the things that we didn’t. Obviously, would have been nice to get one more win but I thought we played well. Like I said, you got to give them credit. They played a heck of a game there defensively — clogging up the middle and blocking shots.”
Seider on Tuesday’s game
“We won the road trip, but I think we had a lot more on the line. Tonight was a very meaningful game and unfortunately, we just couldn’t get it done. It’s a very good team that plays very good defense. I think, in the end, we just didn’t work hard enough for our chances.”