Red Wings fall to lowly Coyotes in OT at Joe Louis Arena

Photos by Jen Hefner/MiHockey

By @SKubus –

DETROIT – Every time Detroit scored Tuesday night, the Arizona Coyotes responded and kept the Red Wings at bay.

The Red Wings fell to the Coyotes in overtime at Joe Louis Arena, 5-4. Livonia native David Moss and Mark Arcobello each scored a pair for the Coyotes, with Arcobello netting the overtime winner. Mike Smith made 33 saves for the win. Luke Glendening, Justin Abdelkader, Jakub Kindl and Gustav Nyquist scored for Detroit, while Jimmy Howard allowed five goals on 22 shots in the loss. The lone point gives Detroit 90 on the season.

“When I look at our last little bit of games here, I like how hard we played,” head coach Mike Babcock said. “We came out, we were organized, we went after them, and they scored, and we didn’t score as good. I thought Smith made some real good saves for them.”

Despite controlling the play during the opening frame, it was the Yotes who struck first, as Craig Cunningham sent a shot from the half-wall toward the Red Wings goal that Zetterberg accidentally put in his own net. John Moore was credited with the tally as the puck caught a piece of him before entering the net.

It was announced at the start of the second period that Erik Cole would not return due to an upper-body injury, a big blow as the veteran acquisition has been one of the more effective Red Wings forwards since the deadline. And with Niklas Kronwall scratched after warm-ups due to a lower-body injury, it was the last thing Detroit needed to see.

They later also lost Glendening for a short period of time, but he would make his return.

Exactly three minutes into the second stanza, Detroit knotted the game at one, as Glendening tipped home a Kyle Quincey point shot for his tenth of the season.

Then, Glendening drew a cross-checking penalty on Coyotes captain Shane Doan. While the penalty was delayed, Doan tried coaxing Glendening into fighting, which the former Wolverine wisely declined, and Doan took a roughing minor in the process.

That set the Red Wings up with a four-minute powerplay opportunity. However, it was Smith who steadied the ship to keep the Red Wings off the board. Shots on goal were 24-6 in favor of Detroit at that stage of the game, not even halfway through the contest.

Then, at 10:56, Mark Arcobello’s quick wrister made it 2-1 in favor of Arizona, a powerplay tally. But just 36 seconds later, Kindl–in the lineup for an ailing Kronwall–sprung Abdelkader for a breakaway, and the former Spartan continued his rampant March pace, potting his eighth goal in 11 games and 21st on the season. That knotted the game at two.

“Obviously, you don’t want to see our anchor Kronner going down, but I knew a little bit since the morning that he had a lower-body injury and I was still hoping he was going to play, but I found out in the warm-up just before the game that he couldn’t go, so I had to jump in,” Kindl said.

Catholic Central and University of Michigan alum David Moss (Livonia) potted just his second of the season with 4:52 remaining in the period to pull the Coyotes ahead by one after two periods.

Kindl added a goal of his own just 1:57 into the final frame to tie the game up at three, a shot from the right point that beat a screened Smith.

With Marek Zidlicky already in the box for four minutes due to high sticking, Darren Helm took a slashing minor, retaliating against Smith in the Coyotes crease to give Arizona a full, two-minute 5-on-3 opportunity. But Detroit killed it off and received a roaring ovation from the Red Wings faithful for the effort.

“I thought our penalty kill was outstanding, like it was unreal,” Babcock said.

“We gave up two penalty kill goals and yet I thought our penalty kill was outstanding.”

With Abdelkader in the box for interference with just over 10 minutes to play, Moss scored his second of the game when Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s shot hit his leg in front and bounced past Howard for the 4-3 lead. But with 6:21 to play, Nyquist potted his 23rd of the season on a powerplay to tie the game up at four aside.

“I can’t remember the last time [I scored] to be honest with you, a great feeling obviously, but it would’ve been nicer to get two points,” Nyquist said.

It took extra time to settle this one, and Arcobello potted his second of the game 3:08 into the extra frame to seal the victory for the lowly Yotes.

Detroit will have a day off Wednesday before hosting the San Jose Sharks on Thursday.

“We’ve got three in the next four, get regrouped and get back at her,” Babcock said.