It’s a little fact that you don’t think about in the midst of it. It’s such a small thing that it barely affects the team. But as of last season, the Detroit Red Wings hadn’t scored on a penalty shot in 10 years. The last time was Valtteri Filppula in December of 2007. But on October 16, 2017, Justin Abdelkader was going to change that.
In a game against their frequent postseason rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning, there was a flurry of game-halting activity, and it started with a coach’s challenge.
Abdelkader broke away against goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy. As he did, he was hooked from behind by Victor Hedman, got a weak shot off, and ended up colliding with Vasilevskiy. The late-man in, Darren Helm, pocketed the rebound in the net.
Tampa Bay challenged the play for goaltender interference, and the goal was revoked. After more discussion, Hedman was put in the penalty box for the hook. Subsequently, Abdelkader was awarded a penalty shot; he didn’t disappoint.
A couple fakes, a pump, and Abdelkader slid the puck in five-hole on Vasilevskiy. This cut the Lightning’s lead in half at the time and gave Detroit some new life. The Red Wings have had two more penalty shot attempts since then, (January 2018 – Athanasiou, March 2018 – Frk), but Abby’s goal remains Detroit’s last scored penalty shot.
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EDITORIAL: The Red Wings should definitely retire Sergei Fedorov’s number
It’s a debate that’s raged on for years now, and has been reignited with the announcement of Red Kelly’s jersey retirement. Should the Detroit Red Wings retire Sergei Fedorov’s jersey number? If you ask me, the answer is a resounding “yes”.
Let’s go over the reasons why.
Fedorov is in the top ten of multiple all-time Red Wings records
There’s no question that Fedorov was a skilled player. In the 1993-94 season with the Red Wings, he posted 56 goals and 64 assists for an astounding 120 points in 82 games. Those are some beyond all-star numbers. He was an integral part of Detroit’s offense for almost his entire time on the team. Let’s take a look at his career scoring with Detroit (this is most definitely a list, so bear with me):
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