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Detroit Red Wings: Tyler Bertuzzi’s turnover swung game’s momentum

By Joseph Wooley

DETROIT, MICHIGAN - OCTOBER 08: Tyler Bertuzzi #59 of the Detroit Red Wings dives and knocks the puck off the stick of Adam Henrique #14 of the Anaheim Ducks during the third period at Little Caesars Arena on October 08, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. Anaheim won the game 3-1. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
DETROIT, MICHIGAN - OCTOBER 08: Tyler Bertuzzi #59 of the Detroit Red Wings dives and knocks the puck off the stick of Adam Henrique #14 of the Anaheim Ducks during the third period at Little Caesars Arena on October 08, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. Anaheim won the game 3-1. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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The Detroit Red Wings were a period away from starting the season perfect at 3-0. Unfortunately, a costly turnover five minutes into the third period turned the tide of the hockey game.

Tuesday night’s matchup of two (surprisingly) undefeated teams–the Detroit Red Wings hosting the Anaheim Ducks–started as a defensive one. The game remained scoreless until Filip Hronek buried his first of the season with five seconds left on the clock in the second period. To that point, both goalies combined for 37 saves, and both defenses were preventing much action. At the end of the second, the Wings had about a 75% chance of holding onto the lead.

They continued to play well to begin the final frame, but 4:40 into the period, Tyler Bertuzzi found the puck in the neutral zone and brought it back into Ducks’ territory. Somewhat predictably, Ryan Getzlaf poked the puck away, passed to Hampus Lindholm for a quick shot, and Rickard Rakell swept up the rebound for a goal–all in the space of five seconds. Jimmy Howard did not stand a chance.

This turned out to be an enormous shift in momentum for the Red Wings. Three minutes later, Bertuzzi redeemed himself by creating a Dylan Larkin goal, which was overturned on an offside call. Within the next three minutes, the Ducks scored twice. The score went from 2-1, advantage Red Wings to 3-1 for the Ducks, effectively ending the game with ten minutes to go.

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The undeniable turning point in the game was the offside call nulling the Wings’ would-be go-ahead goal, but truly, the game soured after the Bertuzzi turnover. Even in the moment, it was an ill-advised move, bringing the puck back across the blue line.

Even if it was in the midst of a line change, there are better places to stall than forty-five feet directly in front of the goal. Instead, the turnover and the ensuing goal deflated a Red Wings team that had been performing admirably up to that point.

Of course, the loss cannot be pinned solely on Bertuzzi. He played well otherwise, with the aforementioned scoring opportunity with Larkin as well as a near-miss goal himself in the second period.

He even sprawled out in an attempt to stop the shot following his giveaway. Furthermore, with five points in the first two games, he has been one of the team’s top performers. At 24 years old, though, he still has a lot to learn in the league. The Red Wings have a lot of young talent, and growing pains with this team are to be expected. This season will be one of patience.

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No one expects very much of the Detroit Red Wings this year, so starting the season with two wins against two good teams was a happy surprise. Still, they need to be able to take advantage of bad teams, like the Ducks, before moving up in the rankings.

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