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Goin’ to the ‘Ship
- Updated: September 20, 2016
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – A true sign of character is responding to adversity when your back is against the wall.
The Red Wings prospects did that Monday night, bouncing back after a deflating 5-0 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, to defeat the St. Louis Blues, 2-1, and advance to the 2016 NHL Prospect Tournament championship game.
Just 33 seconds into the game, the Wings put themselves in a bind after forward and 2016 first-round draft pick Evgeny Svechnikov was called for tripping, giving St. Louis an early power play.
For the third consecutive game, Red Wings goalie Jake Paterson was tested early with a couple quick shots during the penalty kill. But unlike the first two games of the tournament, the Wings’ 2012 third-round draft pick held strong at the onset, keeping the puck out of the net in the early going.
With only a few seconds left on the penalty kill, Detroit forced a turnover at center ice and went on a 2-on-1 break, led by defensemen Dan Renouf and Filip Hronek.
Renouf, a free-agent signee, floated a pass to Hronek, Detroit’s 2016 second-round pick, who swatted the puck out of the air and beat Blues goalie Evan Fitzpatrick for a huge shorthanded goal that gave the Wings a 1-0 lead 2:22 into the game.
“That was a big goal for us,” said coach Todd Nelson after the game. “Not very often do you see on the penalty kill a 2-on-1 with two of our defensemen leading the rush. But it was a good play. Reno tried to sauce it over to Hronek and he just whacked it out of the air.”
Paterson said the early goal was a huge confidence boost for the Wings prospects, especially after being shut out in their previous game.
“It was big,” Paterson said. “Just in general, we wanted to bounce back, so whenever you can get on the board early, it definitely makes it a little easier, and the way that we played after the first goal was really solid. We shut them down.”
The Red Wings controlled the pace after their goal, keeping pressure on the Blues’ back line and …
