Alfredsson Returns, Gustavsson Stands Tall, Wings Beat Habs

The Red Wings took on the Montreal Canadiens at Joe Louis Arena on Friday evening. With a good showing from young Riley Sheahan and a strong return from veteran Daniel Alfredsson, the Wings put a solid hold on a declining Canadiens team.

Sheahan had family and friends in the stands during Friday night’s game, giving him a bit more motivation to score because the Sheahans are Habs faithful. He scored the second goal of the game, rocketing a wrist shot over the glove hand of Carey Price with 8:12 remaining in the second period.

“I had some family in the crowd and they’re Habs fans,” Sheahan said. “I have something to rub in their face now.”

Head coach Mike Babcock has been watching Sheahan both in practice and out on the ice during game time and has been pleased with what he saw.

“Sheahan, a pro shot there, heavy body, knows how to play,” head coach Mike Babcock said. “I played him right down the stretch in the last minute there. I just thought he had played well tonight and earned the opportunity.”

The Red Wings have won three of their last four games on home ice, dropping a game to the St. Louis Blues.

“The two big wins were huge. (We’re) going to get more confident in the locker room and then transpire it back out onto the ice,” Sheahan said.

The Detroit Red Wings will face the Florida Panthers at Joe Louis Arena on Sunday, January 26 at 5 p.m.

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Information from the Detroit Red Wings was used in this report.

For more information on the Detroit Red Wings and NHL hockey from analysts and journalists at Michigan State University – tune into Octopi Hockeytown podcasts and embrace the Spartan debate at www.impact89fm.org/sports.


Austin Goodman is a multimedia journalist for Impact Sports.


Scoring Summary:

1st Period:

DET – 12:27 PPG – H. Zetterberg (Slap) D. Alfredsson, N. Kronwall

2nd Period:

DET – 11:48 – R. Sheahan (Wrist) Unassisted

MTL – 12:56 PPG – B. Gallagher (Wrist) D. Desharnais

DET – 16:26 – N. Kronwall (Wrist) G. Nyquist, J. Ericsson

3rd Period:

DET – 18:41 – G. Nyquist (Wrist) H. Zetterberg, J. Abdelkader


Three Stars:

First: Jonas Gustavsson

(31SA, 1GA, .968 SV%, 26-26EV, 3-4PP, 1-1SH)

Second: Niklas Kronwall

(1G, 1A, +1, 2 shots, 23:09 TOI)

Third: Henrik Zetterberg

(1G, 1A, +2, 2 shots, 2 hits, 2PIM, 19:07 TOI)