Red Wings open new arena with 4-2 win over Wild
DETROIT -- Henrik Zetterberg whipped a wrist shot through the pads of Devan Dubynk midway through the third period, snapping a 2-2 tie and rallying the Detroit Red Wings to a 4-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night in the opening game at Little Caesars Arena.
The Detroit captain gathered up a loose puck between the hash marks and unleashed a low shot before Dubnyk had time to get set.
The Wings carried a 2-0 lead into the third period but squandered it quickly.
Joel Eriksson Ek converted Chris Stewart's feed in the slot at the two-minute mark, and just 48 seconds later Stewart skated out from behind the Detroit net and deposited the puck past sprawling Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard.
In the second period, Anthony Mantha and Dylan Larkin scored power-play goals on successive shots 23 seconds apart as Detroit enjoyed a five-on-three advantage.
Martin Frk, who made the Red Wings on the basis of his powerful one-timer, unleashed a drive that Dubynk couldn't corral, and Mantha slammed the rebound into the net at 14:40. The assist was Frk's first NHL point.
Still with the man advantage on their ensuing rush down the ice, Larkin redirected Mike Green's shot out of midair and past Dubnyk at 15:03.
Frk completed the scoring at 10:39 of the third period, driving a low shot through Dubnyk's legs for his first NHL goal.
Howard made 37 saves in his 200th NHL victory. Dubnyk stopped 27 shots.
The Wild had two first-period goals disallowed when first Marcus Foligno and later Mikael Granlund were called for goaltender interference.
NOTES: Before Thursday, the Red Wings were winless when opening a new home arena. They lost 3-2 to the St. Louis Blues when Joe Louis Arena opened on Dec. 27, 1979, fell 2-1 to the Ottawa Senators when Olympia Stadium opened Nov. 22, 1927, and were beaten 2-0 by the Boston Bruins on Nov. 18, 1926, when they opened their first NHL season playing at Border Cities Arena in Windsor, Ontario. ... Red Wings D Mike Green had three assists, giving him 300 for his career. ... Detroit scratches were D Niklas Kronwall (groin) and RW Luke Witkowski. ... RW Martin Frk and LW David Booth played their first games as Red Wings ... LW Zach Parise (back) and D Gustav Olofsson were scratched by the Wild. ... LW Daniel Winnik, D Kyle Quincey, C Tyler Ennis and LW Marcus Foligno made their debuts for the Wild. ... Foligno's dad, Mike, played for the Red Wings in their first game at Joe Louis Arena. ... Among those in attendance was NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.