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California Sweeping: Red Wings End Perfect Road Trip

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3 months ago

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Michael Rasmussen, Detroit Red Wings

ANAHEIM —How sweep it is!

Michael Rasmussen’s goal off a deflection was the difference as the Red Wings finished a three-game road trip with a 3-2 victory on Sunday night.

The sweep ended a pair of droughts. It was the first for the Red Wings in California since the 2007-08 season, the last year the team won the Stanley Cup. It also was the first winning trip to California since 2015-16.

Alex Lyon has made five consecutive starts in net and he has won four of them. He stopped 29 of 31 shots against the Ducks.

“Winning on the road in any capacity is extremely tough,” Lyon said. “But again, you know, we can’t just kind of rest on it too much. We just need to turn the page and and get ready. We have a very difficult stretch coming up here against a lot of quality opponents ,so we just have to build on it.”

A key part of the victory was the Red Wings’ penalty-killing unit, which extended its streak to 20 in a row over the last nine games, including a 5-on-3 in the second period.

“Detail organized as much as we’ve had some practice time and some other areas,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “We also got some practice time with our special teams of late and it’s been huge for us.”

Rasmussen deflected a shot by Moritz Seider past Ducks goalie Lukas Dostal with 1:07 remaining. The goal withstood a review as Rasmussen and the Wings waited.

“I thought it hit my stick a little, so I wasn’t too nervous,” Rasmussen said, “but I’m always nervous when they go check it out for sure.”

Red Wings Overcome Slow Start

Anaheim got on the board almost immediately, when Trevor Zegras tipped a shot past Lyon just 20 seconds into the game.

“Obviously it’s not a recipe for success” Lalonde said 0f the early goal. “You know, obviously\ analytically, if they have the first goal you don’t usually win, so credit the guys. Obviously, you got some spark for the power play. Not only did a score, but got some looks, and it gave us a little bit of momentum.”

The Wings tied it on a power-play goal by Dylan Larkin later in the first. He left the game late in the period after he was cross-checked in the back. He returned to the ice at the beginning of the second.

Joe Veleno gave the Wings the lead with a wraparound goal in the second period.

Zegras tied it with his second goal of the night early in the third period.

The Red Wings  were scheduled to practice in California today before flying home. They will play host to Edmonton on Thursday;

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