The Detroit Red Wings officially welcomed themselves to the NHL’s new-look Eastern Conference on Wednesday night.
The Red Wings opened the season on home ice with a 2-1 win over the visiting Buffalo Sabres.
Let’s discuss.
- The Red Wings didn’t need much in the way of scoring Wednesday. And their attack was relatively quick. The Wings got goals from Mikael Samuelsson and Pavel Datsyuk scored 36 seconds apart in the first period. Two goals, 36 seconds apart. Turns out hat’s all they needed.
- The Red Wings made their debut - a successful one - in the new Atlantic Division, after making the move in realignment from the Western Conference.
- Ryan Miller was the busier of the two goalies tonight. He was also quite good between the pipes, making 32 saves in a losing cause. He also denied Cory Emmerton on a short-handed penalty shot attempt in the second period.
- Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall, 32, played a game-high 25:41 and added an assist in the win.