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Scoring two goals on final day of season was a ‘huge relief’ for Riley Sheahan

The 2016-17 season couldn’t have been easy for Red Wings forward Riley Sheahan, but at least he managed to finish it off on a positive note.

Going into the final game of the season (last game at Joe Louis Arena), this edition of the Wings knew they had failed to make the playoffs for the first time in over 25 years and Sheahan still hadn’t found the back of the net.

But at the 7:09 mark of the opening period, Sheahan finally managed to get himself on the board. With less than three minutes remaining in the third frame, he did it again and that one proved to be the final goal at Joe Louis Arena.

“It was a huge relief,” said Sheahan, per MLive.com. “Unfortunately, it came a little late but I think the guys rallied pretty hard tonight and we ended off this final season at The Joe with some good effort.

“It’s kind of a blur. (Frans Nielsen) made a great play on the first one. I just found a little patience and got a good shot off. The second one was just kind of a good bounce there through the crease and I had a wide open net.”

In his previous two seasons, Sheahan had scored 13 goals (79 games) and 14 goals (81 games). His shooting percentage was 10.6 percent in 2013-14 and 10.9 percent in 2014-15. This season, he finished with a 1.8 percent shooting percentage.

It’s fairly obvious that his confidence took a significant hit this year, but don’t be surprised if his shooting percentage climbs closer to 10 next season.