John Gibson’s FIRST shutout as a Red Wing is the reason Detroit beats Vancouver

John Gibson’s FIRST shutout as a Red Wing is the reason Detroit beats Vancouver

Today on Lockdown Red Wings, John Gibson delivers when they needed him most with a 39 save shutout, his first as a Red Wing. And Detroit is back on top the Atlantic Division. You’re Locked on Red Wings, your daily podcast on the Detroit Red Wings, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. Welcome back to the Lockdown Red Wings podcast. Almost made it, Scotty. We are your hosts, Brian Fiser and Scotty Bentley. And the Red Wings are winners four to nothing in Vancouver off of an incredible performance from John Gibson. We’ll obviously break down that entire game for you on this one, but before we can get to that, I got to let you guys know that today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. If you want to be in the middle of the action this season, visit fanuel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. Scotty, there this was a this was a really fun game. Like a really fun game. Even Even though it was a game where the Red Wings honestly probably got outplayed, it was fun because of the good feelings for all the players that scored. And of course, I mean, I’ll throw it to you. I’ll give it I’ll just gift you this storyline. John Gibson shutout, man. Yeah, man. And I don’t know if they did get outplayed. They got outshot certainly. Uh and that’s, you know, something that’s probably a better phrasing. Yeah. Well, I mean, we’ll talk about it, but there was a lot of really good performances. And I I I don’t think it’s quite as black and white as like you get outsh shot, you deserve to win, right? like that. I think this was kind of the poster child for a game that, you know, the Red Wings got outshot heavily at that. Um, but I I also think we’re kind of the better team throughout in every facet of the game. So, like we’ll talk about that, but obviously th this entire performance and this entire evening starts and ends with the performance by John Gibson. Um, ju just absolutely awesome. This is the kind of game that you stay up until 1:00 in the morning watching and you don’t feel it. Like you you’re just like that was everything about it was awesome. Um uh it’s obviously you feel really good about that with the team right from that perspective. you’re hoping that he can maybe, you know, take that momentum forward and rack a few of those types of performances together and and, you know, become what they uh what the Red Wings wanted him to become when they traded for him. But, you know, from a human being level, too, like that’s just got to feel so good for him. First shut out as a Detroit Redwing. Um, it’s just got to feel awesome. Kind of a a monkey off the back situation for him, I’m sure. I you know I this is a guy that at one point was one of the premier young goalenders in the entire NHL and I’m sure that he wants to get back to that and especially you know how quickly we forget all the you know drama with the Ducks over the years and are they going to trade him are they not and oh he wants to play for a contender and then they don’t move him and then whatever whatever like I I’m sure that now that he is he is on a team that has those aspirations ations and those high hopes, you know, that he hasn’t been a part of in a while. Um, even though the Ducks have obviously gotten off to a fantastic start this year as well. Um, I’m sure it’s just nice to see. And this wasn’t like, oh, you know, he has 39 saves or whatever and they were all, you know, super easy or right at him or whatever. There was some some flash in the leather, some flash in the pads. There was that kick save that he had like that. He was he was active, man. He was everywhere and was tracking the puck really really well. A lot of really big uh you know find the puck and jump on top of it plays. Um was uh the glove was working and the puck wasn’t bouncing out of it. That’s you know exciting. There was a lot to like. There was a lot to like. Well and this was no 19 game 19 shot shutout right where it’s like yeah they get the shut out but the team dominated so heavily that they weren’t tasked with much. This was a game and I actually disagree with you a little bit. do think that the the Vancouver Conucks were the better team in a lot of different facets. I think the Red Wings had prettier scoring plays and like really took advantage of those scoring plays without a shadow of a doubt, but I mean they needed John Gibson to bail them out in this hockey game. I I look to specifically the first power play the Vancouver Conucks had in the second period where it was one to nothing Detroit at the time. JVR obviously stayed hot and the had the Red Wings the lead and De Bruss comes in. He fires the puck. I’m not sure if he John Gibson got the piece of it or not, but it ends up going off the crossbar. Canucks regain possession. Jake De Brusk is standing back door with a slam home opportunity and Gibson’s able to get his pad across to just deny and absolutely rob De Brusk. and he made several other opport uh big saves throughout the game. He made a huge one on um Rat Ratu as well as on Heronic where he made the save with his face mask. But like that save right there, those weren’t one, those were saves we were not getting. The Red Wings were not getting earlier in the season when they needed that that save from John Gibson. So, he made them in this game. And two, like you said, like the human element of it. Like we knew this was a goalie that had the talent within him and he played a better game this last time out against the Seattle Kraken. Good enough to warrant him getting this backto back start. And then I mean home run. His previous best game was what the second game of the season, the one against Tampa Bay. It was really early on in the season and it might have been like the fourth cuz I think they did Toronto Toronto. I can’t remember the order in which the games happened. Doesn’t matter. The second game of the season cuz he got pulled in opening night in town. It was Oh yeah. Yeah. So it would have been like I think the fourth. It was the game against Tampa Bay. This is easily clears that Scotty. His goal saved above expected in this hockey game. 4.46. And so like crazy. And I’m thinking about it too watching this game. I I even me tweeted it out. It was one nothing at the time after that big save and the big penalty kill by Detroit. He’s like, “The Red Wings have got to reward John Gibson here because he is playing the best game he has played with the Red Wings thus far.” And obviously by the end of it, it was the best game he’s played with the Detroit Red Wings. And they did reward him. And I’m just thinking to myself, I’m like, man, if this can serve as a confidence booster for John Gibson where he’s like, “Yeah, I got my swagger back. Like, I know I can do it. I’ve done it before. Here I am. I’m back now.” You know, they have a backto-back on Wednesday, Thursday. is going to get one of those two starts. Getting John Gibson to be, you know, you’re not expecting 39 safe shut out every time, but if he can, right, that’s my that’s my bar now. Yeah. If he can be a 900 safe percentage goalie, the Red Wings are going to continue to play a divisional seed pace because their offense is finally clicking as well. That it’s finally m matching the expected number that it’s been flashing all season long. So, if you get hot goalending on top of the offense that’s clicking now, the Red Wings are going to be a really good hockey team. So, John Gibson obviously number one story line. I don’t even know if there’s a need for a second story. I mean, there’s other storylines in this game, but should we just save them for notable performers? We can. Yeah. I mean, I honestly I think if there was another one, it would be the continued, you know, depth scoring. And I think that that’s probably uh easier conversation to have with uh you know talking notable performers because we can kind of just jump player to player. But right uh yeah I mean Gibson is is bar none the uh the biggest storyline in this hockey game and he deserves it. I I think you go right back to him. I don’t even think you screw around with he’s hot, right? Like oh it’s a backtoback. Do we save him for an extra day and give him I would just immediately go back to the well and Tablet Talbot can uh play what is that Thursday and uh you can get Gibson back out there on Wednesday. Yeah. Yeah. It all depends on how you want to play it too, right? So you’re playing Calgary next which is one of the worst hockey teams in the league. Um do you like the Vancouver Canucks? So maybe you think okay give Tal with that game because you want your hot goalie to go against Edmonton who’s a team that’s heating up big time right now. But on the other hand, do you want to give your goalie an extra day off to possibly cool down? I’m not the coach that has to make those decisions. We’ll leave that to Todd Ml Mlullen. Um Scotty, you mentioned the depth scoring. We will obviously break that down. That is the other m story line from this game. But for a brief storyline to fill about a minute here before we head to break, how about this? The Detroit Red Wings, obviously on top of the Gibson shutout, have now gotten uh five of a possible six points to start the road trip and are riding a five point fivegame point streak. And now with Toronto shutting out the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday, sit at top the Atlantic Division all alone by a single point. So let’s not get ahead of ourselves, but they jumped from fourth and out of a playoff spot to first in the Atlantic Division with this win. So, it’s it good good vibes all the way around right now. Yeah, it’s the that’s a combination of two things to me. That’s one the division being incredibly close, which we’ve covered at Nauseium all year, and two, it’s the Detroit Red Wings being one of the streakiest teams in hockey, which we’ve also covered at Nauseium this year. they go four points and and play terrible teams and can’t win and then they go up and it doesn’t matter who’s in front of them for five games in a row, they’re going to walk out of there with something. And that’s just kind of been I mean, you painted it really well, what was that, two weeks ago, but or maybe last week before this streak started. Uh, and they just have they are the epitome of hot and cold. they they go and and go on good great runs and then they dip and fall back a little bit etc. But you look at a game like this if you can get depth scoring and even just depth opportunities to score and halfway decent goalending going forward. I I think that’s going to put a lot of faith into people and into the fan base about what this team could be going forward and maybe not be as streaky and just be a good hockey team all the time. That would be nice. I think I would appreciate that. Me, too. All right, let’s head to a quick break. Scotty, when we return, we will uh move into notable performers outside of John Gibson. So, stay tuned to that in segment two of Lockdown Red Wings. NFL Sundays move fast. one big play and suddenly everything feels different. 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Now take it up a level and go ad free. Join the Everydayer Club today and get Lockdown Red Wings with no interruptions, memberon Discord access, and more. All for just $5 a month or $50 a year. Go to lockdownpodcast.com everyday club or check the link in the show to learn more. Obviously Scotty with the big win over the Vancouver Conucks. There’s a lot of positives to talk about individual players, lines, pairs. Who do you want to begin with? I want to begin with. Wow. You know what? John Gibson his best game as a Detroit Redwing. I think there’s a very very easy argument to be honest with you that this was also ASP’s best game as a Detroit Redwing. I thought he was phenomenal. And I I think that this was not the first game we ever saw any flashes of like what he could be, but this was the first 60 minute stretch, right? This was the first full game start to finish where you go, okay, like you you can like we we see it like there there is this was not just like one or two good shifts. This was a a great performance from him and obviously there is still stuff in the defensive zone that you’d like him to work on, right? We’ve talked about that throughout the year, but the conversation surrounding him has always been yes, if you can get him to be a really solid and valuable defender, then that’s a huge win. But his value on a night-to-ight basis is going to come via offense. And it came in bunches in this game, man. I mean, he was a a puck pusher in this game. like just continuing to apply pressure, get the puck deep very often. Um left the blue line a couple of times once I mean he did it and it you know helped directly lead to a goal. Um but everything was calculated and calculated very well and uh I I really do think that this was his best NHL game yet to date. Yeah, he had two primary assists 37 seconds apart. Obviously, the first one uh was the Andrew Cop goal. That was I mean, you can’t ask for a textbook. Can’t ask for a more beautiful tic-tac-toe play. The turnover at the blue line as Kane picks it up. Patience. The patience by Patrick Kane, which is obviously very well known for to wait for Alex to Brinket to come into the zone to feed ASP to then feed Andrew Cop down low for just the easy knock at home goals. Two games in a row. Andrew Cop is a five-on five goal with a goalie in net. By the way, there is you are not going to find too many easier NHL goals with a goalie in net uh than that one. That that was pretty much you you literally cannot make that any easier than it was. So, right. And I mean that was a great moment for Axel Sanding Pelica uh to have the wherewithal to find Andrew Cop back door there. And then literally 37 seconds later, as I’ve already noticed or noted, Elmer Soderblam just the incredible puck possession. Oh my goodness, that was so sick. I almost cried. The incredible puck protection behind the net. And he did that a couple times. We’ll talk about Sutter Blom in a second here, I’m sure. Uh to just maintain the puck until he’s able to find Marco Casper, who finds ASP. And Danielson with his second career goal to redirect at home. Marco Casper gets his first assist of the season, which I’m sure for him was a huge sigh of relief with the secondary there. He almost had a primary too, that uh that pass to Danielson where he just couldn’t lift the puck. Yeah. And then like literally 10 seconds later where Casper shot shoots the puck off the pads and almost goes to Danielson back door. But and I was telling you for a couple days here, not to get off topic, but Casper’s been looking better. He just the points are going to come. I have full full faith that for Marco Casper production will come because he’s been playing the game the right way. So has Axel Sanding Pelico lately and he’s I mentioned on yesterday’s episode has begun to look more comfortable at the NHL level kind of playing with the pace a lot better especially offensively. You see it with the the way he processes the way he moves his feet. Uh and you saw it in this game but even in this game defensively I thought he was I thought he was fine. I don’t think he was stand out or anything but there was a lot of times where he kept his feet moving. He rubbed plays out along the boards. He wasn’t panicking. He wasn’t over uh overcommitting along the boards. I thought he had a good game defensively, too, for what that’s worth. And that’s the thing, like I I will take fine if it means two points a night, man. Like, you know what I mean? I mean, that’s that that’s the that that’s what you’re hoping for for his, you know, career trajectory. Anything you get positively on the defensive end from him I is is going to be icing on the cake. like you if he’s producing points offensively and is just serviceable as uh you know in the defensive end he’s going to be really really effing good if if you know he can just do those things. So like we will gladly take fine and you know it goes beyond him as well the depth in general in this game you already kind of hinted at him or hinted at it earlier but the depth scoring in this game was absolutely phenomenal. Uh James Van Reams dyke stays hot in a first period where the Red Wings honestly the Red Wings were the most outplayed in my opinion in the first period. They were outplayed obviously a lot in the third period but that has to do with just how the game had unfolded previously to that Red Wings were protecting a three nothing lead. Vancouver was pushing. So the analytics are going to be the most skewed in the third. But at 000 at five on five the first period it was like the the passes weren’t connecting. The puck management was not good. They were chasing Vancouver had the puck a lot and in that period J van Remdsteike stayed hot. Confer with a very nice puck battle again down low and again the importance of winning those puck battles comes and keeps shining through on maintaining possession down low behind the goal line. James Van Remdsteikeke the hand eye coordination to kick that puck up back up back up to his stick on his own rebound to just tuck it behind Lincoln and stick skate as he was trying to make the save was just phenomenal. That’s six goals in the last seven games for him. Uh was it four in the last four which is the longest four goal streak. Yeah, he’s been Did you see my tweet? Yeah, I saw it. I was thinking it, but I was like, I’m gonna I’m not going to I’m not going to engage in this. You liked it. Yeah, you’re funny. But it goes beyond him, too. Elmer Soderblum, who what we were just mentioning, obviously didn’t score in this game. I thought Elmer was one of the best players on the ice. I I don’t know if Barren I don’t know when Barren’s going to find himself back in the lineup because Sodblum’s playing so well. I mean, he’ll get opportunities like Sodblum’s going to have a bad game or the go on a losing streak and that’s when he’ll get in. But yeah, he’ll get opportunities. The thing is Elmer it it it doesn’t matter who he’s out there with. And I think that that’s, you know, the the most encouraging maybe is the word I’m looking for. Um part of his performance lately. you know, he was out there with uh with Casper and Danielson and ASP when they scored that uh that second goal and and well, the third goal of the game, but the second and whatever it was, 40 seconds. Um yeah, like he it just it doesn’t seem to matter who he’s out there with. His style um just really kind of helps whoever he is out there with when he’s playing as well as he has been lately. And I mean Ras Muen too. You I I could go down the list. The entire bottom six played fantastic in this game. Danielson was great. So So get this. Just to kind of emphasize how good those bottom six forwards were at five on five. The Canucks had 66% of the expected goal share, right? 66%. That’s a pretty large chunk. Again, a lot of that came via third period push. But despite that, the fourth line in this game had an expected goal share of 69% just shy of 69% in this game. So granted, eight minutes of that time on the ice, but when they were out there, they were dominating their minutes. They were very good in this hockey game. And that’s what two a rookie, a sophomore, two sophomores. Great. You love to see that. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And that’s uh you know, a a drum that we have been banging for a while now, obviously. And uh between all the the young kids performance plus JVR being the greatest goal scorer to ever live. I mean that’s a combination that’s going to you know get you a win a lot of nights. And I I just going back to the JVR thing like that’s this is we’re seeing the bill of goods we were promised with JVR when they signed him. Like he’s not f that fast anymore but he’s going to play a hard heavy game and he’s going to go to the dirty areas and he is going to eat there. And the Red Wings have so badly needed a guy who could just feast in the net front for so long and he’s just so good at it. Well, and can Yeah. can just like we’ll will just go there like it’s just like you know you know what I mean like when he’s on the ice he doesn’t have the skating to go anywhere else. You you know where JVR is going to be posted up you know and uh yeah we’ll we’ll take it. Okay let’s head to another quick break. When we return we’ll wrap up this conversation on the four nothing win over the Vancouver Canucks. Stay tuned to Lockdown Red Wings. The World Cup is coming back to North America for the first time since 1994. 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Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, download the app, make an account, and use code locked on NHL for 20% off. Swipe, tap, ticket, go. All right, Scotty. Segment three. I think the only other thing from this game that really stood out to me, I guess not really stood out, but is a note is that Larkin scored the empty net goal that gives him eight game eight goals in the last eight games on pace for over 40 goals this season. And his empty net goal to make it four nothing made it so that each and every line scored a goal in this game. Cool. Actually, it it is really cool because again, how that’s something we’ve been begging for, right? The first line and the second line have been contributing, but the third and the fourth line for the first 25 to 30% of the season were non-existent. And now they’ve kind of figured it out. Things are starting to roll. And in this one, the goalending was able to elevate you when your puck possession could not. Yeah. And that’s I mean, great vibes for that reason, right? Not only do you get the win, but two of the biggest question marks surrounding this team ended up being areas of strength in in this win, right? It wasn’t a uh seven to3 win where the top line scored five goals and you know the the goalending for the Red Wings struggled, but you just outscored your problems or whatever. like this was uh a game in which goalending and depth scoring reigned, you know, supreme and in both of those areas have been uh major concerns up to this point. So absolute beauty. And to note, just circling back on this real quick since we got a couple minutes here, Axel Sandine Pelica, according to hockey stats, had the second best night amongst any skater in the NHL. um for the night. Joel Eriken E leads the NHL on nightly skater ratings at 4.12. Axel San Pelica 3.7 the second best night out of any player in the NHL. Now granted, it was a limited game limited games uh in this one. I think there was only four or five games across the league. Five games, but still great to see he was the best player in the Red Wings in this game according to hockey stack card. And obviously two assists are going to help. I think it was a plus three in this hockey game. That’ll help. It sure will. Yeah. No, that’s uh that’s awesome. Um Sherro continues to look solid. Cider I I thought uh I mean Edmonson had a really nice play, a really nice shift. Uh was that the second period this game too that really stood out to me. But uh Cider, shout out Pashant Thy who gets a shout out on uh on the uh the broadcast in this hockey game. Um, but you know, they were talking about a cider statistic and it was goal differential when he’s on the ice verse not and and Pashant had pointed out that I think it’s at five on five he uh Cider has like the biggest goal differential between with his team when he’s on the ice versus off the ice. And it’s significantly worse when Cider is not on the ice. Uh he had a couple of really nice pokes in this game and I think when you look at the high danger goalc scoring opportunities um you know we’re talking about how the defense maybe wasn’t great in this hockey game. I think it could have been even worse because uh Cider came to the rescue a few times even. Yeah. And that’s just because he doesn’t panic. Just the patience and the wherewithal. I mean he is he’s the man. Well, he is one of, if not the best defenseman in the NHL at this current moment. He’s out there. Yeah. Nor’s consideration or maybe if you go read Pashant’s article, heart consideration. We’ll see. Scotty, final thoughts. Really good win, man. Really good win. We ball. We ball. Let’s go to bed. We’ll be back with a new episode tomorrow previewing the game against the Calgary Flames. So stay tuned for that. Same time, same place. Your team Every day.

John Gibson has had struggles this season, so i’m sure this 39 save shutout for his 1st with Detroit felt very cathartic. And Detroit surely appreciated it, as the offense responded in kind. James van Riemsdyk, Nate Danielson, Andrew Copp and Dylan Larkin all found twine. #LGRW

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