The Detroit Red Wings skaters did not play well in front of goalie John Gibson, who in turn did not make the saves needed to give his teammates a chance.
Just as things looked better for the Wings, they faltered. The New York Islanders scored early, and then often, on the Wings on Thursday, Nov. 20, at Little Caesars Arena. The Islanders, who walloped the Wings in New York last month, won the race to three, and then kept going.
The 5-0 loss nipped a little two-game winning streak and left the Wings at 12-8-1, still atop the Atlantic Division by a point, at least until the second-place Boston Bruins drop the puck on Friday night in Los Angeles. The Wings, meanwhile, next take the ice at LCA on Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets (1 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network), who are tied for last in the Metropolitan Division.
Frustration shows
The later part of Thursday’s game was marked by scrums that left sticks, helmets and gloves strewn on the ice as the Wings showed their frustration in what was a tough outing.
The shutout was the Red Wings’ second this season – the other came Nov. 4 on the road against the Vegas Golden Knights – and their first at LCA since early December 2024.
Max Shabanov, who plays on the Islanders’ fourth line and is 5 feet 9, scored his second of the night by maneuvering around and through Detroit’s top defense pair of 6-3 Moritz Seider and 6-6 Simon Edvinsson. That was Shabanov’s fourth point of the night; he was assisted by Casey Cizikas, who picked up his third point.
John Gibson’s rough night in net
Gibson made his first start since the Buffalo game on Nov. 15. He hadn’t won a game since Oct. 28 at the St. Louis Blues. (Gibson started Nov. 13 when the Wings hosted the Anaheim Ducks, but was pulled after two periods after twice getting dinged by pucks to the head. Cam Talbot replaced Gibson and ended up with the win.)
Gibson looked good during an Islanders power play early in the first period, denying Kyle Palmieri’s shot from the doorstep. But when Wings defenders left Calum Ritchie free to rush up the left flank and snipe the puck, Gibson let that one in, short-side, at 6:46 of the first period.
The Islanders doubled the lead at 14:54 when Shabarov, who assisted on Ritchie’s goal, got the puck off a faceoff and flung a shot on net. During four-on-four play in the final minute before the first intermission – Emil Heineman was called for interference on Seider, who was penalized for embellishment – Jonathan Drouin nearly got it to three, but his shot clanked off the right goal post.
Instead, the Islanders got to three when Mathew Barzal fired a shot through traffic at 3:19 at went in off Marco Kasper’s shinpad, and then they got to four, when Bo Horvat one-timed Ryan Pulock’s pass into Detroit’s net at 5:04.
The Wings responded with a surge in the Islanders’ zone, but Ilya Sorokin didn’t give in the Islanders’ net.
The Wings did kill off a double-minor on Ben Chiarot for high-sticking near the midpoint of the second period, with Gibson making five saves during that stretch to give him eight saves total on four Islanders power plays.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings crater in 5-0 loss to New York Islanders at LCA
Reporting by Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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