After a first period that couldn’t have gone much worse, the Red Wings rebounded with a stronger second period, but still trail Nashville 2-1 in Game 1 of their Western Conference quarterfinal series at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
The Red Wings will open the third period with a power play after Nashville’s Patric Hornqvist went to the box for a high stick in the waning seconds of the period.
Henrik Zetterberg tied the game 1-1 early in the period for the Red Wings, but Nashville again got a break as Gabriel Bourque’s tip from far out beat Jimmy Howard.
Special teams have been the name of this game as the referees have seen fit to blow their whistles early and often. The Red Wings are 1-for-5 with the man advantage while Nashville is 0-of-6.
After being outshot 13-5 in the first period, the Red Wings have come back to lead the shot battle 21-19 after 40 minutes and have drawn closer in the faceoff department, as well.
The Red Wings need their top line of Todd Bertuzzi, Pavel Datsytuk and Valtteri Filppula to step it up if they want to win this game. The trio has been mostly absent so far, combing for just four shots.
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