Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Detroit Red Wings right wing Daniel Sprong (17) controls the puck against the Calgary Flames during the second period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Feb 17, 2024Sergei Belski/Reuters
James Reimer has made the most of his limited workload with the Detroit Red Wings this season.
The veteran 35-year-old goalie stopped 38 shots to lead the Red Wings past the Calgary Flames 5-0 on Saturday afternoon.
“It’s nice when you contribute to the team,” said Reimer, who recorded the 30th shutout of his 14-year NHL career and second with Detroit this season. “That’s all you want to do. You want to be part of the team and you want to help get to our goal. You just try to be ready whenever your number’s called.
“Today, for the most part, everything was going well for me and I was getting bounces. I felt I prepared properly and my mind was in a good place and the good lord was kind to me.”
Reimer was also in net when these two teams last met in Detroit on Oct. 22. He stopped 29 shots in a 6-2 Red Wings victory.
“Little bit of his experience, I think he understands the goaltending situation can change quickly and it has all year for us,” said Detroit coach Derek Lalonde of Reimer, who has compiled a 5-6-2 record this season. “He was ready and he was a huge spark.”
Patrick Kane and Lucas Raymond each had a goal and an assist for the Red Wings (28-20-6), who snapped a two-game losing streak. David Perron, J.T. Compher and Dylan Larkin also scored.
Jacob Markstrom started in goal for the Flames (25-25-5). But he was pulled at 6:41 of the second period after allowing four goals on 12 shots.
“It was short,” said Markstrom of his disappointing performance. “I saw all four pucks go in. It’s frustrating. You want to be there for the guys and the fans that paid money to come watch us play.”
Dan Vladar then made eight saves in relief for the Flames, who’ve lost three straight games and six of their last seven at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
“That’s tough,” said Calgary captain Mikael Backlund of his team’s recent woes on home ice. “That’s not acceptable. We want to play well in front of our fans. We want to win games and if we want to be serious about playoffs we’ve got to win games at home.”
The Flames carried the majority of the early play and had a great chance to open the scoring thanks to the efforts of the line of Jonathan Huberdeau, Yegor Sharangovich and Andrei Kuzmenko.
At 12:34 of the opening period, Reimer made a great glove save on Kuzmenko’s slapshot. It came shortly after he turned aside a wrist shot by Huberdeau.
Kane opened the scoring at 14:56, just three seconds into a power play after Calgary rookie Connor Zary was called for high-sticking.
Playing the point, Kane blasted a pass from Moritz Seider into the top corner over Markstrom’s blocker.
The Wings made it 2-0 just 61 seconds later. Compher took a pass from Lucas Raymond and fired a quick shot that deflected off the shaft of Calgary defenceman Rasmus Andersson’s stick and past Markstrom.
Larkin tapped in a nice cross-crease pass from Kane for another Detroit power-play goal at 5:12 of the second.
Just 89 seconds later, Detroit went up 4-0 after Perron wired a pass from Andrew Copp past Markstrom.
Early in the third, Reimer made a nice pad save to stop a scoring chance by Flames defenceman Mackenzie Weegar. Then, with 8:30 left in the game and Calgary on a power play, Sharangovich fired a shot that hit the post behind Reimer and deflected wide.
Raymond rounded out the scoring with 4:20 remaining to play.
“We battled hard today and Reims was unbelievable for us,” said Larkin of his team’s bounceback win. “We didn’t have the best start. We were a little bit flat. But our power play got us going. Special teams and goaltending and pretty good defensive play was the reason why we were successful today.”
NOTHING BUT A HOUND DOG
The Flames honoured Harvey the Hound for 40 years of service by playing a video of his top five moments since his debut as the NHL’s first mascot Feb. 16, 1984. The No. 1 moment was from a game Jan. 20, 2003 when Harvey was taunting the visiting Edmonton Oilers’ bench and coach Craig MacTavish reached up and ripped Harvey’s red tongue out of his mouth before tossing it into the crowd.
UP NEXT
Red Wings: Wrap up their four-game road trip Monday afternoon against the Seattle Kraken.
Flames: Continue their four-game homestand hosting the Winnipeg Jets on Monday in another matinee matchup.