NHL Wednesday: light night features key match-ups

A tie game the Red Wings had dominated all night long turned into a disaster for Detroit after defensive mistakes combined with unsteady goaltending to doom the team in the third period.

Elsewhere in the NHL, the Senators went to a shootout AGAIN and the Flyers failed to show up for a game that was supposedly a “must-win.” Read on for all the details from Wednesday night’s trio of games.

The Red Wings committed several defensive miscues and bad giveaways in the third period (including one from the aforementioned Filppula) and every single mistake led to a puck going into the net past Gustavsson, who finished the night with seventeen saves on twenty-two shots.

Gustavsson is nicknamed “The Monster” ... because watching him play is horrifying.

Eller, who also managed seven shots on goal in the contest, was named the first star of the game. The Canadiens have now won four straight games.

(Video from HockeyVideoHD)

Carter got a penalty for tripping on the play, which, based on the video, doesn’t really seem to be the correct call. The NHL has a rule on the books for situations such as this:

That’s a perfect description of what Carter did, so “kneeing” would have been the right penalty to call. Whether the infraction warranted a minor, major, or possibly even a suspension is up to you. Carter just got the two minutes -- and the Flyers scored on the ensuing powerplay.

After he was announced as a late scratch, online speculation raged about whether Schenn was involved in a possible trade, or that he might hilariously be a healthy scratch, but then the Flyers had to go and ruin everyone’s fun by saying he just has the flu.

Schenn has been having a mediocre year thus far for the Flyers, contributing two goals and five assists in 25 games prior to tonight. Still, as a defenseman who gets around 20 minutes of ice time per game, his presence will most likely be missed by Philadelphia.

The NHL schedule on Wednesday night only has three games on the docket, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t of consequence.

With two divisional games in the Eastern Conference and a showdown between the Calgary Flames and Detroit Red Wings out west, Wednesday’s schedule is complete with compelling match-ups.