By Dave Hart
LocalSportsJournal.com
Red Wings 5, Coyotes 1-The Detroit Red Wings scored three unanswered first period goals in Thursday night’s victory over the Arizona Coyotes.
Red Wings’ defensemen Niklas Kronwall scored the game-winning goal in his 700th career game in the National Hockey League.
Justin Abdelkader, Gustav Nyquist, Danny Dekeyser and Darren Helm each scored a goal for Detroit.
The Red Wings have earned a point in the standing over last nine games, the most since 2009 (12 games in a row).
Detroit’s goaltender Jimmy Howard picked up his fourth victory in a row, stopping 26 of 27 shots.
The Red Wings are now 14-8-4 on the season, good for 32 points and second place in the Atlantic Division.
Detroit will finish its homestand against the Nashville Predators on Saturday night.
Record: 14-8-4 32 pts
2nd Place in Atlantic Division (9 pts behind Montreal)
Tied for 4th Place in Eastern Conference (9 pts behind Montreal)
4 pts ahead of New Jersey and Florida for the last playoff spot
Magic # to clinch 25th straight playoff berth: 111 pts
Magic # to clinch Atlantic Division title: 120 pts
Magic # to clinch Eastern Conference: 122 pts
Next Game: 12/05/2015 vs Nashville Predators 7:00 p.m. @ Joe Louis Arena
Stats: Goals- Justin Abdelkader (8), Danny DeKeyser (2), Darren Helm (1), Niklas Kronwall (2), Gustav Nyquist (9). Assists- Pavel Datsyuk 2 (3), Jonathan Ericsson (3), Mike Green (9), Helm (4), Dylan Larkin (9), Tomas Tatar (10). Goaltender- Jimmy Howard W (7-4-1) 26 saves on 27 shots.
Packers 27, Lions 23 – A questionable face mask penalty cost the Detroit Lions a victory over the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night.
The penalty, gave the Packers one final play to allow quarterback Aaron Rodgers to throw a 61-yard game-winning touchdown pass to Richard Rodgers as time expired.
The Lions jumped out to a 20-0 lead before Green Bay closed the game with a 27-3 run.
Matthew Stafford threw for 220 yards and two touchdown passes, while wide receiver Golden Tate caught eight receptions for 63 yards.
Isa Abdul-Quaddus led the Lions defense with 11 tackles, while Detroit’s kicker Matt Prater nailed all three field goal attempts.
Detroit will go on the road one week from Sunday to play the St. Louis Rams.
Record: 4-8
4th Place in NFC North Division (4.5 games behind Minnesota)
Misery # to elimination from playoff contention: 3
Magic # to clinch a second straight playoff berth: 8
Magic # to clinch NFC North Division: 10
Next Game: 12/13/2015 @ St. Louis Rams 1:00 p.m. @ Edward Jones Dome
Stats: Matthew Stafford 23/35 220 YDs 2 TDs, Ameer Abdullah 13 carries 67 YDs, Calvin Johnson 3 REC 44 YDs 1 TD, Golden Tate 8 REC 63 YDs, Eric Ebron 3 YD TD REC, Isa Abdul-Quddus 11 Tackles, Glover Quin 6 Tackles 1 INT, Matt Prater 3/3 FG (51, 34, 42 YDs) 2/2 XP.
