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Devils Captain Hischier
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Head Coach Lindy Ruff
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Devils captain Nico Hischier was gutted that the Devils couldn't come away with a win on Fan Appreciation Night.
"We really wanted to win that game," he said, "Right now, I'm just disappointed. After a season like that, the fans deserved the last win at home. That's all that mattered to me tonight and we couldn't do it. So it's just disappointing right now."
Devils head coach Lindy Ruff wasn't surprised at the reaction of his captain.
"I think you should be disappointed. That' s the caring part. You've got to hate losing. That's the part I like about Nico. He cares, he puts his emotions on his sleeve. He suffered injuries by putting his body in front of blocked shots. The way he plays physically.
"You have to remember how old he is. How old Jack is. I remind myself of that every day, to help me."
Despite the loss, Ruff praised a squad that has played a lot of games this week despite being depleted due to injuries and the flu bug.
"There were some good parts of that game. I was worried about the game because back-to-back and five games in seven nights," he said. "We had some guys who had good energy and some who didn't have much - guys who have given us a lot."
The Red Wings scored just over a minute into the game. Rasmussen fired a rolling puck from the hashmarks that beat Mackenzie Blackwood to make it 1-0 for the visitors.
Shots on goal seven minutes into the game were 3-2 for the Red Wings.
The Devils struck to tie the game with 2:46 to play in the opening frame. Fabian Zetterlund fired a wrist shot from the top of the left circle that was stopped by Wings netminder Magnus. Hellberg but Dawson Mercer was perched at the top of the crease to snag the rebound and backhand it in.
Ruff was impressed with Zetterlund's play not only tonight but throughout his most recent call-up during which he has three goals and eight points in 11 games.
"I thought Fabian was our best forward out there tonight. Energy wise, his strength along the walls. Physically, sometimes we got dominated again. This kid was good on the walls, was strong down low. We were able to take a look at some guys that normally you wouldn't get to look at," Ruff began.
"They got a test about how hard it really is. Sometimes that one battle you have on the wall, that might mean the game. So those are big moments for all those young players."
After one period, shots on goal were even at nine apiece.
Six minutes into the middle frame, the Wings regained the lead. Mortiz Seider's shot from the point snuck past a screened Blackwood to make it 2-1 for Detroit.
Nolan Foote scored with 4:22 left in the second to tie the game back up. Dougie Hamilton's quick snap shot from the point was tipped on its way to the net by Foote, fooling Hellberg.
After two, shots on goal were 24-15 for Detroit.
Blackwood made a big stop on Tyler Bertuzzi on a breakaway but the puck found its way back in the high slot where Joe Veleno whipped it in, giving the Red Wings a 3-2 lead 54 seconds into the third.
Devils tied the game for a third time when Zetterlund scored six minutes into the final frame but less than four minutes later, Detroit's Pius Suter just barely got the puck over the goal line to put the visitors ahead 4-3.
Bertuzzi added an empty netter at the end to seal the outcome.
Ruff talked about the future of the squad.
"We have a lot of work to do. We have a lot of evaluating to do, a lot of decisions to make. I believe in the core of this team. I believe in the youth. There were nights where the energy of the team was tremendous. Was the energy good? Was there ever any quit? No. To sum it up (the winning goal) just barely crosses the goal line."
