‘They Know he’s Gonna Battle’: James Reimer Helps Red Wings Earn Crucial Win over Islanders

James Reimer wasn't perfect against the New York Islanders, but he made key stops en route to a 6-3 win with major playoff implications.

James Reimer looked back.

To the Mathew Barzal shot that blew past his ear, and to the 5-1 lead that had slipped to 5-3 in short order, Reimer angled his neck and looked behind him. Maybe it wasn’t a soft goal per se, but it was one he could have had — had to have — as his Detroit Red Wings had to have a win over the New York Islanders.

In the end, Reimer looked up at the scoreboard and saw a 6-3 win, his third straight in crunch time. Such poise has elevated the once third-string goalie in the Red Wings’ rotation to the unexpected starter holding them together. Despite soft goals fooling him far too often, and despite the imperfections of his game, Reimer is doing his part to make a playoff spot a possibility.

“I love the way he battles,” Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said. “Obviously these really soft goals keep finding him, but they don’t deflate our guys. I know it sounds crazy. We get the one goal, the place is rocking, and he gives up that goal, but our guys know he’s gonna be there for us and that’s exactly what he did.”

Reimer was there for Detroit, but those soft goals sure didn’t make it seem that way. Minutes after a rare Christian Fischer goal gave him a 1-0 lead to play with in the second period, Islanders defenseman Mike Reilly sent a long shot toward Reimer, likely meant to bounce away as a rebound to initiate a forecheck sequence. Instead, Reimer let in a five hole goal he should’ve had.

Reimer looked down at the ice, frustrated and maybe even a little ashamed.

His teammates made up the difference, scoring two goals from Andrew Copp and Dylan Larkin to take a 3-1 lead into the second intermission. Meanwhile, Reimer battled too, stopping the Isles’ eight other shots. It was the same battle he showed in a scoreless first period, although he found some aid in the Islanders’ bad luck. On one play, Reimer was prone at a 90 degree angle to the net, but New York forward Bo Horvat missed the net. And once he got up and dusted himself off, Reimer continued to fight.

Detroit made it an unfair fight, taking a 5-1 lead just six minutes into the third period. All Reimer had to do was defend that big lead for the rest of the game. He just couldn’t blow it.

Then, Isles forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau made it interesting at 9:34, banging home a trickling rebound off a point blast that Reimer couldn’t absorb. All Reimer could do was twist around and look at the puck swimming in his open net. Now, things were interesting. Then they got stressful. Barzal’s 5-3 tally a couple minutes later put an impossible comeback within the realm of reality. At this rate, it seemed, the Red Wings might lose the unloseable. Reimer might blow it.

On the opening day of March Madness, a day when half the country is glued to expectant upsets, there was an entirely different one brewing inside Little Caesars Arena.

But Reimer battled.

“A couple of those saves at 5-3 just lifted our group, so they know he’s gonna be there for us,” Lalonde said of his team’s faith in Reimer. “They know he’s gonna battle and I think it really drives our group.”

With possession after possession, the Islanders crashed the net. Players even bowled Reimer over, crashing into him with and without the puck that he kept from crossing the goal line. On one such play with four minutes left, defenseman Moritz Seider fell atop Reimer as the goalie stopped the puck. With a nod equal parts celebration and admiration, Seider recognized the work Reimer put in. Reimer looked back at him and got back on his feet.

All the while, Reimer stood brick-wall tall defending his net. Whatever mistakes he might have made earlier in the game were prologue. This was the performance that would ink a W or an L on the schedule.

Once Larkin’s empty-netter clinched a 6-3 win, Reimer had stopped 33 of 36 shots, including the two high-danger chances and six medium threats he faced. The goals he let in weren’t lookers, and he certainly wanted them back, but Reimer had won a game Detroit absolutely had to have. More over, he’s on a three-game win streak that has revitalized any talk of playoffs around LCA.

At one point this season, Reimer’s inconsistencies made him the odd man out of the goalie rotation. Now, they’re just a fact of life that his teammates make up for. He might not be the perfect goalie, but he’s battling through nonetheless.

If Reimer can keep doing that, Detroit can look ahead.

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