Detroit Red Wings rookie forward Emmitt Finnie was happy to end his scoring drought on Tuesday against the Seattle Kraken, his first goal since Oct. 25 against the Blues.
The Detroit Red Wings put together their second consecutive victory on Tuesday evening, defeating the Seattle Kraken by a 4-2 final score.
During the contest, a pair of rookies helped lift the Red Wings into the top spot in the Atlantic Division. Nate Danielson scored his first career goal and added an assist on fellow rookie Emmitt Finnie’s tally, which ultimately stood as the game-winner.
For Finnie, it was his first goal (and point) since he scored on Oct. 25 against the St. Louis Blues as part of Detroit's historic 6-4 comeback win, a span of 11 games.
Finnie said he never doubted that the puck would eventually start going in for him again as long as he continued playing his game and generating scoring chances.
"It's always nice to see the puck go in the net," Finnie said following Thursday's practice. "In those 11 games, I felt like I was playing pretty good hockey and generating some chances, and I knew if I just stuck with it, they'd eventually start going in. It was definitely nice to see one go in."
Finnie roofed a shot past Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord after taking a cross-ice feed from Danielson, who nearly had his second career goal just minutes after his first. However, the play was ruled offside after replays showed Finnie entered the offensive zone a fraction too early.
After the game, Danielson joked that he wouldn’t have been too happy with Finnie if he hadn’t scored on that opportunity. Although it wasn’t a set play they had practiced, Finnie said he was glad to pay it forward to Danielson after the offside call wiped out Danielson’s earlier tally.
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"I don't know if it was a set play we worked on, but Nate made a great play, and I was fortunate to be in the right spot and put it in the back of the net," Finnie said. "I feel like I owed him a little bit for being offside on his goal."
Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan had spoken in the days leading up to Finnie's goal on Tuesday that the club hadn't wavered in their confidence in the young rookie, and that there were several elements of his game that they look for that don't show up on the scoresheet.
During Tuesday's game, Finnie was paired on a line with Danielson, a connection that McLellan intends to keep intact while also not trying to put too much pressure on them.
"They went out and played and scored goals, they did look like they belonged together," McLellan said of Finnie and Danielson together. "But there's no magic for it. They're not twins, they're not the Sedins. They're two good players who had a real good two periods together. We're going to keep them together and we hope it continues on, but I don't want to put the pressure on these young men."
"They have their own games, and they can compliment one another, and they play for the team right now."
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