Cam Talbot racks up the saves in shutout as Detroit Red Wings pound Predators, 3-0

Cam Talbot made a strong case to move up the Detroit Red Wings' goaltending depth chart in his first start.

The 37-year-old newcomer withstood the Nashville Predators, an early-season Stanley Cup favorite, on Saturday at Little Caesars Arena. He was outstanding at even strength, through a couple of Nashville power plays and even when the Predators pulled their goalie with three minutes to play, making 42 saves in a 3-0 victory.

"I got my feet wet in the last game in the second and third and tried to carry it over," Talbot said. "Nashville is a heck of a hockey club, they added a lot of weapons this year, so we knew it was going to be a tough task and I was just trying to do my part."

J.T. Compher scored early in the second period and Andrew Copp slipped the puck into the net at 6:25 of the third period on what was the Wings' first shot of the period on Juuse Saros. Dylan Larkin scored into an empty net with 19.4 seconds remaining.

"We were much more committed defensively for a sustained amount of time," coach Derek Lalonde said. "That’s a really good team and I don’t see them getting shut out many times this year. So, a pretty good effort, starting with our goalie, and then the team defense in front of him."

TWO-WAY PLAY: Red Wings goals for Vladimir Tarasenko, Alex DeBrincat go beyond goals

The Wings played a better overall game than their 6-3 opening night loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, which was marred by sloppy puck play in the latter two periods. That lightened the mood at LCA, to the point fans took chanting " JA-RED GOFF ," as happened multiple times last January when the Detroit Lions were making playoff noise.

"I don’t think they had many odd-man rushes," Copp said. "Talbs had a lot of work and made some incredible saves, but I think he saw most of them, hopefully. That timely save can be so important.

"It was a big night for us, big win."

The Wings were credited with 31 blocked shots.

"As a goaltender you appreciate that more than anything," Talbot said. "Those guys don’t have the padding that I do and they are putting their bodies on the line. There were some huge ones throughout the entire night, a lot on the PK, 6-on-5. They were diving in front of everything."

Christian Fischer did not return after the second period because of an upper-body injury, the second straight game the Wings have had a shortened bench in the third period.

New guy starts

Talbot, signed on opening day of free agency for two years at $2.5 million per season, made his first start. He subbed into the opener early in the second period after Ville Husso surrendered four goals on 14 shots to the Penguins, and played well. Talbot was busy in the first period, making an early save on Filip Forsberg. Ben Chiarot was called for hooking at 1:40, and Talbot helped out the penalty killers with five saves, including a tip-in attempt by Ryan O'Reilly. Talbot also denied a slap shot by Forsberg, who directed six shots on net just in the first 20 minutes. Talbot made 16 saves total in the first period, and 12 in the second.

"It was a remarkable type of game," Lalonde said. "They’re going to push. High offense. We put them on a power play a couple times. Extended 6-on-5. He needed to be great, and he was."

New look

Derek Lalonde talked all exhibition season about the lines and pairings being fluid, and so he gave the top six a bit of a new look for the second game, moving Patrick Kane to play with Dylan Larkin and Alex DeBrincat and sliding Lucas Raymond to the second line, with Compher and Vladimir Tarasenko. Compher scored his first goal of the season early in the second period when he deflected Chiarot's shot out of the air and in behind Saros. The Wings tested Saros several times in the second period, but they also had to kill off a high-sticking penalty to Larkin. Moritz Seider came through with a huge block on that kill, using his body to deflect a shot by O'Reilly.

New guy sits

With Jeff Petry (upper body) unavailable, the Wings recalled Justin Holl to add a second-right shot defenseman besides Seider, and also inserted rookie Albert Johansson into the lineup. That meant Erik Gustafsson, signed on opening day for free agency for two years at $2 million per, was a healthy scratch. Gustafsson had a rough outing in the opener, but he wasn't alone in that. Gustafsson was supposed to help ameliorate the loss of Shayne Gostisbehere by playing the point on the first man-advantage unit, but the power play's ineffectiveness in the opener – it went 1-for-5, converting during a five-on-three — led the Wings to put Seider on the point on the first unit and give Chiarot a look at the point on the second unit.

Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com . Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames .

Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter . Her latest book, “The Franchise: Detroit Red Wings , A Curated History of the Red Wings,” will be available October 2024. Her books, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” and “The Big 50: The Men and Moments that made the Detroit Red Wings” are available from Amazon , Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Cam Talbot racks up the saves in shutout as Detroit Red Wings pound Predators, 3-0