Detroit Red Wings forward J.T. Compher won a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche. There, he was skating alongside such iconic NHL talents as Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Gabriel Landeskog and Cale Makar.
Still, to Compher’s mind, he’s never seen a better goal than the first one Robby Fabbri was scoring in Thursday’s 5-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.
Bursting into the Chicago zone, Fabrri darted around Blackhawks defenseman and went forehand-backhand before roofing a shot behind former Red Wings goalie Petr Mrazek.
“That was insane,” Compher said. “That was one of the nicest goals I’ve seen person. He’s been hot, he’s been great for us.”
In just 10 games this season Fabbri has accounted for seven goals.
Compher Also Contributing For Red Wings
Both Fabbri and Compher were good for a pair of tallies in the win over the Blackhawks. As much as he’s first and foremost a team guy, Compher is also delighted to see six already in the goals column for his new club next to his name.
“You want to help produce,” Compher said. “Any player that says they don’t, they’re lying. It’s part of it.
“I pride myself on a lot more than just points. I try to be a dependable, two-way player, 200 feet, so I’m just trying to continue to focus on that.”
Ivy League Trash Talking
During the first period, Blackhawks forward and Harvard grad Ryan Donato got into a kerfuflle behind the Detroit net with Red Wings defenseman Jeff Petry. Detroit goalie and Yale grad Alex Lyon tipped up his mask and exchanged a few pleasantries with Donato.
Debating over which of their Ivy Leafgue schools were the producers of more Nobel Prize winners perhaps?
“No,” Lyon said. “I honestly don’t know if I ever beat Harvard in my entire tenure.
Lyon went on to add that he and Donato are actually good friends.
“I’ve known him for a long time,” Lyon said. “It’s cool to see him having success. I hope nothing but the best for him.”
Facing Off With Meaning
It was more than coincidence on Hockey Fights Cancer night that Chicago forward Nick Foligno and Detroit defenseman Ben Chiarot were the players taking part in the ceremonial faceoff.
The son of former Red Wings forward Mike Foligno, Nick lost his mother Janis to cancer in 2009. Chiarot lost his father Matt to cancer in September. That was the reason why he was late arriving to Detroit’s training camp.
Ice Chips
Detroit is 4-0-1 over the club’s last five home games . . . Captain Dylan Larkin was missing for a second straight game due to an undisclosed injury. Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde was confirming that Larkin will be playing Saturday in Montreal . . . Even though he garnered 14 PIM Thursday with two minors and a misconduct, it still wasn’t enough for Red Wings forward Klim Kostin (27 PIM) to unseat Larkin (29 PIM) as the club leader in penalty minutes.
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