The Detroit Red Wings liked almost everything about their latest victory, and how could they not?
From stars to grinders to goaltending to their power play to the emotion, it was the kind of performance that drives a team towards the playoffs.
The Wings take a three-game winning streak into Buffalo, New York, on Saturday to play the Sabres.
They're buoyed most of all by the goaltending of Alex Lyon and Cam Talbot. The latter made 37 saves Thursday as the Wings banked a 5-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils in a game rife with scrums and scoring. Christian Fischer and Ben Chiarot fought, and Fischer, Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Larkin, Patrick Kane and Michael Rasmussen scored.
"It was everything," Larkin said. "We were emotionally involved and guys like Fisch and Ben just dragging us into it, and we needed that. We stuck together and didn't quit, and that was the main part."
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The Wings were outshot, 40-20, two nights after they were outshot, 29-11 by the New York Islanders. But the numbers that show in the standings are 5-3 and 1-0, respectively — the goals leading to a 4-3-0 record.
The Devils ran out 15 shots in the first period, but some of their momentum was stemmed when Fischer finished a setup by Andrew Copp.
Fischer delivered momentum again, with the score tied at 2-all, in his fight against Brenden Dillon that provided the Wings a power play.
"[Fisch] does things every night that's not on the scoresheet and he contributes all over the place for us," said Larkin, who converted on the power play to make it 3-2. "He's unbelievable in the locker room. The guys love him. To see him score one and then he did really well — Dillon's a tough customer, he hung in there. That got us fired up, for sure."
Larkin scored on a connection from the point from Kane, who contributed the game-winning goal for the second straight game, following the Wings victory over the Islanders on Long Island. Kane fired from the slot through traffic, finding Larkin at the Devils' net.
"I think the best part about is, I think he saw me, and he waited a split second to let whoever was on him, get his feet out of the way, stick out of the way. He zipped it right to the spot it needed to be for me to be able to tip it and get it elevated. That's just a great hockey play by him."
DeBrincat said the Wings winning three straight after starting the season 1-3-0 was a credit to "sticking to the process."
"Maybe a couple periods here and there were not our best, but we were playing systems right, we were doing everything to the best of our abilities."
Lyon's 37 saves at Nashville on Saturday, and then 30 on Monday — plus Talbot's 37 on Thursday — are the kind that imbue confidence in skaters.
"They've been great, probably the difference from last week," Larkin said. "It's a work in progress and it's great when you have guys back there that are going to bail you out."
Chiarot's scrap came during a multiplayer scrum in the third period. The Wings ended up shorthanded, and were scored on — their penalty kill was a sore point, as the Devils went 3-for-5 — but used the emotion to ride to victory.
"I think the entire night had some good emotion for us, which was great," coach Derek Lalonde said. "I'm not saying 'needed,' but, it's a little bit of a quiet room. You never want your guys to be who they're not. But even after the first, those two quick goals, we had a lot of chatter, a lot of positive energy."
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Rasmussen delivered the final blow with an empty-net goal with just under 12 seconds remaining, emphasized with a roar as he stood over 2019 No. 1 pick Jack Hughes, who had come in for a hit and ended up on his back.
Other than giving up three goals while shorthanded, there wasn't much not to like for the Wings, especially since they had to use 11 forwards and seven defensemen because J.T. Compher was sick.
"That was a huge win for us," Lalonde said. "Especially since we were 11 and seven. That was certainly not ideal. I never felt comfortable with the flow all night. But I give our guys credit that they kind of used that emotion and battle. That's a really good win against a very good team."
Contact Helene St. James athstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter@helenestjames.
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Her latest book, “The Franchise: Detroit Red Wings, A Curated History of the Red Wings,” was released 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 fromAmazon,Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.