The Detroit Red Wings extended their point streak to five games with a 5-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre on Saturday. The victory concluded a three-game road trip through three cities in four nights.
J.T. Compher led the team with two goals, marking his first multi-goal game and fourth multi-point performance of the season. “It took a lot of different guys throughout the road trip, and it helps when you have good goaltending,” Compher said. “John and Cam were great on this trip and have been for a while. It’s good to get the points and we just keep it going.”
Goaltender John Gibson made 26 saves for his eighth consecutive win, improving to 17-2-0 in his last 19 starts. Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck also recorded 26 saves.
Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan commented on the team’s resilience: “It’s easy to point out the third period and the way we played there. I thought the first and second, we learned to deal with frustration a little bit. We had some shifts go our way and some that didn’t. A little bit of frustration, and I think that was good frustration. Guys are pushing each other now and they’re getting a little upset when it’s not going their way, but we needed to channel it the right way and we did that in the third.”
After a scoreless first period, Cole Koepke gave Winnipeg a 1-0 lead midway through the second period. Compher tied it up late in the second after capitalizing on Andrew Copp’s pass from behind the net. “Kaner and Copper make a great entry on the power play, and just kind of hard work behind the net to get in front of me,” Compher said about his goal.
In the third period, Detroit scored four unanswered goals—their highest total in one period this season. Compher scored again early in the frame after receiving a pass from rookie Emmitt Finnie via James van Riemsdyk.
“He’s a good right-handed face-off guy, fairly responsible defensively,” McLellan said about Compher. “We use him penalty killing and a little bit of power-play time, and we’d like to see him get rewarded. He’s had so many chances lately. Finally, went in for him tonight. Those were big goals to get us even and get us the lead.”
Lucas Raymond extended his individual point streak to five games by scoring his 18th goal of the season off Hellebuyck’s stick during a scramble near the crease.
Alex DeBrincat added an empty-net goal later in the third period for his team-leading 27th goal of the year, assisted by Copp and Patrick Kane. With that assist, Kane moved within one point of tying Mike Modano as NHL’s all-time leading scorer among U.S.-born players.
Marco Kasper finished Detroit’s scoring with his fifth goal of the season late in regulation. Kasper reflected on how important it was for Detroit to find success despite an uneven start: “We definitely didn’t play one of our more complete games the first two periods,” he said. “So, I think just to go out there and win a game like this, it’s huge for us moving forward. Obviously, you want to get off to a better start, but it’s good we can win those games.”
McLellan noted improvement in his team’s mental approach: “Without a doubt our team is growing in that area. We can work all we want on systems, passing, shooting, skating and all that type of stuff, but sometimes it’s between the ears. We’ve stressed all year that we’re going to get better in that area, and I believe we are.”
Compher also commented on Saturday’s result: “It wasn’t super pretty for two periods. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great. We stuck with it and ended up finding a way to win.” He praised both Gibson and Talbot: “We have full trust in both of them. They’re making the big saves when we need it because as good as we want to play – we want to be as detailed as possible and not give up chances – but they’re going to get chances. Both those guys are giving us a chance every time they’re in the net.”
Detroit will return home for three games at Little Caesars Arena starting Tuesday against Los Angeles.
The Red Wings represent Detroit as part of hockey’s Original Six franchises in downtown Detroit (official website). The club began play in 1926 (official website) and has won 11 Stanley Cup championships (official website), making them recognized as one of NHL’s most successful American teams (official website).
