Detroit City Wire

The Detroit Red Wings secured a crucial victory on Friday night against the Carolina Hurricanes with a 5-3 win at Little Caesars Arena. The win allows the Red Wings to close in on the Montreal Canadiens for the Eastern Conference's second Wild-Card spot, coming within four points of the final postseason position.

"They're a tough team to play against," said Patrick Kane, who scored his 20th goal of the season. "They pressure you; they frustrate you. A lot of our goals tonight were Grade-A chances, and we knew when we got those chances, we had to bear down and take advantage of them."

Cam Talbot, the goaltender for the Red Wings, made 30 saves during the match, extending Detroit's point streak to three games. Pyotr Kochetkov, netminder for the Hurricanes, stopped 16 shots. "I don't think a goaltender can just beat that team on his own," said Detroit head coach Todd McLellan. "It has to be a team game. And we made some mistakes. They made us pay, but we sold out, blocked some shots, got some good penalty killing, and some timely saves when we needed it. For me, [Talbot] was real good, but this was as much a team win as it was a goaltender win."

The scoring began at 9:03 in the first period with Ben Chiarot's goal following a missed shot by Alex DeBrincat. Marco Kasper quickly added another goal just 26 seconds later. Kasper praised teammate Elmer Soderblom, saying, "I think [Elmer]’s been playing really good lately. It's big for us that he can come back in and play his game. He creates a lot of space, being that big. [He] skates well and has great hands for being that tall. It was really good today to have him back."

Although the Hurricanes cut the deficit with Jackson Blake's goal in the second period, the Red Wings extended their lead with contributions from Kane and Michael Rasmussen, bringing the score to 4-1. Eric Robinson scored for Carolina, reducing Detroit's lead to two goals, while Brent Burns added another for the Hurricanes in the third period. An empty-net goal by Alex DeBrincat sealed the win for Detroit.

Kane, with his performance, surpassed Mike Modano's record for the most 20-goal seasons by a U.S.-born player. "He was one of my favorite players, to be honest with you," Kane said of Modano. "I remember the way he skated up and down the ice, his jersey flapping behind him; one of the best American players of all time. I definitely remember watching him growing up and how fun he was as a player; so explosive and scored so many highlight-reel goals."

Reflecting on the team's performance, coach McLellan said, "I challenged our group after the Four Nations break. Who are we? Are we the early team? Are we the team that kind of got it going? We talked about how the story is not done yet. We can still write another chapter or two, so let's get playing the way we can. I look up at the scoreboard at the end of [the game], I don't worry about standings or scores or anything like that. The belief system should be, 'We've been through this before, let's keep pushing.'"

The Red Wings will next face the Florida Panthers on Sunday night at Little Caesars Arena.