Detroit City Wire

The Detroit Red Wings earned their first win of the Centennial season by overcoming a two-goal deficit to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-3 at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday. The victory followed a disappointing Opening Night performance, as noted by head coach Todd McLellan.

“You talk about being mentally tough – we didn’t roll over,” said McLellan. “We dug in a little bit more, so that’s a really good sign for us. I just thought we played with more pop and more energy, where we were connected. Sometimes the first night does that to you, but we settled in.”

Goaltender Cam Talbot made 20 saves for Detroit (1-1-0), while Anthony Stolarz stopped 29 shots for Toronto (1-1-0).

Lucas Raymond led the Red Wings with two goals, including the game-winner on a third-period power play. “Did not come out the way we wanted to [on Opening Night] and that was far from the way we want to play,” Raymond said. “Cleaned up a lot of stuff. I think the way we looked tonight…it was a good 60 minutes of hockey.”

Toronto took an early lead with goals from Calle Jarnkrok and Nicolas Roy in the first period. Detroit responded midway through the second period when Marco Kasper scored off an assist from Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat.

“It starts with J.T., Copper and Brans’ shift there,” Kane said about how the Red Wings’ first goal of the night transpired. “They have a good shift, get off the ice and put us in a good position to get out there fresh against some of their tired guys. We make a turnover, and that was a great catch and release there by Kasp to find us our first goal. It was a great shot.”

Raymond tied it later in the second period on a pass from captain Dylan Larkin, with Emmitt Finnie earning his first NHL point on the secondary assist.

“For Emmitt, just the way he came into Training Camp, the rookie tournament and the way he played and made his mark, it was fun to watch,” Raymond said. “He’s not phased one bit. He plays this game with his speed. Obviously, very exciting for him to get his first point today and hopefully the first of a lot.”

Kane gave Detroit its first lead late in the second period after converting on an assist from DeBrincat and Albert Johansson.

“It’s not like we came in and we had to change our whole game or anything like that,” Kane said when asked what the message was during the first intermission. “Could see we started to turn the game there in the second. We had a lot of shifts in their end, a lot of good changes and getting fresh guys against some of their tired guys was a huge momentum swing.”

Max Domi tied it for Toronto early in the third period before Raymond restored Detroit’s lead with his second goal—his 100th career NHL tally—assisted by Kane and DeBrincat.

“It’s fun,” Raymond said about reaching 100 goals. “Didn’t know about it, but it’s cool. You don’t take that stuff for granted. Always fun to score, so look to keep that going.”

Simon Edvinsson added an empty-net goal late in regulation after Toronto pulled its goalie; Talbot received credit for an assist on that play—his eighth career NHL helper.

Andrew Copp sealed Detroit's win with another empty-netter seconds before time expired.

“Even when you win the game or see that empty net go in by Simon, there’s definitely a feeling of relief,” Kane said. “Big kill there at the end. Talbs had some great saves and blocked shots to keep it at 4-3. Definitely a big win for us.”

Detroit will face Toronto again Monday afternoon at Scotiabank Arena as part of their home-and-home series.

McLellan commented further on his team’s response: “I think this team knows it can play that way. I believe they were all, to a man, really disappointed in what transpired the other night. But now, they got rewarded for fixing it and doing the work. We’ve got to bottle that type of game up and continue on with it.”

Kane reflected on bouncing back: “I thought we had a decent start, to be honest with you, in the first. You find yourself down 2-0, it’s a little disappointing, but I think it speaks volumes of the group with what we went through the past couple days – not being at the top of our game and having a great start. But to bounce back being down 2-0 and come out of the second being up 3-2 is obviously an ideal situation for us. I know it’s two games into the season, but we proved we can turn the corner when we face adversity.”

On Lucas Raymond's progress: “I think he’s just progressing every day and game," Kane added."Obviously, each year I’ve been here, he just gets better and better.The thing you love about him is he wants to be the best.He putsthe workin,whetherit’sduringpracticeorofftheice.Findingways tobetterhimself."

Raymond spoke about improving after Opening Night: "We’ve been in situationsa couple years now ,whereit comesdown totheendandthemarginsareverythin.It’saboutgettingofftoagoodstart ,puttingourselvesinagoodpositionandgettinggoodhabits.Wegotallthetoolsinthislockerroomandaroundsustobeareallygoodhockeyteam.Wehavetheconfidencetohaveitaswell."