The Detroit Red Wings hoped to make it three wins in a row on Thursday night. The Red Wings took on the Los Angeles Kings on the road as they began their West Coast road trip. Detroit head coach Todd McLellan made his first trip to LA since being fired a few seasons ago, as well.
Detroit allowed the first goal, but they soon figured things out. Young star Marco Kasper scored twice, while Alex DeBrincat added another. The Red Wings had a 3-1 lead with less than five minutes remaining in the game.
However, Kings forward Corey Perry scored twice in 40 seconds to tie the game. Los Angeles forced overtime, and appeared to win the game. However, their winning goal was disallowed. Detroit forced a shootout, and were able to salvage the win thanks to Lucas Raymond’s shootout marker.
It was a wild ride for Detroit, who has now won three in a row. It’s certainly not how the Winged Wheel drew it up before the game. But they aren’t going to complain about the two points.
“Obviously, we don’t want that to happen, but to battle through that, good PK in overtime, and to win in a shootout is great,” said DeBrincat after the game, via NHL.com. “Two points is two points, and doesn’t matter how you get them. I thought we battled well today.”
Alex DeBrincat Credits Red Wings’ Confidence
Bruce Bennett/Getty ImagesThe Detroit Red Wings have now won three games in a row after defeating the Los Angeles Kings.
These sorts of performances aren’t anything new for Detroit, to be fair. In fact, they were a bit of a regular occurrence last season. This year, it appears the Red Wings are able to keep their head in these sorts of situations.
Picking up these wins is a massive confidence boost for any team. In saying this, Detroit’s confidence is also a reason they are able to pull these off. This especially rings true when it comes to their power play. DeBrincat pointed to the man advantage as a big reason for the team’s success.
“I think we’re pretty confident in our abilities on the power play, and just not let it bother us,” DeBrincat said, via NHL.com. “Go out there, put one in the net, so it was good thing we could do it that quick and get the momentum back.”
Detroit Pleased To See Young Star Break Through
One storyline around the Red Wings that may be going under the radar is Marco Kasper. Kasper is the team’s second-line center. And many believed this would be a breakout season following his second-half performance in 2024-25.
Unfortunately, the former first-round pick has struggled out of the gate. He hasn’t been as strong defensively as he was last year. Furthermore, he managed just one goal in 10 games before Thursday night’s two-goal effort.
Kasper is an important piece to this Red Wings lineup. And they are more than happy to see him finally break through.
“I think Marco’s playing harder,” McLellan said, via NHL.com. “The second goal, he’s going to the net, he’s stopping in the paint. So he’s a competitive individual that has put some pressure on himself.
“Maybe this will really get him going, but we’re counting on him, and we forget he’s like 20, 21 years old. You’d think he was 27 the way he played last year.”
The Red Wings are in action again on Friday night when goaltender John Gibson returns to face his former team, the Anaheim Ducks.
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