DETROIT — As the Red Wings continue to string victories together and work on ending a long playoff drought, there might be something equally important going on, within the foundation and structure of the team.

A winning culture, a culture of “team,” and confidence that everyone on the roster can contribute to the Wings winning, is being formed.

Sunday’s 3-2 overtime victory over Washington was an example.

As part of the mothers’ trip over the weekend, coach Todd McLellan and his staff were intent on playing everyone on the roster.

So despite the victory the day before, McLellan scratched forward Marco Kasper and defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker on Sunday, as Mason Appleton, who was activated earlier in the morning off the injured list, came in for Kasper, while Travis Hamonic replaced Bernard-Docker.

Goaltender Cam Talbot got the start Sunday instead of John Gibson, who had a relatively easy workload Saturday afternoon and could have easily played two games in two afternoons.

But McLellan wanted everyone to get a game in front of their mothers.

It worked. And the culture was further emboldened.

“We preach ‘team’ all the time,” McLellan said. “That’s part of our culture. Not just the players, but the training staff and everybody (in the organization). The right thing to do was to give everybody an opportunity to play in front of their moms.

“Now, did we ice our best lineup? We did, we won the game. Some could argue one way or another, but that’s what we believe in and that’s part of our culture. We had to tell Kasp, and how do you pick who comes out? Everybody played well in Washington. Dock (Docker) didn’t deserve to come out. Gibby deserved to go back in net. But we do things as a team.

“We talked to all of those guys and they were very understanding and they were rooting for the ones that went in.

“We ask players to trust us as an organization, as a staff, and we have to pay that back to them, too. We have to trust they can all play or they shouldn’t be here. When we get into this sort of a situation, we believe in everybody that is here, and we gave them a chance to play in front of their moms. I know some would say this is the NHL and you don’t do that — but sometimes you do.”

 

Making an impact

John Leonard has given the Wings a spark since being recalled from Grand Rapids, replacing the injured Patrick Kane.

Leonard’s goal Sunday was his second in two games and extended his point streak to three games (two goals, one assist in that span), marking the longest such run of his NHL career.

“Any time a player comes up, you hope he can have an impact, and especially like how he’s been playing like that in Grand Rapids,” McLellan said. “He does have some experience, he’s played in the league (NHL) before, so it’s not like a whole bunch of nerves. He can settle in and use his tool set.

“He’s been real good since he’s been up here. (Coaches) talk about playing players and not worrying about or being afraid of putting them on the ice, John is like that. In overtime, you’re putting him out there. I know he scored an important goal, but the work he did in the neutral zone, along the boards, that’s something we talked about after the first (period).

“His board work was something that kept the whole play alive and he wound up getting rewarded. We’re happy to have him right now.”

Leonard isn’t putting any sort of extra pressure onto himself.

“I try to take it day by day, practice by practice and shift by shift,” Leonard said. “Whatever happens, happens. I’m just grateful for the opportunity to be here. Whether it’s one more game or whatever the case may be, obviously I don’t know, but day by day, try to make the most of it and work as hard as I can.”

It’ll be at least one more game. McLellan said after Sunday’s victory Kane (upper-body) will not be ready before Christmas. There’s a chance, McLellan said, that Kane could return the first game back, Dec. 27 in Carolina. Kane has missed the last four games.

Ice chips

Moritz Seider’s overtime goal Sunday was his third career overtime goal, tying Danny DeKeyser and Jake Walman, and trailing only Nicklas Lidstrom and Niklas Kronwall in franchise history, who both had four in their career.

… Lucas Raymond has 26 points (seven goals, 19 assists) in his last 22 games after scoring a goal Sunday.

… With two assists, Andrew Copp has 11 points (two goals, nine assists) and a plus-11 rating in his last 10 games.

… Talbot is 4-0-0 this season while making 30 or more saves. Talbot had 31 in Sunday’s victory.

… The Wings lead the NHL with 53 second-period goals. They are 16-1-1 when leading after 40 minutes, and 8-1-1 when doing so on home ice.

Continuing to cling to playoff hopes by their fingertips, the Lions knew they needed to win out to cash in on any of those hopes. Instead, they were run over by the visiting Steelers in Sunday’s game, losing 29-24 when they couldn’t cash in on a scoring opportunity in the waning seconds.

Takeaways from disastrous defensive effort that sinks Lions in 29-24 loss to Steelers

Last-play TD nullified; loss to Steelers puts staggering Lions on thinnest ice for making playoffs

DETROIT (AP) — Moritz Seider scored at 4:36 of overtime and the Detroit Red Wings beat the Washington Capitals 3-2 on Sunday to sweep a home-and-home series.

Detroit won 5-2 in Washington on Saturday. The Red Wings have won seven of their last nine.

After the Capitals killed a penalty early in overtime, Seider ripped a slap shot past Charlie Lindgren late in the extra session.

John Leonard and Lucas Raymond also scored for the Red Wings, and Cam Talbot made 31 saves.

Ethen Frank scored twice for Washington, and Charlie Lindgren stopped 24 shots. The Capitals lost for the fifth time in six games.

Frank opened the scoring with 5:43 left in the first, beating defenseman Albert Johansson down the right wing, then cutting inside to slide the puck through Talbot’s legs.

Detroit tied it at 8:37 of the second on Raymond’s power-play goal. The Red Wings took a 2-1 lead with 6:14 left in the period when Alex DeBrincat flipped the puck at the net, and it deflected off Leonard’s leg and past Lindgren. DeBrincat had an assist for his 550th NHL point.

Frank tied it at 9:38 of the third, scoring his 10th NHL goal with a shot through traffic.

Detroit’s Elmer Soderblom left late in the first period after being hit in the face by Washington defenseman Jakob Chychrun’s pass. Soderblom was bleeding heavily when assisted off the ice by Detroit trainers, but returned midway through the second period with a full shield.

Up next

Capitals: Host the New York Rangers on Tuesday night.

Red Wings: Host Dallas on Tuesday night.

CHICAGO (AP) — Alex DeBrincat scored twice and had an assist, John Gibson earned his second shutout in three starts, and the Detroit Red Wings beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-0 on Saturday night.

Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist and Emmitt Finnie also scored for the Red Wings, who have won four of five.

Chicago dropped its fourth game in five.

The Red Wings had the run of the ice from the start, jumping to a 2-0 lead in the first 4:35. DeBrincat opened the scoring from the right slot at 55 seconds, then set up Kane for his 498th career goal, a backhand from the right crease past goaltender Arvid Soderblom, less than four minutes later.

Finnie made it 3-0 on a slot rebound at 14:23 of the second, caroming in a saved shot of Lucas Raymond. DeBrincat added an empty-net goal with 3:46 remaining.

Gibson made 26 saves in his 26th career shutout. His best save was against Frank Nazar, without a goal for more than a month, to start the third period. The Blackhawks have been shut out three times in their last 11 games.

Soderblom stopped 20 shots and picked up his sixth loss in 10 starts.

Chicago star forward Connor Bedard missed the game because of the right shoulder injury in the last second of Friday’s game at St. Louis. No diagnosis has been revealed, but he isn’t expected to travel on the team’s road trip to Canada next week.

Rookie Nick Lardis, called up from Rockford of the American Hockey League and placed on the third line, had a couple of offensive chances in his first NHL game.

Up next

Red Wings: Host the New York Islanders on Tuesday.

Blackhawks: At Toronto on Tuesday.

— By TIM CRONIN, Associated Press

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — John Gibson made 39 saves for his first NHL shutout in nearly three years, and the Detroit Red Wings beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-0 on Monday night.

James van Riemsdyk, Andrew Copp, Nate Danielson and Dylan Larkin scored for the Red Wings (16-11-3), who moved from just outside the crowded Eastern Conference playoff picture into first place in the Atlantic Division.

Detroit has earned at least one point in five consecutive games and is 3-0-1 since an 0-3-1 slide.

The 32-year-old Gibson improved to 7-7-1 in his first season with the Red Wings after 12 with Anaheim. It was his 25th career shutout and first since a 2-0 win for the Ducks over Dallas on Jan. 4, 2023. He is 13-5-2 against Vancouver with four shutouts.

Canucks goalie Kevin Lankinen was removed after making 10 saves on 13 shots over two periods. Nikita Tolopilo stopped all six shots he faced in the third.

Vancouver (11-16-3) went 0 for 3 with the man advantage and has gone six games without a power-play goal. Detroit was 0 for 2.

In a fast-moving first period, the Canucks outshot the Red Wings 11-6. But the visitors opened the scoring when van Riemsdyk tapped a loose puck at the net front past Lankinen for his fourth goal in four games.

Late in the second, Copp and Danielson scored 37 seconds apart. Copp’s third of the season was a backdoor tap-in off a pass from defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellikka. Danielson’s second career goal was a net-front tip off Sandin-Pellikka’s point shot.

Sandin-Pellikka’s two primary assists gave him his first multipoint night in 30 NHL games.

Larkin added an empty-net goal in the third.

Canucks captain Quinn Hughes was held without a point for the sixth straight game, tying the longest drought of his career in April 2023.

Vancouver center Elias Pettersson missed his second game in a row with an upper-body injury.

Detroit has won consecutive games for the first time since Nov. 16 and 18.

Up next

Red Wings: Visit the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night in the fourth of a six-game trip.

Canucks: Host the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night to finish a four-game homestand.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Nico Hischier, Timo Meier and Connor Brown had a goal and an assist each and the New Jersey Devils beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 on Monday night in a matchup of two of the top four teams in the Eastern Conference.

Alex DeBrincat, James van Riemsdyk and Dylan Larkin scored for Detroit.

New Jersey scored three goals in the first period on just eight shots for a 3-1 lead after one, snapped a three-game losing streak, and got its first win in regulation since beating the Los Angeles Kings 4-1 on Nov. 1.

The Devils’ previous four wins occurred in either overtime or the shootout.

New Jersey’s Jacob Markstrom made 32 saves, 13 in the third period.

Hischier scored his fourth goal in five games and added an assist on Meier’s first-period goal for the 102nd multipoint game of his Devils’ career.

Cody Glass snapped a 1-1 tie for New Jersey in his first game back after missing the previous four games with an upper-body injury. He replaced Juho Lammikko on the Devils third line.

Van Riemsdyk, who grew up in New Jersey, scored a power-play goal in his 1,100th game that got the Red Wings to within 3-2 in the second period.

Moritz Seider added two assists for Detroit, who lost for just the second time in its last seven games.

Brown moved the Devils’ lead to 4-2 from Dalton Mercer later in the second period before Larkin scored his 13th goal in the third period.

Cam Talbot had 15 saves for Detroit.

Up next

Devils: Host St. Louis on Wednesday night.

Red Wings: Host Nashville on Wednesday night.

— By EVERETT MERRILL, Associated Press

The post The Metro: What makes the Detroit Red Wings so important to Detroit? appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck will undergo an arthroscopic procedure on his knee and be out four to six weeks, the team said Friday.

Jets coach Scott Arneil said Friday that Hellebuyck, a three-time Vezina Trophy winner as the NHL’s top goalie, had been trying to play through a knee injury, and the timing is right to get it taken care of. Hellebuyck is from Commerce Twp., and attended Walled Lake Northern High School.

“Obviously, he’s, what is it, 10 years, he’s been pretty healthy,” Arniel said. “And this has kind of been nagging on him here since training camp. It’s something we’ve kind of known about, he was trying to play through it, would be good days, bad days, just something that, timing’s right, get it done now.

“A lot of schedule ahead of us, so that was really just the thinking. Sat down, talked to him, obviously the medical staff, everybody, agent. This was the time to do it.”

The surgery comes less than three months before the start of the Olympic men’s hockey tournament in Milan, Italy.

Hellebuyck is 8-6-0 with a 2.51 goals-against average and .913 save percentage this season for the Jets (12-7-0), who entered a game Friday against Carolina in third place in the Central Division.

The 32-year-old Hellebuyck won his first Hart Trophy as NHL MVP and his second straight — and third career —Vezina Trophy in 2024-25, helping the Jets to the best regular-season record in the NHL. He also won the award as top goalie in 2019-20.

Hellebuyck was not included in the first group of six players announced for the United States’ Olympic preliminary roster, but was widely expected to be added to the team.

Eric Comrie is expected to take the Jets starting role in Hellebuyck’s absence. He is 4-1 with a 2.60 GAA and .908 save percentage this season.

In a corresponding move, the Jets called up goaltender Thomas Milic from the American Hockey League’s Manitoba Moose.

“Obviously we’ve been really fortunate to have Helly be healthy and available,” Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey said. “His durability is something to marvel at. Obviously now without him, you can’t replace a guy like that.

“But we’re super confident in Coms and Milly and our defensive game. But definitely, we’ve been fortunate to not have him out of the lineup for a whole lot of years.”

Hellebuyck, who last played on Nov. 15 in a victory over Calgary, was 47-12-3 last season. He has a career record of 330-191-44 with a 2.56 GAA and .918 save percentage and 45 shutouts.

NEW YORK (AP) — Lucas Raymond scored the tiebreaking goal late in the third period and the Detroit Red Wings beat the New York Rangers 2-1 on Sunday night.

Alex DeBrincat also scored and Cam Talbot had 18 saves as Detroit rebounded from a 5-4 overtime loss to Buffalo at home on Saturday.

Mika Zibanejad scored for the Rangers, who snapped a three-game winning streak and fell to 1-7-1 at home to go along with their league-best 9-1-1 road mark. Jonathan Quick finished with 40 saves.

Raymond scored his fifth of the season with 3:47 remaining as he brought the puck into the offensive zone up the right side, skated around the back of the net and beat Quick from between the circles.

DeBrincat opened the scoring with his ninth on the power play at 9:30 of the second. Raymond and Patrick Kane had assists on the play, with Kane getting his 1,352nd point — one behind Guy Lafleur for 30th place on the all-time scoring list.

Zibanjead tied it with his seventh on the power play with 8:01 remaining in the middle period. Artemi Panarin had an assist on the play, giving him 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in his last six games.

New York, which beat Nashville last Monday for its lone home win, has been shut out five times and scored once in two other losses at Madison Square Garden.

Before the game, the Rangers honored Hall of Fame journalist Larry Brooks, who passed away on Nov. 13 at 75. Brooks primarily covered the Rangers for the New York Post in a career spanning five decades.

Up next

Red Wings: Host Seattle on Tuesday night to start a three-game homestand.

Rangers: At Vegas on Tuesday night to begin a three-game trip.

— By ALLAN KREDA, Associated Press

DETROIT – There aren’t many chances in an NHL regular season to have a full-scale, physical practice like the Red Wings had Tuesday.

This season’s schedule, in particular, is so condensed because of the Olympics, that it’s rare a team is off three days like the Wings currently are.

But after two consecutive losses – and three in four games – and needing to shake up the look of the team a bit, coach Todd McLellan made it feel almost like training camp Tuesday with a competitive practice.

“We don’t get a lot of time during the season to practice the way we did today,” McLellan said. “We just can’t because you have so many games in a short time frame. They expended a lot of energy (Tuesday). It was physical, a lot of battling, and so it gave us a chance to have a practice like that.

“But also to remind them that’s an important part of the game.”

After reviewing the losses to the New York Rangers and Chicago (by a 9-2 combined score), McLellan felt the Wings had offensive opportunities score on several odd-man rushes.

“That part of the game is OK,” McLellan said. “It’s what happens when we settled into the offensive zone and feeder shots getting to the net, and are we near the net or through the goalie’s eyes or are we around rebounds? Conversely, on the other end, are we doing a good job (in those areas)?

“That type of practice was designed because of time and a need for the group.”

Getting to the net and disrupting the opposing goaltender are things the Wings need to do during this recent offensive power outage.

“Being stronger in front of the goalie’s eyes,” forward Alex DeBrincat said. “We’re getting a lot of shots but a lot of them are from the point and no one is in front and going through the goalie’s eyes. It’s pretty hard in this league if you don’t do that. That was an emphasis today (in practice), and playing in front of the net at both ends of the ice.”

McLellan also changed the look of the lineup, keeping the lines the Wings’ finished with in Sunday’s game.

That meant DeBrincat with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond, and Emmitt Finnie with J.T. Compher and Patrick Kane.

“Sometimes lines get a little stale, and it’s no reflection on Cat or Emmitt or anybody else,” McLellan said. “We’re just trying to do different things. Both lines played better after the change in the third period (Sunday). Are we going to do that against Anaheim (Thursday)? We’ll see.”

DeBrincat was excited about potentially skating with Larkin and Raymond.

“Two great players, and obviously fun to play with them,” DeBrincat said. “They have a lot of speed. They can make a lot of plays and hopefully we can have the puck a lot during the game. Those two guys are good defensively and we can create chances off their turnovers and go down and play with the puck, where we’re more comfortable.”

Both DeBrincat and Kane, who are known for their on-ice chemistry, said occasional line changes like these don’t change the way they play with new linemates.

“I try to stick to the same stuff with them,” DeBrincat said. “We can all rotate on who is getting on pucks and all of us just try to hunt pucks quick and create turnovers in the offensive zone. That’s kind of how we feed off each other, with us three, and create offense that way.

“If we can play a simple game and play in their end and get pucks back, we’ll be fine.”

Said Kane: “Maybe without Cat on that side you look for your shot a little more, or maybe try to get to the net a little more. But it’s still being who you are as a player, and it’s the same thing with Finnie or J.T.; it’s the player that you are.”

McLellan said Sunday the recall of Nate Danielson was a chance to potentially ignite the Wings’ offense and take a look at different combinations. It wasn’t, as social media suggested, to necessarily ignite trade discussions.

“My son called me (Sunday) and said, ‘Oh, you guys are trading some players,’” McLellan said. “No, we’re not. That doesn’t mean we won’t or ever will, but that’s not the reason. Danny (Danielson) is here because he’s played well in training camp and we have players who are struggling, and we feel he can inject some life and enthusiasm into the team and maybe provide us with some offense.

“He’s earned the right to do that after training camp. We can put him in and see how he looks with other players and maybe we can find combinations and evaluate. But it’s not about (general manager) Steve (Yzerman) buying airline tickets and sending people all over the place.”

DETROIT (AP) — Connor Bedard had a goal and two assists to lead the Chicago Blackhawks to a 5-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday.

Teuvo Teravainen, Tyler Bertuzzi and Oliver Moore also scored and Andre Burakovsky added an empty-net goal for the Blackhawks, who have won three straight. Arvid Soderblom made 45 saves and Artyom Levshunov had two assists, giving him four assists in his last three games.

Bedard scored on the power play 59 seconds in after Dylan Larkin was penalized for tripping. Bedard has three goals in his last three games.

Bertuzzi has six goals in three games after getting a hat trick in the third period against the Canucks on Wednesday.

Larkin scored at 4:19 of the first period for the Red Wings, losers of three straight, and John Gibson made 15 saves.

Up next

Blackhawks: Host the Devils on Wednesday.

Red Wings: Host Anaheim on Thursday.

DETROIT (AP) — Dylan Larkin and rookie Emmitt Finne each scored twice to help the surging Detroit Red Wings beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 on Sunday.

Detroit has won five straight since opening with a 5-1 loss to Montreal.

Edmonton has a losing record after dropping a third straight game as superstar Connor McDavid extended his career-long, season-opening, goal drought to six games.

Detroit’s John Gibson stopped 16 shots, including one that denied McDavid midway through the third period. On the same shift, Larkin poked the puck away from the three-time MVP to take away another potential scoring opportunity.

Edmonton’s Stuart Skinner had 21 saves.

Leon Draisaitl was all alone with a chance to pull the Oilers into a tie late in the game, but lost control of the puck.

Shortly thereafter, Finne scored an empty-net goal to seal it.

Finne, a 2023 seventh-round pick, had the first goal of midway through the second period to put Detroit ahead 2-0 after Larkin broke a scoreless tie a few minutes earlier in the period.

Larkin, who has a point in all six games this season, resored the Red Wings’ two-goal lead late in the third period after Edmonton’s Noah Philp scored.

Detroit’s captain is the third Red Wing to have multiple season-opening point streaks of six or more games, joining Hall of Famers Gordie Howe and Steve Yzerman.

The Red Wings are off to a desperately needed strong start after extending their franchise-record postseason drought to nine years last spring.

The Oilers, coming off back-to-back losses in the Stanley Cup Final, didn’t earn a point for the first time against Detroit in eight games to end their longest active streak against an opponent.

Up next

Oilers: At Ottawa on Tuesday night.

Devils: At Buffalo on Wednesday night.

TORONTO (AP) — Mason Appleton scored the winner with 44.1 seconds left in regulation and Cam Talbot made 38 saves as the Detroit Red Wings survived a blown two-goal lead in the third period to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 on Monday.

Dylan Larkin and James van Riemsdyk had the other goals for Detroit, which picked up back-to-back victories over last season’s Atlantic Division champion.

Matthew Knies, with a goal and an assist, and Calle Jarnkrok replied for Toronto. Anthony Stolarz stopped 12 shots.

Detroit opened the scoring late in a sloppy first period when Larkin dug the puck out of a crowd and roofed a backhand on Stolarz just as a 5-on-3 power play expired. Van Riemsdyk then made it 2-0 early in the third on a partial breakaway, but Knies and Jarnkrok got Toronto back even before Appleton’s late heroics.

Fans at Scotiabank Arena were encouraged to stick around after the final buzzer to watch Game 2 of the American League Championship Series — happening just down the street at Rogers Centre — between the Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners on the videoboard above center ice.

Easton Cowan, selected 28th overall at the 2023 draft, made his NHL debut. He is viewed as the Leafs’ top prospect.

Up next

Red Wings: Host the Florida Panthers on Wednesday.

Maple Leafs: Host the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.