Saturday night in Calgary, the Detroit Red Wings won their fifth straight game, beating the Flames 3–1. After the Red Wings picked up just one win in four tries on their previous road trip, Detroit could hardly imagine a better start to its present Western swing: Two wins in two tries, with both nights ending in a celebratory octopus flying onto the ice.
Brett Holmes, Imagn Images
“We’ve been gutting out a lot of wins lately, and it’s nice to see that we can win in a lot of different ways…We weathered the storm there at the beginning and got a couple big goals and locked it down from there,” goaltender Cam Talbot told reporters after the game, having made 33 saves on 34 shots and earning first star honors for his troubles.
The Red Wings led 2–0 after the first period, though that scoreline was perhaps not entirely reflective of their performance. Dylan Larkin and Simon Edvinsson each scored to build that advantage, but the Flames had a 12–8 edge in shots and looked the more dangerous team. That dynamic carried over into the second (with Calgary earning a 13–8 advantage in shots), but the period ended scoreless. Ultimately, Detroit played its best hockey of the night to close out the result in the third, which Andrew Copp sealed via an empty-net goal with 54 seconds to play.
“We talk about start,” McLellan said after the game. “It’s great to have a two-goal lead after the first period, but I thought in the first five minutes, there were opportunities for us to establish our—call it—three-foot boundaries, where loose pucks and body position, and quick feet. And I didn’t think we did that. I thought the red team did it better than we did…When we came out in the third, I thought we were much better than the first two periods.”
Beyond the result, the highlight of the night was Dominik Shine picking up his first career NHL point in his third NHL game, earning the secondary assist on Larkin’s opener:
The Red Wings will look to continue their winning ways Sunday night in Vancouver, when they will take on the Canucks at Rogers Arena.
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