Alex DeBrincat, Moritz Seider, Todd McLellan Post Game Comments vs AHA | Nov. 13, 2025

Alex DeBrincat, Moritz Seider, Todd McLellan Post Game Comments vs AHA | Nov. 13, 2025

Pat, obviously the response you guys wanted in this game, what allowed you to kind of respond so well in those moments? Yeah, I think um the emphasis in in practice was work work ethic in the goalie’s eyes. I thought we did a good job of that. Um you know that third goals um you know straight coppers in front of the net and it squeaks through. So um I think we did a good job of that, but we got to keep that up. You’re not going to get combined. Sorry. You say you’re not going to get many chances this season to have a couple practices in a row like that. How much do you think that helped? Yeah, for sure. I think it uh helps a lot. Um you get some rest and you also can work on some things maybe you don’t normally work on. So um you know for us this week it was getting in the goalie’s eyes getting in front of the net and um you know working hard there. So um thought we did a good job of that. Uh like I said we got to keep that up and uh make it hard on their goalies. Just only a few goals combined in the last three games but tonight you put six on them. How how big is that for the team going forward just to kind of get the scoring monkey off your backs if you will? Yeah it’s huge. I think um you know past couple of games we struggled to put it in the net. We’ve had our chances but um just wasn’t going in. So it’s nice to to put a few in the net and hopefully keep that going and um get that confidence that we know we can play with good teams and um you know that’s a good team over there. They got a lot of skilled guys there and um you know I thought we did a good job today of responding when um things weren’t going our way. We responded put one in the net and um moved on from there. You know goalie sometimes get cold but in this case John obviously wasn’t on the bench for the third. How does that affect the team? Um, yeah, I think we’re confident in both goalies. I don’t think, um, you know, it really affects us much. Um, you know, obviously we want to see Gibby be all right, but um, we trust TS in there and he did a great job in the third period and, um, really kept us in it. What was the key to just getting to the net, getting that traffic, just determination and and and staying there? Yeah, I think um, it’s timing it right. It’s um, you know, D getting it through. It’s it’s forwards getting through the goalie’s eyes and not getting boxed out. But I think um there’s a lot of things that go into it, but you know, for us forwards, it’s it’s just um a lot of hard work to get to the front of the net, and we um like I said, we did a good job of that today. Um still can be way better. Um make it a lot harder on them. Get some, you know, a couple more greasy goals and um you know, that’s something I’m sure we’re going to continue to work on. Like you say, it’s not necessarily the big behemoth in front like on Morris’s goal, you just kind of timed the coming across the net perfectly. He just took his eyes on it right at the key moment. Yeah, I think um that’s all it takes. I think um you know that’s what we worked on. You know, even for me it’s it’s um not necessarily standing there and and getting in the goalie eyes, but yeah, just making them lose the puck for one second and um you know, I think that changes a lot. I mean, you talk to the goalies uh you know, on our team and they obviously hate that. So, um you know, we got to do it to to their team a lot more. Thanks, Scott. I know the special teams a lot better tonight on both fronts. What allowed you guys to kind of have control on that play? Um, I mean, we’re we’re a good team all around and we just needed a bounce or two and I think that’s what what happened tonight. I think we really stuck to our structure um really trying to simplify things um on both sides of the of the of the uh ice and I think it worked. So, we just try to stay positive throughout the whole night and I’m really happy with the result. How much did it help having two such intense practices? Um, I mean it was a little bit of a wakeup call I think and um I mean as we all know Todd’s very demanding and very detailed and um maybe it was exactly what we needed to to get back on track and um yeah it’s a good good first step in the right direction. Well, there was a lot of back and forth in this one tonight. What enabled you guys to get the responses that you needed in the moments that you needed them? Um, I think we can do a better job of just staying composed, especially after we score. I think we just kind of gave it right back to them twice. And that’s obviously a little bit of a momentum killer, but we found a way to stay in the game. Um, stay hungry, um, get pucks in behind their, uh, defenseman and trying to really work our way back into that game. And, um, I think that’s a that’s a little thing to be very proud of. Is it a satisfying feeling for you to have go in tonight when your worthy goal against the Ducks in the last game was just allowed? Uh, not really. I’m just just happy we we got a win here. Um, and also found a way to connect on the on the power play again. So, um, those things are are more important. Have you seen many double redirects like the one I remember if it was Dylan or Alex, but off your shot? Got each of them got a stick on it way and how big was the traffic in general at the net for you guys? I mean, that was a big point we talked about uh leading up to this game and um obviously it’s fun to see when when results are happening and um I just got to put it in the right spots for for the guys and they have obviously tremendous uh talent to deflect those pucks and and make it really hard for the opponent and and the goalender and that’s what happened tonight. What’s the balance when you have a shot like that of shooting it as hard as you can to try and score and kind of sifting it for for redirect? I mean, from up there, I mean, you can shoot basically as hard as you want. I think the goalie will save it every single time. So, it’s more about putting it in the right placement, uh, making sure you got somebody in front of the net and, um, taking away taking away his eyes and then obviously the shot becomes a lot more dangerous. Thank you. Thanks, Mo. Todd, we’ll start with what is the status of John Gibson? Uh Gibby left after the second with an upper body issue. He’s still going to be um evaluated tonight and we’ll see how he is in the morning. There’s been a lot made about the need for secondary scoring. Uh Michael Rasm looked like a a 40 goal scorer with that snipe there. How big of a goal was that at that point in the game and how can that help his confidence moving forward? Uh, I thought Ras played his best game of the season today. Um, for a lot of different reasons. Won the goal. Uh, but he looked confident, he looked big, strong, held on to pucks, was physical. So, for him there, that’s a a real big confidence booster. Um, you know, we’re happy for him. We’re glad that he did that and we need that going forward night after night because he’s he can play that way. He’s a pretty effective player when he does. How satisfying was it? Just everything that you worked on at practice this week. It seemed to come to fruition tonight basically. Well, that’s what you hope. Um, you know, you take the lesson, take the lesson, then you take the test. And, um, um, you know, we scored some goals, just simple hard playoff type goals really when you think about it. Hard hard goals that feeder shots that go to the net and you got to battle. And then the other way um with some of their feeder shots, we were we were sacrificing in front of our net. We stepped into to some things. Goenders made saves. Um so it is rewarding, but it can’t be we can’t just take the lesson one day and forget about it next week. That that lesson’s supposed to stay with us now. It looked like you put the power play units back to how they had been to start the second. Was it just kind of a you wanted to see it in the first and went away from it or um a little bit, but we we did it at the end of the first because we only had a minute left. Uh we’re going into the break. Uh players are fresh. We put them back together and it looked dangerous then. So, we decided to stay with it. And then to score kind of every variety of goal tonight, whether it was screens, tips, rush, like what does that do for for the group as a whole, I guess? Well, if you’re in a race to three, which I think we are every night, we’ve discussed that before. You better score in a multitude or have the ability to score in in multiple ways. Cycle, power play, uh shootouts, overtime, five on five, tips, deflection, screens. Um if you’re just a rush twoon-one team, uh you’re going to have some long nights. And then I don’t think Sandy Pelica played in the last 15 minutes or so. Is is that an injury or a coach’s decision? You know, just uh yeah, they uh just a coach’s decision. Uh you and some of the players have talked about playing a simpler version of the game with less overthinking. Do you think that that less those lessons were a factor tonight, especially because a lot of the shots came through deflections and through traffic? I think so. Yeah, they, you know, they practiced what they preached and if that’s what they’re telling you, they simplified things and um I I think I talked I don’t think it was last game, maybe the game before about our power play being upside down a little bit. Well, it it got writed. Um we we started with something and if we wouldn’t have scored, other things would have opened up. Um so hopefully we can keep it going that way. Todd, the uh you talked about getting uh more traffic, more net presence. How much of that is it’s a combination of just the determination to get there, but also timing it right so that you don’t block the shot? Um when I started to coach, Jacqu Lamer was was mentoring me a little bit in the minors and he used to talk about, you know, everybody get to the net, get to the net. And players tend to do what the coaches tell them to. So everybody goes to the net and all of a sudden three offensive players are there, three defensive players are there and you can’t even see the goalender and it just hits somebody. It the puck never gets there. There are certain spots that you need to be and you need to do certain things in those spots in and around the net. Some teams are really good at it. Some teams are still working on it. We’re one of those teams. but arriving on time, coming down on rebounds rather than chasing them away from the net. Uh certain things with goalender eyes, they’re all really important and we’re trying to stress them and get get our group to do it. Two different times Anaheim scores and you all score within 40 seconds of that. What did you see in the mentality from the group in those moments? No, that when we were on the road trip, I think uh Helen, we talked about the resiliency being a factor in our group. Um, you know, it wasn’t there coming home from the road trip the first two games, but tonight you get punched, you you want to throw a jab quickly back at them and stay on your feet, and we did that. So, it was a good thing. Was John knock down or was it I don’t I couldn’t tell you. I don’t know, Todd. And we don’t know obviously how serious John is hurt, but in a situation where someone is getting called up like that, how much of input do you have in that? Because obviously you don’t see those players as much as uh the Yeah. And are you talking about about the goalending situation or just any call up? Well, I can tell you that I have a a way better awareness of what’s in the organization now because we went through training camp with them. Uh, but I we still have to re we not just I we the whole staff and the organization have to rely on each other. That’s why we’re a team that that plays off the ice a little bit and we have great development people that go to Grand Rapids. We have management people that go uh we catch some games on the on the HL site that we can watch. We watch most of yesterday’s game after practice. Um, so everybody has an opinion and usually when a player comes up, it’s it’s a certain ingredient. Um, you know, and it it could very well be a reward for the work that they put in um throughout training camp and down there. What is this losing streak against this opponent to win this way? anybody’s Well, for for us it’s a it’s a big moment. It it alleviates some misery because it’s been miserable around here the last few days. It should be. Um we expect more from each other. Um staff included and uh it it alleviates the misery for a while, but we got to get back on the ice again tomorrow and we know we have a tough weekend coming up. Um but the uh the you know, I guess I’m repeating myself maybe a little bit. the the lesson the lesson the lesson then the test and now don’t forget the um you know the content let’s let’s keep the content let’s let’s not have to do what we did for two days let’s advance our team if that makes any sense but that’s how I feel and um you know if our group can capture that and move on then we can we can get ahead if we have to keep going back and learning things going to take us a while to graduate okay good Okay.

Alex DeBrincat, Moritz Seider, and Todd McLellan speak with the media following Detroit’s game on Thursday November 13, 2025 at Little Caesars Arena.