Detroit Red Wings say 6-3 victory over Toronto Maple Leafs speaks volumes
Patrick, how much more pleased were you guys with your performance tonight? Yeah, I mean just uh you know, I thought we had a decent start to be honest with you in the first and uh you know, you find yourself down two nothing, it’s a little disappointing, but um I think it speaks volumes of the group with uh kind of um just what we went through the past couple days. um not being um at the top of our game and um not having a great start, but uh to bounce bounce back, you know, being down two nothing and come out of the second being up 3-2 is obviously uh you know, an ideal situation for us. So, um you know, that’s I know it’s two games into the season, but um we prove we can, you know, turn the corner when we face that adversity. As you say, this is two games in, but didn’t it feel like you guys needed this? Yeah. Yeah. I think, you know, even when you win the game or see that empty net go in by Simon, it’s um there’s definitely a feeling of relief, right? Um and a big kill there at the end. Tops had some great saves, some great block shots um to keep it at 4-3. So, um definitely a big win for us. What was that after the first period? Not much really. Just to kind of, you know, stick with it. It’s not like we came in and we had to change, you know, our whole game or anything like that, but um you know, could see we started to turn the game there in the second. We had a lot of a lot of shifts in their end, a lot of good changes. Um, getting fresh guys against some of their tired guys was a was a huge momentum swing. How important was just getting getting that Casper goal? Cuz if you go down three, it could be a completely different story. I I mean, you know, that starts with uh you know, JT Copper and um and Brans’s uh shift there. You know, they have a great shift. They get off the ice. They put us in a good position to get get uh get out there fresh against some of their tired guys. We make a turnover and um that was a great um catch and release there by Cass Cass to uh you know um uh find us our first goal was a great shot. So um obviously a good feeling there when you make it 2-1. Lucas, how important was it for you guys to play the way you did tonight after the opener? Um huge, right? like um did not come out the way we wanted to and um you know that’s far from from the way we want to play and um cleaned up a lot of stuff and I think the way we looked tonight even through three periods even being down two nothing it was uh it was a good 60 minutes of hockey 100 career goals how does that feel for you yeah it’s fun obviously um I didn’t know about it but um it’s cool you know you you don’t take that stuff for granted and um always fun fun to score so look to keep that going how Did it resonate with you what Todd said the other night about kind of the time is now. There’s not there’s not time to kind of wait and fix some of these things from game one. Yeah, I mean we’ve been in situations a couple years in a row now where where it’s come down to the end where um you know the margins are are very thin and it’s about getting off to a good start, putting ourselves in a in a good position and uh getting good habits. We we got all the tools in this locker room and around us to to be a really good hockey team and um you know we have the confidence to to have it as well. So, um, yeah, I mean, it’s huge, right? Um, if we if we can replicate this game, I think we’ll be in a good spot. Well, we didn’t give up, uh, you know, the bushel full of outnumbered rushes. I think there was one real clear one. Um, we had a extended shift in their end. We shot the puck into somebody and all a sudden that 211, but the goalender made the save. So, that was a real good sign. Um, I thought we were a lot more resilient. Um, obviously going down nothing was, you know, and them scoring on the first shot on goal was not part of the plan. And at that point, we’ given up seven straight goals. So, um, you talk about being mentally tough. We didn’t roll over and and, uh, you know, wo is us type type attitude. We dug in a little bit more. So, that’s a real good sign for us. And I just thought we played with more pop and more uh more energy where we were connected. Um, you know, sometimes the first night does that to you, but we we settled in settled in, pardon me. How key was Marco’s goal just to kind of stem there. Well, it was it was important. Um, you know, prior to that, they had a I think a deflection in our end that almost went in again. All both her goals were tips or deflections, feeder shots from the blue line. And prior to that, they almost scored again. And that that would have been certainly deflating. Could we overcome it? I’m not sure. Uh especially since we had our own I thought we had our own opportunities just you know their goalender made some saves. We deflected some pucks over the net. There were scrambles we couldn’t get to but uh Marco’s goal turned the tide for us. And then just that late penalty kill. How key was that? Especially how important you don’t want to put that team on the power play. Um you know especially when you’re 200 feet away from your net. It just makes no sense. So give the penalty killers and tal credit for for getting us through that. And the extension of the penalty kill was the 615. They they basically played the last four minutes, you know, four of the last five minutes on the power play. I thought we did a did a a real good job of holding our own there. Big test for us. Yeah. T, speaking of the power play, just that that fiveman unit there. I mean, they flourished last year and looks like they’ve just picked up where they left off. just how important is it that I they’ve got a goal in each of the first two games, but they all when they don’t score, they also seem to give you a spark. Yeah, it’s you know what the the power play has to at at very least provide some momentum and some energy and excitement for the team and it’s impossible to score every time. Uh but those five players when they’re clicking um you know and they’re moving it quick which they were tonight uh they’re dangerous if they score great. If not as we leave and and begin to play five on five again we feel pretty good about ourselves. They they’ve swung the tide our way for a little bit. Um so momentum is huge and uh when it doesn’t go well you give the momentum back now you’re scrambling. So I thought they did a good job of that tonight. He had those two Lucas Raymond goals gives him a 100 in his career. Since you’ve been here, what’s impressed you about him? Everything. Um, you know, the the competitiveness in him. Uh, he’s a fiery guy. Um, you know, I didn’t know he was as um evasive with the puck that, you know, how he can pick his way through shots. Tremendous. He’s he’s learning how to be a a real good leader and he commits to the the defensive side of the puck. And you know, I think if I remember last year, I used the comparison of of Hank when he was here, Zedterberg, and uh well, and I think I used that with Casper a little bit too, but those two players remind me of the way he played.
Detroit Red Wings Patrick Kane, Lucas Raymond & Todd McLellan speak after the Red Wings get their first win of the 2025-26 NHL season, a 6-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs, on Oct. 11, 2025 in Detroit. Video by Helene St. James, DFP.
Read more: https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2025/10/11/detroit-red-wings-bounce-back-victory-in-second-game/86652704007/
For more Detroit and Michigan news, sports and entertainment, follow the Detroit Free Press on:
Online – https://www.freep.com
Facebook – https://bit.ly/2T7zuV9
Instagram – https://bit.ly/2Chb7hR
TikTok – https://bit.ly/3MiQVjW
X – https://bit.ly/2JeixbW
#detroitredwings #redwings #nhl
1 comment
Sorry to break it to you. The Leafs mailed it in….AGAIN!!