The Detroit Red Wings needed a kick in the pants and Todd McLellan administered it Thursday after a lackluster first period in Edmonton.
The Red Wings were a much different team the rest of the way, erasing an early two-goal deficit and beating the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 in a shootout.
“I didn’t think we had enough players going and challenged them between periods,” McLellan told FanDuel Sports Network. “All we had to do was find two or three more in the second period and maybe two or three more players in the third and scrap our way to a win.
“But we needed great goaltending, which we got. And we needed some good penalty killing, which we got. And the opportunities we got in the second half of the game we buried. The first half, we missed nets on some of our chances, didn’t find a way to finish. But good night for our group.”
The Red Wings (25-21-5, 55 points) have won four in a row and are 12-4-1 under McLellan. They are only two points out of the wild card spots that Tampa Bay and Columbus currently occupy. They visit Calgary Saturday in the second stop of their four-game trip (10 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network).
“We’ll take any win we can get right now,” McLellan said. “As we win no matter how we do it I think we feel better about ourselves. But we do know we have to be better than we were tonight for the next 60 minutes in Calgary, but we’re not going to over-critique a win.”
Alex Lyon made 45 saves in regulation and overtime and in the shootout denied Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who lost control of the puck and didn’t get a shot off. Lucas Raymond and Dylan Larkin scored in the shootout for the Red Wings, after second-period goals by Michael Rasmussen and Larkin tied the game.
“(McLellan) came in and had some words with us after the first and we knew we had to get going,” Larkin told media in Edmonton. “Credit to him to get us going that way.”
It’s not the first time McLellan has expressed his dismay with the team. The day after a 5-2 loss to Toronto in his debut on Dec. 27, he barked “Play (expletive) hockey, you’ve done it your whole lives,” in practice.
They responded with a seven-game winning streak.
Thursday’s game started a stretch of 19 road games out of 32 to close the reason. The Red Wings are 10-10-3 on the road and in a span of four weeks beat heavyweights Winnipeg, Florida and Edmonton away from home.
More challenges await. According to tankathon.com, Detroit has the NHL’s most difficult remaining schedule based on opponents’ points percentage (.583).
None of that seems to faze a group that has a newfound attitude.
“We’ve been resilient lately, and when you get that attitude and you believe that you can win in any circumstance, it’s a powerful thing,” Lyon told FanDuel. “We have to hold on to that and foster that and just keep chugging forward and enjoy it for a little bit and then move on.”
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.