Detroit — There is a path for the Red Wings to make the playoffs, but it isn’t going to be easy.
Basically, it’s the winning a lot of their seven games left after Friday’s 5-3 victory over Carolina — and the teams in front of the Wings losing more than half of their games.
The odds aren’t good, but there is a chance. The Wings aren’t giving up.
“It’s a huge win against a top team,” said forward Patrick Kane, who scored his 20th goal. “We got great goaltending, but we did the job tonight. You look at our schedule the rest of the way, it doesn’t get any easier. But we can play against these top teams, and we proved that tonight.”
Carolina’s Brent Burns cut the Wings’ lead to 4-3 at 12 minutes, 44 seconds on a shot from the point. But unlike Tuesday in St. Louis when the Wings gave away a late lead, they held on, and Alex DeBrincat sealed it with an empty-net goal, his 34th goal, with a second left.
“The St. Louis game, we probably played that game a little bit better than this one,” coach Todd McLellan said. “Obviously it got away from us and we gave up a point. Tonight, we found a way to get them. That’s five of our last six points (earned) when we needed them. We know what is in front of us and the challenge.
BOX SCORE: Red Wings 5, Hurricanes 3
“But it’s a cliche, but as we’ve said all along, one game at a time.”
The Wings (77 points) are four behind Montreal for the second and final Eastern Conference wild-card position. The New York Rangers (79) and Columbus (77, one less game played than the Wings) stand in front of the Wings.
Ben Chiarot (fourth goal) and Marco Kasper (16th) scored 26 seconds apart in the first period, and Patrick Kane (20th) and Michael Rasmussen (11th) scored 21 seconds apart in the second period to pace the Wings.
Goaltender Cam Talbot stopped 30 shots as Carolina outshot the Wings, 33-22.
“They’re a tough team to handle, they’re 12-3 in their last 15 games and beat some real good teams,” McLellan said. “I don’t think a goaltender can just beat a team on his own, it has to be a team game, and we made some mistakes and they made us pay but we sold out and blocked some shots, got some good penalty killing (killed two Carolina power plays) and got some timely saves when we needed it.
“Talbs was real good but this was as much a team win as a goaltender win.”
Kane’s goal gave him his 17th 20-goal season, the most for an American-born skater, passing Westland’s Mike Modano (16).
“He was one of my favorite players,” Kane said. “The way he skated up and down the ice, his jersey flapping behind him. One of the best American players of all time.”
The Wings jumped on Carolina midway in the first period. Chiarot made it 1-0 at 9:03, blasting a rebound past goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov after DeBrincat’s shot hit the goalpost. Just 26 seconds later, Kasper tapped in a loose puck in the crease, making it 2-0.
Carolina’s Jackson Blake sliced the Wings’ lead to 2-1 at 1:57 of the second period after Justin Holl’s pass was intercepted by Seth Jarvis near the hashmarks and feeding Blake for a one-timer.
But Kane restored the two-goal lead at 9:05, swiping a puck from defenseman Jaccob Slavin and scoring on a breakaway. Rasmussen made it 4-1 21 seconds later, unattended in front of Kochetkov.
“You think about our goals tonight, scoring first favors us, getting to two favors us, getting one after the penalty kill (Kane’s goal) and the bang-bang Ras scoring right after (Kane), was huge,” McLellan said. “Each of the four goals we scored were momentum gainers for us and pushed them back further. They didn’t go away, they’re a good team, but it certainly helped us.”
The Wings lost to Carolina earlier in the month. Friday’s victory was the first in three games between the teams this season. They host defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Sunday (5:30 p.m./TNT/97.1)
“We’ve been battling the last couple of weeks, and we stuck to it,” Kasper said. “We’ve been working hard in practice, and it paid off today. Now we have to keep it rolling.”
ted.kulfan@detroitnews.com
@tkulfan
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