That was a lot harder for the Red Wings than it should’ve been.
The Wings took a quick lead Wednesday in Calgary, dominated most of the evening, but eventually had to hold on while defeating the Flames, 4-3.
Goaltender John Gibson stopped 34 shots and Alex DeBrincat scored two goals to highlight the Wings’ third victory in four games on this trip (3-0-1).
“Not the ideal third period,” DeBrincat told FanDuel Sports Detroit. “But we put ourselves in a good place to have a period like that. The guys held down the fort good the last four minutes (of the game) and it’s not easy to do.”
The Wings saw their 4-0 lead disappear in the third period when Calgary’s Joel Farabee (penalty shot) and Matt Coronato scored goals one minute, five seconds apart midway in the period to slice the Wings’ lead to 4-2, and MacKenzie Weegar’s one-timer at 14:40 got Calgary to within 4-3.
The Wings close out the trip with games Thursday in Edmonton (9 p.m./FDSN/97.1) and Saturday in Chicago.
BOX SCORE: Red Wings 4, Flames 3
The victory lifted the Wings (17-11-3, 37 points) back into first place in the Atlantic Division, one point ahead of idle Tampa and Boston.
“A win is a win, and we need to keep stacking wins right now,” forward Andrew Copp told reporters. “But our process has to be a lot better.
“After the first 10 minutes we stopped skating and our execution coming out of our zone was not good. Just attention to details and intensity over the puck, our basic tape to tape execution, was not there.”
Axel Sandin-Pellikka and Dylan Larkin added the Wings’ goals, while Copp and Patrick Kane both had two assists.
The Wings lost defenseman Simon Edvinsson to a lower-body injury. Edvinsson didn’t play the third period, with no update on his availability for Thursday’s game in Edmonton.
The Wings started quickly Wednesday as DeBrincat scored his first goal just one minute, two seconds into the game. Kane carried the puck into the zone, noticed Copp driving to the net and taking a Flames defender with him, and Kane backhanded a pass through the slot to DeBrincat, beat goaltender Devin Cooley.
Sandin-Pellikka made it 2-0 at 4:33 with his third goal, stretching his point-streak to four games (five points in that span). DeBrincat found Sandin-Pellikka open near the dot for a one-timer that Cooley had no chance on.
The Wings bunched two quick goals together midway in the second period. DeBrincat scored his 16th at 7:41, after an effective Copp forecheck forced a turnover, and Copp fed DeBrincat near the hashmarks for a wrist shot.
Larkin extended the lead to 4-0 with his 17th goal. Lucas Raymond found a streaking Larkin, who got behind the Flames defense and beat Cooley at 9:09.
But Farabee’s penalty shot goal, while the Flames were shorthanded, put Calgary on the scoreboard and ignited the Flames.
“Really happy we got the point, and when you’re on the road and playing in these buildings, it’s not easy to win,” coach Todd McLellan told reporters. “But I wouldn’t classify that as our ‘A’ game. Some of our game management came into question again.
“We’re happy we won that game, we need the points, but we have to things to polish up.”
tkulfan@detroitnews.com
@tkulfan
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