Chicago – What a road trip this was for the Red Wings.

A season-long, six-game journey, going from Columbus, to Seattle, to three stops in western Canada, and winding up Saturday in Chicago.

And it was successful. The Wings ended the trip Saturday with a convincing 4-0 victory over the Blackhawks, finishing the trip 4-1-1 and earning nine of 12 points.

“When you look at it from a points perspective, it’s a real good trip for us,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan said. “We had to win in a lot of different ways and to finish six games in 10 nights with a shutout (victory), that’s something we should be proud of.

“When we started training camp three months ago, we talked about being mentally stronger, physically stronger and improving in game management. We saw all three of those elements on the trip and especially here (Saturday).”

The Wings (18-12-3, 39 points) moved into a first-place tie with Tampa in the Atlantic Division.

“Not every game was the prettiest, but we found a way to win games and that’s huge,” said Alex DeBrincat, who scored two goals and had an assist. “We’re putting ourselves in a good spot, but it’s all so close, so we have to figure out a way to keep it going.”

It was a pair of former Chicago Blackhawks who triggered the Wings victory.

DeBrincat scored his 17th goal just 55 seconds into the game, with linemates Andrew Copp and Patrick Kane assisting, then it was DeBrincat who fed Kane on a two-on-one rush at 4 minutes, 35 seconds, giving the Wings a 2-0 lead that proved to be insurmountable.

DeBrincat then added his 18th goal, an empty-net goal late in the third period.

That start, though, was dazzling, and dimmed the energy of a United Center crowd that was celebrating the Blackhawks’ 100th anniversary.

“Good first couple of shifts, we were buzzing,” said Kane, who still draws plenty of cheers from Blackhawks crowds remembering the three Stanley Cups he was a key part of. “We had a lot of looks there the first half of the game. The second half, the game kind of slowed down a little bit. But it was nice to get us in a good spot there.”

BOX SCORE: Red Wings 4, Blackhawks 0

For Kane that was goal No. 498 in his career — and sixth this season — as he inches closer to the 500 milestone.

“Cat and Kaner, on a night like this in Chicago where they’re celebrating and both of them were such big part of this organization here, we’re happy for them to get on the board,” McLellan said. “The team was real happy and that gave us a lot of life when those two scored that quick.”

Emmitt Finnie scored a second-period goal, his seventh, at 14:23 in the second period.

Goaltender John Gibson earned his fifth consecutive victory, stopping 26 shots. It was Gibson’s second shutout of the season, and second shutout in the last three games.

“It was a complete game from top to bottom, from the drop of the puck to the finish,” Gibson said. “We stuck to our game plan and played real well. It was a real good team effort.”

Chicago (13-13-6), coached by former Wings coach Jeff Blashill, was playing without its star center, Connor Bedard, who injured his shoulder Friday in a loss in St. Louis.

But the Wings rarely allowed a quality Blackhawks scoring chance, and when Chicago did threaten, Gibson was there to turn it away.

“We really shut it down and Gibson has been awesome the last handful of games,” Kane said. “He’s been great for us, a real backbone back there.

“This was a real good trip for us. We were 4-1-1, so that’s a great trip, six games in 10 days with a lot of travel. That’s a real tough trip. We have to be happy with that.”

tkulfan@detroitnews.com

@tkulfan