In a span of two days against the best team in the NHL, the Detroit Red Wings responded to perhaps their worst game of the season with arguably their finest effort of the year.

The Red Wings’ 2-0 victory Monday Colorado might be looked back upon as their most important game of the season, coming off a 5-0 loss at home to the Avalanche.

It’s the sign of a resilient team that has learned hard lessons.

“I thought it was outstanding,” coach Todd McLellan said in his postgame address to the media. “We had some legs, we were connected, we made some passes, we defended well. Just about everything that could get turned upside down was. And you got to give the leadership group and the players a lot of credit for responding.”

John Gibson made his fifth consecutive start and stopped 22 shots for his fourth shutout of the season. Marco Kasper scored in the first minute and Lucas Raymond tallied an empty-net goal in the final minute.

“It was a total team effort,” Gibson told media in Colorado. “Everybody was committed to playing defense, offense, getting the pucks deep, forechecking. I think it was probably one of the most complete games that I’ve been a part of this year.”

McLellan said his team’s game management was top-notch.

“Calculated risk, smart checking skills, defended with numbers, got saves when we needed,” he said. “No weak links tonight. And it takes that much to beat a team like that.”

McLellan said the team had a “pretty direct meeting” after Saturday’s performance. Then they ended an eight-game losing streak in Colorado (0-7-1) that dated back to Feb. 27, 2016 (4-3 victory in the Stadium Series at Coors Field).

Now the Red Wings (33-18-6, 72 points) face another tough test Wednesday at Utah in their final game before the Olympic break (9 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network).

The Mammoth (29-23-4, 62 points) are 7-3-0 in their past 10. The Utah/Arizona franchise is 9-1-1 in its past 11 vs. the Red Wings, who won 5-1 in their only appearance at Utah, on March 24, 2025.

“It’s not an easy place to play,” McLellan said. “That team’s playing really well right now and the focus is going to have to be really precise. We can’t let our minds wander and get ahead of ourselves.”