Alex DeBrincat pounced on a horrible giveaway by Montreal Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson and roofed a backhand past Jakub Dobes with 3:18 left in regulation time to snap a 1-1 tie as the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Canadiens 3-1 Thursday at Little Caesars Arena.

Matheson angrily splintered his stick against the goal post following DeBrincat’s tally.

WHAT A PLAY!!! 😼 pic.twitter.com/HWXBPig9yp

— NHL (@NHL) March 20, 2026

The Red Wings rallied from a 1-0 third-period deficit for the win. With the victory, Detroit remained eighth in the Eastern Conference. Both the Red Wings and Canadiens have 84 points, but Montreal maintains third place in the Atlantic Division based on a better point percentage than Detroit.

Following a scoreless opening period, Montreal finally opened the scoring at 17:45 of the second frame. Juraj Slavkovsky scored his 25th goal of the season during a Canadiens power play.

J.T. Compher makes it all even 👀 pic.twitter.com/b99gKNjUpq

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 20, 2026

The Red Wings tied the game at 1-1 when the puck banked into the Montreal net off of J.T. Compher and past Dobes.

Andrew Copp iced the victory with an empty-net goal at 19:43.

John Gibson stopped 31 shots in goal to get the win for Detroit.

Red Wings Takeaways

Detroit is 2-2-1 over the past five games and 4-3-2 in March . . . The Red Wings are 5-19-3 when trailing after two periods this season . . . The Wings are 2-0 on their current four-game homestand.

Key Moment

The Red Wings were rewarded with a pair of power-play opportunities in a span of 5:43 during the second period and failed to score on either of them. Detroit is 5-for-48 (10.4%) with the man advantage over the past 17 games.

Key Stat

Center Copp returned to the Detroit lineup following a three-game absence due to a lower-body injury. Copp skated 18:19 of ice time. John Leonard was scratched to make room for Copp.

Up Next For Red Wings

The Wings play host to the Boston Bruins on Saturday at Little Caesars Arena in another key Atlantic Division matchup with significant playoff implications. The puck is scheduled to drop at 8 p.m.