Detroit — No question, it’s been a great start to the Red Wings’ season.

But that’s all it’s been — a start. The Wings were 4-1-0 heading into Sunday’s game against Edmonton.

The Wings will take it, without a doubt. That’s eight points in the bank, and those points will be valuable in April when the playoff chase is in full swing.

But right now, all anyone in the locker room or coaches’ office is thinking of is the six months and 77 games remaining.

It’s a long way to go.

“The confidence is great, and we’ve earned the right to feel good about ourselves, but we don’t just hand in the paper and walk away,” said coach Todd McLellan of the nice first week. “This test goes on forever. There’s tomorrow, then there’s the next day. We can’t give anything back.”

McLellan made a point to say it’s important for the Wings to continue to grow and improve as a team. The first week has shown how effective the Wings can be, with stout goaltending from John Gibson and Cam Talbot, a penalty kill that has vastly improved year-over-year, and a relentless style of play.

But there’s a lot more to get better at and the Wings can hardly afford to rest on their five-game laurels.

“We have to continue to move our team forward,” McLellan said. “I’m not talking about wins or losses. Being confident and feeling good about yourself is a real thing but letting it slip sometimes comes with that. We’re going to try to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

One specific example the Wings are still learning to master is putting a team away in the late stages of a game. It was an issue last season and reared its head in Friday’s 2-1 overtime victory over Tampa. The Wings could have likely put the game away with a power-play goal, they didn’t, and the Lightning eventually scored late and forced overtime.

McLellan termed the entire third period “scrambly,” noting the Wings were disjointed and gave Tampa’s veteran stars the feeling they could steal a victory.

“We have to learn how to handle these situations a little bit,” McLellan said. “Our power play wasn’t crisp, wasn’t sharp, and some of those guys get a lot of confidence and a lot of feel off those situations and they didn’t get any of that. And (the Lightning) guys are sitting on the bench, their high-end players are going, ‘OK, they’re not going to put us away, let’s go.’

“And that’s what happened.”

But it’s easier to teach and learn when you’re winning. The Wings are doing that and attempting to build a foundation.

“It’s easier to learn when you’re winning,” forward J.T. Compher said. “We still have things to improve on. We were working on faceoff plays (Saturday’s practice) and getting on the same page. There’s still a lot to work on and improve. That’s the daily goal.

“We are doing a good job of managing games and that’s why we are giving ourselves a chance to win games right now.”

Rookies stay sharp

McLellan is almost at a loss for words talking about the contributions of rookies Axel Sandin-Pellikka, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and Emmitt Finnie.

The three continue to make an impact each game — Sandin-Pellikka scored his first NHL goal Friday — and aren’t playing like 20-year-olds.

McLellan started Friday’s overtime with Finnie and Sandin-Pellikka with captain Dylan Larkin, who eventually scored the winner.

“I don’t know what to say anymore,” McLellan said. “We talk so much about these guys. I’m working the forward, and Yawns (assistant coach Trent Yawney) is working the back end (defense) and (assistant coach) Alex Tanguay is in between. We’re talking to each other and we just feel like we can keep playing them. They’re not often at the scene of the crime for mistakes.

“Yes, they make some. (But) they’re hungry and effective right now and we’ll keep playing them.”

No loss of confidence

McLellan has been perplexed about questions regarding goaltender John Gibson’s supposed loss of confidence or possibly Cam Talbot suddenly taking over the starting job.

Gibson was pulled in the opening-night loss to Montreal, but McLellan has consistently talked about how the entire Wings’ lineup contributed greatly to the loss and Gibson was far from the sole reason for the disappointing setback.

Talbot relieved Gibson in that game, then got on a roll and won three straight games, including a masterful performance in Toronto.

Gibson returned to the net Friday and was a key reason the Wings defeated Tampa, and was back in net Sunday against Edmonton.

“I don’t know if I’ve completely misread this situation, (but) I don’t think John Gibson lost his confidence,” McLellan said. “I don’t think that he was horrible (opening night). Our team was awful night one, our team was. And then Talbs went on a good run, and Gibby came back. He (Gibson) looked confident and made some tremendous saves.”

tkulfan@detroitnews.com

@tkulfan