DETROIT – Funny how the bounces have a way of balancing out for proven scorers.
Detroit Red Wings forward Alex DeBrincat couldn’t buy a break the first eight games, when he didn’t find the back of the net. Now he’s filling the net with pucks with five goals in the past three games and nine goals over 11 games.
“We talked about him at the beginning of the year and the (number) of chances that he had — posts, crossbars, unreal saves by the opposing goaltenders,” coach Todd McLellan said. “His play didn’t waver at all. It just kept on going, and now the puck is going in the net. He gets on these heaters, and we’d like to keep him on one.”
DeBrincat said it’s just a matter of sticking with it.
“Just kind of keep working hard, do the things right for the team and chances will start going in,” he said. “Just like sometimes they’re not going to go in and you can’t get frustrated. You get some that maybe you don’t deserve, too. So, it’s good right now.”
DeBrincat has had chemistry with Patrick Kane since their days in Chicago. He also has it with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond after being elevated to that line last week.
“He could go anywhere in our lineup, and I think he’d play the same game over and over and over again,” McLellan said. “And when you have a player like that, that doesn’t play outside his skin or change who he is when you move him around, that’s pretty valuable. Sometimes individuals will try to do things that they normally aren’t doing if they get elevated or dropped a little further down in the lineup. Cat plays the same game over and over again.”
The move resulted in DeBrincat being named Monday as the NHL’s second star for last week.
“Obviously, they’re great players; they have a lot of chemistry themselves, and I think I fit into that well,” DeBrincat said. “I think we all work hard to get pucks back and obviously those two guys have a ton of speed. So, we create turnovers and we go on offense like that. It’s fun to play with them. Happy to be on the line with them and keep this going.”
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