With their moms watching from the stands, the Detroit Red Wings came through with a superb celebratory performance.
They took on the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena in Washington on Saturday, Dec. 20, and played as good as game as the Wings have played all season. They scored first, kept going, and never let up pressure. The result was a 5-2 victory over one of the best defensive teams in the NHL.
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The teams meet again at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit in another matinee Sunday (1 p.m. FanDuel Sports Network Detroit). Saturday’s victory was the sixth in eight games for the Wings, and improved their Atlantic-Division leading record to 20-13-4.
Detroit Red Wings moms watch their sons play the Washington Capitals on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, at Capital One Arena in Washington.
FAMILY TRADITION: Detroit Red Wings giving moms their due on trip to D.C.
Dylan Larkin secured the two points in the bank with 2:50 to play, when he scored into an empty net. Martin Fehervary had scored midway through the third period to edge the Capitals within two goals.
John Gibson finished with 24 saves; the Wings, with 41 shots. It was part of the team’s moms trip, which also includes Sunday’s matinee, followed by a holiday party.
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Leonard pounces
The Wings delivered an outstanding first period, scoring a minute in and continuing to barrage Logan Thompson with pucks. John Leonard, called up for three games to fill in while Patrick Kane heals from an upper-body injury, made it 1-0 65 seconds after the first faceoff, when he connected on Simon Edvinsson’s rebound in the low slot – exactly the net-front play Todd McLellan lamented the Wings were missing in their previous game, a 4-1 loss to the Utah Mammoth on Wednesday. The Wings had a 17-6 edge in shots after the first period.
James van Riemsdyk built on the good vibes 1:37 into the second period. Andrew Copp picked the puck up after Edvinsson fired it cross ice into the right corner, and fed the puck back to Moritz Seider. His shot went off the end boards and bounced towards the crease, where van Riemsdyk turned it into his eighth goal of the season.
Finishing things off
The Wings lead grew to 3-0 soon after. Elmer Söderblom missed a wide-open net on a set-up by Marco Kasper but on the same shift, Söderblom made up for that when he lifted Kasper’s pass into Washington’s net, at 5:55.
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Seider made it 4-0 when he won a puck battle against Anthony Beauvillier inside Detroit’s zone and raced up ice to snipe the puck into Washington’s net midway through the second period. Thirty-one seconds later the Capitals got one back, with Aliaksei Protas from inside his own zone all the way to Detroit’s net, at 10:36.
The 31 shots the Wings had on net after two periods was a season best.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings wallop Washington Capitals, 5-2