It would be patently wrong to expect Detroit Red Wings goalie Cam Talbot to shoulder the entire blame for his personal seven-game losing skid.

Now that his drought is over, he can look back upon it and give an honest assessment of his performance.

“I just felt like I hadn’t necessarily cost us games,” Talbot said. “But I also wasn’t winning games, either.”

Cam Talbot kept Detroit alive in this one, as the Capitals poured it on all afternoon. He gets his 1st win seven starts! #LGRW pic.twitter.com/TmUIvj2xMb

— Locked On Red Wings Podcast (@LO_RedWings) December 21, 2025

Detroit netminders recently went through their own puckstopping version of Freaky Friday. Just as John Gibson, who’d been mired in a 0-5-1 skid, went on a six-game unbeaten heater, Talbot, who’d been 6-1 in his previous seven decisions, entered into his slide.

That’s not a good thing. In today’s NHL, with a schedule packed full of back-to-backs and three-games-in-four-nights, riding one goalie isn’t a viable long-term option.

The top teams know that they can count on contributions from both of their goalies. And so far this season, the Red Wings haven’t been in a scenario in which both netminders are consistently bringing their A game out between the pipes.

That’s why keeping Gibson rolling and getting Talbot going is so vital to Detroit’s long-term blueprint for success.

Talbot understands this equation.

“I haven’t been making the big saves that I was making early on,” he said of his play of late. “I feel like I was able to do that (Sunday) and I made some big ones down the stretch and in the first period to give us a chance to get our feet under us.”

Red Wings Coach Trusts His Netminders

Even though the numbers next to his name were unimpressive, Red Wings coach Todd McLellan was never really entering into a state of worry regarding Talbot’s game. He’s had Talbot as one of his netminders in two previous coaching stops, in Edmonton and LA. There’s really little he doesn’t know about what it is that makes the man tick.

“I’m not too sure that he’s overly rattled by not getting the wins,” McLellan said. “I think he comes to work every day. He does his work. He gives us whatever he can.”

Even in saying that, McLellan is also certain that putting a W next to his name in his stat line could prove to be exactly the elixir that refreshes Talbot.

2 words to describe today’s @xfinity game-changing moment(s):

CAM. TALBOT. pic.twitter.com/WQxZMmEkAJ

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 14, 2025

“Anytime you’re in a bit of a slump, whether you’re a goal scorer or a goaltender, and you come out of it, especially the way he did, that’s got to make him feel really good,” McLellan said. “But I don’t think Talbs is, based on how I know him, significantly rattled or anything like that.

“He knows that the wins are often done with 18 skaters and him, and the losses go that way, too.”

That’s exactly how Talbot views his lot in life as a goalie.

“Yeah, I was happy with my game,” Talbot said. “But again, the two points is what matters.

“I don’t care if we win 7-6 or 3-2. The win’s a win.”