DETROIT — If anyone on the Detroit Red Wings needed a break to go their way, it was Marco Kasper.

All season, Kasper has been grinding through a wicked sophomore slump. And even though it has long felt like he was due to catch a break on the scoresheet, that reward still hadn’t come through. He entered Friday’s home game against the San Jose Sharks with three goals and three assists through 47 games, and hadn’t scored a goal since Oct. 30.

But on Friday, he simply wasn’t going to be denied.

From very early in the Red Wings’ 4-2 win over the Sharks, Kasper was noticeable. He was playing up tempo, getting to pucks and shooting them, too. With just under seven minutes into the second period, with Detroit down 2-1, Kasper jumped on a turnover in the neutral zone. He made a slick move through Sharks’ defenseman John Klingberg’s skates when entering the blue line, held off back-checking Michael Misa, and then slid a pass through the skates of Dmitry Orlov to find J.T. Compher at the back door to tie the game.

That play alone should have been enough to boost his confidence a bit — a highly-skilled setup that followed an already strong start to the game. But just for good measure, he got the goal out of the way, too, putting home an empty-netter in the final two minutes to seal the Red Wings’ win.

“It’s always fun to score one,” Kasper said. “After a long time, it was an empty net goal, but it counts the same. So, I’m just happy to see it go in, and hope we can keep it going as a team and personally as well.”

The Detroit win continued a stretch in which the Red Wings have not gone consecutive games without a point since Nov. 28. Here are five thoughts on how it played out, and a few key takeaways coming out of it.

1. Red Wings coach Todd McLellan said he’s felt that Kasper’s game has been coming along for a while now.

“Maybe not on the scoresheet regularly,” McLellan said, “but his physicality, his tenacity, his skating — he looks like a different player right now. So I don’t know if he hit rock bottom and built himself back up, but he’s done a real good job.”

Certainly, it’s been a frustrating year for the 21-year-old, who tantalized with his play down the stretch last season. He was fast, played hard, got to the net and had an uncommon level of defensive awareness for a rookie. That all led to him entering training camp as the presumptive second-line center for the Red Wings — and thriving in that spot early in camp, too.

But when the season arrived, the points just weren’t coming. At first, he seemed snake bitten. Then, he started to get less noticeable, a more concerning place to be.

Of late, though, his pace and assertiveness have both returned, and his physicality never left: Kasper leads the Red Wings with 108 hits. So he’s always brought something to the table. It’s just that for a young player, and perhaps especially a high draft pick, expectations can get weighty, especially around production.

“He’s a very proud individual,” McLellan said. “And I think some of that’s held inside. We’ve had some good talks, and sometimes it’s held inside. He doesn’t want to let his guard down or let anybody see him. But I know it’s been heavy on him, and I give him all the credit in the world for continuing to try and work through it. And maybe he’s starting to break through.”

2. Kasper certainly isn’t the first player to go through something like this in his second year in the league.

It happened to Dylan Larkin in his sophomore season, dropping from 45 points as a rookie to 32 in Year 2, and it happened to Lucas Raymond, too, going from 57 to 45.

There’s no bulletproof explanation for why it happens, only theories. But Raymond’s makes some sense.

“I think (your) first year you come in, everything’s new,” he said. “You’re kind of riding that high and excitement of going into every building is a new building for you to come in, and you’re playing against a lot of your childhood idols. In that second year, expectations become different. So it’s tricky, but … it’s about doing the right things. And everyone’s not always going to score. We need guys to contribute in a lot of different ways, and he plays hard.”

Kasper does play hard, which is why he was on the ice with Larkin and Raymond to get that look at the empty-netter that broke his drought. He’s also a highly driven person, which, even as a rather mature 21-year-old, could certainly amplify some frustrations. That’s a tough balancing act for anyone.

But he broke through Friday, and the Red Wings will be hoping it can be a turning point for a key young player to both their present and future.

3. Kasper wasn’t the only one who scored a sorely-needed goal on Friday.

Larkin has remained on the scoresheet regularly over the last month, but has been quiet at five-on-five. Coming into Friday, his last five-on-five goal was Dec. 10 in Calgary.

He changed that in the third period against the Sharks, jamming one in at the post 4:41 into the third period for his 24th goal of the season. That stat line still puts him on pace to threaten 40 goals this season, so it’s not as if he’s gone totally silent. He’s continued to produce on the power play and had an overtime winner against the Dallas Stars just before Christmas that wasn’t five-on-five either.

But it’s also fair to say Larkin hasn’t looked himself over the last few weeks, and he played just over 13 minutes in the Red Wings’ 3-0 loss to the Boston Bruins on Tuesday. That came when he had been split up from Raymond, his most consistent linemate over the past few seasons, and it was probably no coincidence Detroit had the two back together on Friday, along with James van Riemsdyk.

His goal on Friday turned out to be the game-winner.

4. One more noticeable trend of late has been the Red Wings’ usage of rookie defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellikka. His minutes have been down of late, particularly late in games, and that went to a new extreme Friday.

Sandin-Pellikka played just 9:01 against the Sharks and didn’t see a shift in the final 14:29 of the game.

On this night, Sandin-Pellikka had been the defender in coverage for the Sharks’ second (and final) goal Friday, when Collin Graf worked up the middle of the ice and redirected a puck past John Gibson, with Sandin-Pellikka not tying him up. He did play again after that mistake, but Detroit kept him on the bench down the stretch.

I asked McLellan about his late-game approach with Sandin-Pellikka on Thursday, and here’s what he said:

“There’s certain roles that certain guys play at different times of the game. Axe is built for and geared towards one part of the game more than the other. And that doesn’t mean he can or can’t in any situation. We just play what we think will be suited for those moments, and we roll guys out.”

He also noted that, while Sandin-Pellikka hasn’t been out there protecting leads, he has used Sandin-Pellikka late in games when chasing one. And certainly, as time goes on, Sandin-Pellikka will add strength and experience, and give himself a better shot at staying out there in those crucial late-game situations.

But it’s pretty clear right now that the Red Wings don’t want to expose him too much in late, tight games.

5. To me, that has a very obvious implication for the upcoming trade deadline. The deadline isn’t until March 6, but with the Olympic break factored in, that’s quietly only 13 games away. That’s going to creep up fast.

And if the Red Wings are nervous about Sandin-Pellikka in late-game situations in the regular season, it’s hard for me to imagine them not adding to their blue line for the playoffs. That doesn’t mean they necessarily have to go to the top of the market, but getting a second-pair RHD they feel more confident in for the postseason feels like a must.