DETROIT — It was there in the split crowd, the bleu, blanc et rouge mixed in with all the winged wheels throughout Little Caesars Arena. It was there in the board battles and the scrums after the whistle, the tension and desperation on both sides. But perhaps most of all, it was there on the insurance goal, on the stick of a player returning from injury way ahead of schedule, for a game he simply wouldn’t miss.
If it weren’t March 19, you’d have sworn it was a playoff game between the Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens — and in some ways, it was. That’s how tight the Eastern Conference playoff race is right now, with the playoff cut line trending toward 100 points and six teams all within one point of each other.
And in that environment, under those circumstances, the Red Wings did what that packed arena has been willing them to do for years now: they found a way, pulling out a 3-1 win to keep them afloat in that race.
“It’s fun to play in games like that,” forward Alex DeBrincat said afterward. “The crowd was really in it. A pretty cool game to be a part of, and hopefully we can keep this thing rolling.”
To be clear, Detroit’s road didn’t get any easier on Thursday. The Red Wings will have another game just as big on Saturday, when they host the Boston Bruins, and more to follow. The intensity is ramping up, not down.
But it’s worth staying in this moment first, taking in what it took for the Red Wings to get this one.
Physicality. Resilience. Commitment. And yes, luck. There’s no other way to describe the eventual game-winner, on which Canadiens veteran defenseman Mike Matheson simply bobbled a puck and then fell while going back for a retrieval, coughing up the puck to DeBrincat for a clean break on Jakub Dobeš, which he buried on the backhand.
“I was just trying to pressure the D, I think he caught an edge or something, and it came right to me,” DeBrincat said. “I was coming from the right side, so I just tried to get it to my backhand, and a lot of times goalies overextend that blocker so you can go right under it. I’m lucky it went in, and kind of a lucky bounce to get that puck anyways. But we’ll take it.”
They certainly will, after plenty has gone against the Red Wings in the last two weeks. Detroit lost three of its top four centers in the span of about a week, all beginning just hours after the NHL trade deadline. There was no real avenue for outside reinforcements, just a mandate to either step up or fade from the race yet again.
They teetered through tough road games at the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning and Dallas Stars, and the Red Wings got back on track with a win over the Calgary Flames Monday. But the meat of their four-game home stand was always about their divisional showdowns with Montreal, Boston and Ottawa, all direct opponents for one of the final playoff spots.
Thursday lived up to the billing, with the score 0-0 until the final minutes of the second period, when Juraj Slafkovský staked the Canadiens to the first lead, and then 1-1 with just four minutes to play before DeBrincat’s fortuitous break.
Throughout, it was fast, physical and desperate. DeBrincat buzzed around all night and went at it with Montreal defenseman Noah Dobson after the whistle. Forward Marco Kasper registered a season-high eight hits. Defenseman Ben Chiarot tied his own season high with six.
“It was definitely a playoff environment,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan said. “On the ice, there was a lot of competitiveness, battles, emotion. But also off the ice, you could really feel it. .. The energy that was in the building, you could feel it. It’s been there before, but this was heightened.”
It was also an important kind of game for them to play in. The stakes for Detroit have been here for a while now, of course, but it’s a bit different when they’re equal for both teams. The Lightning are technically still pretty close in the standings to their Atlantic Division rivals and wanted to win in Tampa last week, but with games in hand and a proven core, their own playoff fate isn’t in the same peril as Detroit’s, Montreal’s or Boston’s.
That equal footing brought out a similar energy in both teams, perhaps feeling each other out a bit early, but then really battling. And down 1-0 after two, it was a real gut check for Detroit.
“We talked about it between the second and third, that we’re OK,” McLellan said. “We’re going to be in a lot of these types of games down the stretch, and we’re down by one. You’re allowed to play the full 60. We talked about needing one just to get a point or two anyhow, so now we’re scratching and clawing to get back in. And we talked about not opening it up — don’t let them get to two or three, because then it’s going to be really hard coming back. And guys did a good job.”
Thursday’s game against the Canadiens had a distinct playoff atmosphere, and the Red Wings are stepping up to meet the occasion. (Tim Fuller / Imagn Images)
Montreal had its chances throughout the night, but unlike the last time the Canadiens were in Detroit — a sloppy, opening-night track meet that ended in some harsh words from the coach — the Red Wings gave them very little easily. They got caught stuck defending in their end for long stretches on multiple occasions, unable to get a clear, but by the end of the night, Detroit hadn’t given up a five-on-five goal.
“We didn’t fuel their transition too much,” J.T. Compher said. “We kind of made them earn their chances. Maybe a few too many D-zone chances, some times where they were rumbling around and keeping us in there, but that’s going to happen against good teams.”
And when the third period began, it was Compher who got the Red Wings level in one of the many ways he’s made an impact since being elevated to Detroit’s top line in the wake of those injuries: carving out space in front of the net, with a Patrick Kane point shot deflecting off his leg and in.
That’s a type of offense the Red Wings have needed more of all year, and the fact it came from a player who has raised his game amid those injuries was not lost on McLellan.
“He’s elevated,” McLellan said. “He’s risen to the occasion, and we’ve recognized it. … You talk about playoff intensity, that’s what it’s like around the nets. And it occurred more than once, at both ends.”
From there, Detroit grabbed the momentum, leading up to that favorable bounce for DeBrincat. But it was the insurance goal that provided the crescendo, with DeBrincat — who finished with three points — setting up Andrew Copp for the empty-netter.
Copp was one of those centers who went down with what looked like a potentially significant injury last week. Panthers center Tomas Nosek fell on his leg off a face-off on March 10, and Copp was quickly ruled out through at least next Thursday.
But then, on Wednesday, there he was at practice, taking a regular shift and out of a no-contact jersey. Even then, McLellan wasn’t sure if Copp would be ready for the Montreal game, but he described the center as “chomping at the bit to get back and help his team out.”
A day later, Copp logged 18 strong minutes, including a burst of speed at the end to separate for his dagger goal with 17 seconds remaining.
“It says a lot about him,” McLellan said. “Committed to rehab, committed to trusting our staff. And it says a lot about the staff to get him back that quick. But he was really determined: he was playing tonight. And what can I say? He gave us great minutes.”
In other words, he found a way. Just like the Red Wings did Thursday, and just like they’ll have to over and over again if they’re going to emerge from this race a month from now — starting with games against the Bruins and Ottawa Senators to wrap up this home stand.
All of those games will look a bit different, and have their own unique challenges. But at the same time, they’ll also require the exact same things Thursday’s win did: defensive discipline, hard offense, good goaltending, a willingness to play hurt and, yes, just a bit of luck.
“This is the time of year that you earn,” Compher said. “You earn to be in these spots. … We want to play in these games. I thought the guys did a great job of staying patient, and being poised and having that belief. It can be hard when it takes a while to get your first one, but there was no panic, we talked about it before the third, and I think that’s why we were ready for our opportunities.”