23 Jan 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin (71) celebrates after scoring in the second period against the Montreal Canadiens at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images The Detroit Red Wings need another long winning streak if they are to make progress in the playoffs.
They had a promising outing on Thursday with a 4-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens and will look to maintain the positive vibes when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night.
With 49 points, the Red Wings sit four points out of the second wild card in the Eastern Conference but have five teams to jump.
Detroit reeled off a seven-game winning streak shortly after Todd McLellan was named head coach in late December. That was followed by a 1-3-1 stretch heading into the start of a three-game homestand on Thursday.
And the home got off to a successful start. The Red Wings scored twice in the first period while outscoring the Canadiens 17-4 in their last game.
Montreal recorded back-to-back wins over the Red Wings last month before Derek Lalonde’s firing as Detroit’s head coach.
“I liked our start. I thought everybody came into the game,” McLellan said of Thursday’s game. “We were aggressive, we looked fast.
“We challenged the group before the game. Part of the pregame was the two games they played against Montreal before Christmas, and in those games we looked slow and a little indecisive. We wanted them to give us a guideline as to whether we’ve made progress. “
Dylan Larkin recorded a power-play goal and an assist in his 700th career game.
“Huge win for us and a memorable night for myself,” Larkin said. “I think it will be memorable the way we played and hopefully we can build on that.”
Detroit had a season-high 45 shots on goal, which defenseman Moritz Seider also took as a good sign.
“We can skate with anybody. We have to have a shooting mentality,” he said. “Don’t necessarily be too cute in the beginning, just focus on getting pucks to the net and really grinding out your defense. Those are things we can do over and over again.”
The Red Wings and Lightning met for the first of four games this season last Saturday in Florida. The Lightning scored four goals in the second period en route to a 5-1 victory.
Tampa Bay will play the second game of a back-to-back set on Saturday. The Lightning rallied for a 4-3 overtime victory over Chicago on Friday night with the help of two late Blackhawks penalties.
Jake Guentzel scored a power-play goal with 42 seconds left in regulation. Chicago was penalized again with four seconds remaining, and Nikita Kucherov scored the game-winner 58 seconds into the overtime session.
“You just never know in this league,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “It’s so hard to win. It took us a little bit to get our feet under us, but the boys were driven, especially not coming away with any points a couple of days, going back to back (losses to Toronto and Montreal).
Guentzel and Kucherov each had a goal and two assists in the Lightning’s game last weekend against the Red Wings.
Kucherov will bring an 11-game point streak to Detroit. He has six goals and 13 assists during that span.
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