After Family-Focused All-Star Break, DeBrincat's Saturday Scrap Provides Fuel for Detroit's Playoff Push

Alex DeBrincat said there could be no lull for Detroit out of the All-Star break, and he made sure that would be the case with an energizing fight above his weight class

It started innocently. Alex DeBrincat took a pass from Lucas Raymond as he skated across the blue line, then fired a shot, which Ian Cole deflected up into the netting. Three Red Wings and four Canucks drifted into the corner when a nudge toward Dylan Larkin's ribs from Nils Hoglander proved a drop of kerosene. Within an instant, all 10 skaters found themselves engaged with an opponent or two.

DeBrincat—listed at five-foot-eight, 180 pounds—grabbed Vancouver defenseman Ian Cole, all of six-foot-one and 225 pounds. DeBrincat might not have won the ensuing fight, but he landed a furious volley of right hands, more than surviving the tangle with a challenger well beyond his weight class but not, as it turned out, his reach.

The day before Detroit's game with the Canucks, DeBrincat, seated at his locker, said of recovering rhythm out of the All-Star break, "You gotta focus right from the start, and there can't be any lull in our game."

Whether a fight against a player with a 45-pound advantage was what he had in mind in that moment or not, DeBrincat made certain that there would be no lull for the Red Wings, who were reeling late in the second period when the fracas took off. Vancouver had scored three straight to take a 3-1 lead at the moment he dropped his gloves. From that moment on, Detroit scored three in a row and claimed overtime victory.

Some Red Wing fans might have been concerned to see their diminutive sniper mixed up in that sort of extra-curricular tussle, but his coach was not, quite the contrary in fact. When asked about DeBrincat's bout after the game, Derek Lalonde described it as "awesome", then recounted a story:

"It's the second time he's done it. It's funny before you put the math together, our little run into January started with him fighting [Roman] Josi, and my son texted me after the game—they were on the East Coast playing—and he was like 'That's going to be the turning point in your season.'...I just think when someone like that does that, it just shows some character—fighting out of your weight class like that and to handle yourself well like that, I think it just lifts the group."

For DeBrincat, the fight with Cole was a sharp turn from a family-centric All-Star break. First, he starred as Detroit's lone representative in Toronto, scoring thrice plus a bonus in the shootout, while also providing three assists in Team Matthews' winning effort. He did it with a specially designed silver stick, commemorating Sherwood's 75th anniversary—"same stick, just new paint job...little bit different to look down at, but I thought it was pretty cool for the game.

His performance and taking the opportunity to catch up with peers around the league were pleasant enough, but the highlight of the weekend was undoubtedly having his one-year-old son in tow: "I had a lot of fun meeting some of those guys—a lot of the other players and some of the coaches—was cool, and I think it was just a fun weekend, and it brings a whole different perspective when Archie's there and having fun. I think he really enjoyed it, and it just makes it all that much better."

DeBrincat was delighted to see how much fun Archie had taking in the festivities, observing "just being around everything, he always had a smile on his face." "He was buzzing around. He's really into hockey, just enjoys it, and has always wanted to play. Even in the hotel, they had a little spot where they can play, and he was down there most of the time." Two days after the All-Star Game, the DeBrincats welcomed their second child, Maverick, into the world.

That might sound like a recipe for a sleep deficit, but DeBrincat has managed to stay ahead on rest, and for that, he credits his wife Lyndsey's selflessness in assuming the bulk of the late-night child care—"I thank her for that. She doesn't have to do all that."

Perhaps that's how DeBrincat found the energy to step above his weight class and fight Cole. And perhaps—in keeping with the prophecy of Lalonde's progeny—this second scrap will add one more log to the fire of the Red Wings' playoff push.