Detroit raced out of the gate for three rush goals before the Blues recorded a shot in what would become a 6-1 victory
Detroit raced out of the gate for three rush goals before the Blues recorded a shot in what would become a 6-1 victory
Detroit, MI—Saturday afternoon, it didn't take long for the Red Wings to find a breakthrough. On the game's first shift, Patrick Kane started then finished a crisp rush passing sequence—picking up where he'd left off two nights earlier when he scored the OT winner to topple Colorado. On this occasion, Kane buried a Shayne Gostisbehere feed that cut through the slot and left Jordan Binnington helpless in the St. Louis crease. After 33 seconds, Detroit led 1-0.
In that win over the Avalanche, it took 52 minutes and two seconds for the Red Wings to find their way onto the scoreboard, with an exhaustive team effort required to keep Colorado's explosive attack under wraps and eventually level the score before Kane called game in overtime.
Saturday, Kane's initial breakthrough quickly begot two more rush goals. The first a Lucas Raymond feed for Michael Rasmussen on a two-on-one that once again left Binnington without any reasonable chance at a save. The second seeing Kasperi Kapanen bank a centering attempt from Christian Fischer off Robby Fabbri and past Binnington to make it 3-0 before the Blues managed a shot on net.
For Detroit, the finishing looked almost effortless—artful passing off the rush for the first two then a fortuitous bounce for the third—but the goals were born of the Red Wings' commitment to their defensive identity.
"It was the message after the first in that our offense actually came from checking," said Derek Lalonde post-game. "We turned some defensive zone stops into some odd-mans, and obviously we finished them, so complete game for the group. We talk about all the time, you usually get your offense from keeping it out of your net, playing the right way."
Detroit delivered the kill shot on the power play in the first period's final minute. Alex DeBrincat drew a penalty on Binnington, who tripped the winger as he skated unencumbered toward the St. Louis net, having just picked the pocket of a Blues defenseman looking to exit the zone (once again, offense began with defense).
After drawing the penalty, DeBrincat cashed in himself, scoring his 20th of the season with a cool finish that caught Binnington leaving the roof of the net unprotected. Though he could hardly be blamed for the first three goals, Binnington would not return to the game for the second period.
"Past couple of games we've struggled with our starts, so that was an emphasis going into today, and I thought we did a good job executing it," said DeBrincat, in an understated assessment of the Red Wings' first period onslaught. His coach offered a similar, simple explanation of Detroit's start to the game.
"The boys were skating," said Derek Lalonde. "It's just urgency in our game. If we're gonna stay in this battle and even get above that line in the end, we will need every single point."
If the Red Wings established an insurmountable lead in the first, the second period brought something different—a sense of mounting expectations for a team whose playoff aspirations grow more tangible with each passing game. With a comfortable lead, Detroit's focus seemed to waver as the second began, with misplaced passes and mishandled pucks cropping up that hadn't been part of its game in the opening 20 minutes.
Zachary Bolduc scored his first career NHL goal 12 minutes into the period to cut the Red Wings' lead from 4-1, but instead of generating a fleeting sense of hope for the visitors, Bolduc's goal only inspired the hosts to double down on their advantage. In the six minutes and six seconds following Bolduc's strike, the Red Wings scored twice more—first J.T. Compher re-directed home a centering feed from Lucas Raymond, then DeBrincat scored one more rush goal by burying a Kane pass on yet another odd-man rush.
"In the second, we were up four-nothing, and we had that string of some sloppy turnovers, and we had a little bit of a frustrated bench," recounted Lalonde. "To me, looking back, watching that, it's a good sign. You're holding yourself accountable on your play, not what's on the scoreboard."
And so on a night when offense and a lead came early and easily for the Red Wings, the all-important two points were secured by a collective understanding that, despite a crooked scoreline, Detroit needed to redouble its intensity.
And so they did, putting the Blues out of sight and banking those two points. As the Red Wings' playoff push presses forward, that sense of internal accountability born of increased expectations must follow. And if Saturday is any indicator, it will.
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