For just the fourth time since 1997, the Detroit Red Wings picked up a win in Philadelphia.
It's not often that the Detroit Red Wings pick up a victory in the City of Brotherly Love, but for just the fourth time since early 1997, they did just that - and at a most critical time of their season.
Detroit defeated the Philadelphia Flyers by a 4-2 final score at Xfinity Mobile Arena, moving into a three-way tie with the Ottawa Senators and Columbus Blue Jackets in the ultra-tight standings.
The Red Wings were paced by a pair of goals from Alex DeBrincat and a strong performance in net by goaltender John Gibson, who made his 13th straight start and rebounded from being pulled twice in a row.
While they were outshot by the Flyers, Detroit's intensity was far more apparent than it had been in three of their four previous outings, all regulation losses.
"Great effort, right from the start of the game, we knew it would be a tough road game," said Patrick Kane, who scored the game-winning goal in the third period. "It's hockey. Nothing is going to go perfectly throughout the game. We found a way to get some timely goals for sure."
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Alex DeBrincat scored his team-leading 38th and 39th goals of the season, the latter of which came just 15 seconds after Travis Konecny scored to bring the Flyers back to within a single tally.
"Right from the start, we played hard and matched the physicality and their intensity," DeBrincat said. "I thought we played pretty well for the whole game. Obviously, in the third period, they came on us a little bit, and it took us a little bit to settle into that speed, but overall, right after their goal, we scored another one and got a big two points."
DeBrincat is now one goal away from becoming Detroit's first 40-goal forward since Marian Hossa in the 2008-09 NHL season.
As said by head coach Todd McLellan, the Red Wings need to make this winning feeling contagious as they head into another pivotal game on Saturday against the New York Rangers.
"Going forward, winning and losing is contagious: lose, and you get down and question yourself, maybe question your system or your linemates," McLellan said. "But a win can turn that and go the other way."
"We worked real hard tonight," he continued. "We had a formula we thought would give us a chance at success. And that shouldn't change as we head to New York. We'll get a quick practice in tomorrow and move on."
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