The Detroit Red Wings looked like a totally different team from their first game to the second. They’d prefer not to change a thing when they visit Toronto in their road opener on Monday afternoon.
Detroit’s opener was a dud as it got drubbed by Montreal 5-1 on Thursday. The Wings hosted the Maple Leafs on Saturday and trailed 2-0 after the first.
Detroit dominated the last two periods to secure a 6-3 victory.
“We were a lot more resilient,” said head coach Todd McLellan. “Obviously, going down 2-0 and them scoring on the first shot on goal was not part of the plan. At that point, we had given up seven straight goals. Talk about mentally tough — we didn’t roll over with a ‘Woe is us’ type attitude. We dug in a little bit more, so that’s a real good sign for us. I just thought we played with more pop, more energy. We were connected.”
Lucas Raymond led the charge with a pair of goals. The latter, which came on a third-period power play, was the 100th of his career and proved to be the deciding goal.
“I thought we had a decent start, so finding ourselves down 2-0 was a little disappointing,” said forward Patrick Kane. “It speaks volumes about the group that, after the first game and then being down 2-0 tonight, we had it back to 3-2 by the end of the second.”
Kane had a goal and two assists. Marco Kasper scored the first goal while Simon Edvinsson and Andrew Copp added empty-netters.
“That team knows it can play that way,” McLellan said of his squad. “I believe they were, all to a man, really disappointed in what transpired the other night. They got rewarded for fixing it and doing the work. We’ve got to bottle that type of game up and continue on with it.”
Cam Talbot made 20 saves and also recorded an assist on Edvinsson’s goal. It’s uncertain whether McLellan will stick with Talbot in Monday’s contest or go back to John Gibson, who was pulled in the first game late in the second period after giving up all of the Canadiens’ goals. Gibson was acquired in the offseason to be the team’s No. 1 goaltender.
The bright spot for the Maple Leafs was the production of their fourth line. Nicolas Roy and Calle Jarnkrok were responsible for the first two goals of the game. Jarnkrok has scored in both of the Maple Leafs’ games — Toronto won its opener over Montreal, 5-2.
Everything fell apart in the second period.
“We spent too much time in our zone,” said coach Craig Berube. “They eventually capitalized and we tired ourselves out.”
Max Domi tied the contest early in the third before Raymond’s second goal. However, Berube felt his team never really recovered from the previous period. Avoiding a similar lapse will be key during the rematch.
“We beat ourselves, in my opinion,” he said. “Detroit played well, but we were right there with them, got the lead and then we came out in the second and didn’t play the way we should have played.”
