Red Wings Find Competitive Edge in Win Over Flyers

Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

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Rick Osentoski-Imagn ImagesRick Osentoski-Imagn Images

Detroit, facing a Philadelphia team that they’ve clashed with twice before over the past two weeks, still had an outside shot at the playoffs, win or lose.

However, a win, and preferably a regulation win, would mean a lot more for their playoff hopes than pity points from an overtime loss. After choking away every lead they had against the Columbus Blue Jackets in their last game, the Red Wings lineup came into their matchup with the Flyers bruised and battered, but still looking for a fight.

Tonight, when the Red Wings needed it most, their leaders pulled through for them, keeping hope alive for the playoffs with a statement 6-3 win over the the Flyers.

“Obviously it’s nice but the two points for the team obviously mean a little more.” Said stud defensemen Mo Seider, who finished the night with a goal and four assists.

Milestone men

Alex DeBrincat’s goal to open scoring was the first step for the Red Wing’s win tonight. DeBrincat scored his 40th goal of the season with an early Red Wings power play, becoming the first player wearing the winged wheel to do so in over a decade and a half.

While the Red Wings first lead of the game was nullified by the end of the first period, an explosive second period would have the Red Wings leading by at least a 2 goal margin through the rest of the game. It’s the best this Detroit team has looked in weeks, which makes one ponder where this version of the team has been the past few weeks.

“I think we just tried to play our game for 60 minutes. And I think think we really put their defenseman on their heels, sustained pucks in the o-zone.” Said Seider.

The German defenseman collected his second point of the night by scoring the Red Wings second goal, a beauty of a slapshot that highlighted the big defenseman’s offensive prowess, as he finished the night with a career high 5 points and tied another career record with four assists. Seider’s first goal also also put his captain on the path to another milestone.

“I can’t say enough good things about him and how tough he is. How hard he is. Those guys don’t grow on trees.” Said Dylan Larkin.

Larkin was the secondary assist on Seider’s goal and would score the Red Wings next two goals. That, along with a third goal in the final period to get Detroit up 6-2 (which was also Seider’s fifth point of the night) gave Larkin his third career hat trick.

“We created opportunities for ourselves, and then when you get to five, it feels a bit better. Obviously six feels real good. We haven’t had that cushion for a long, long time, so it felt different. It felt good.” Said coach Todd McLellan.

Not to repeat ourselves…

The win, especially after the heartbreaker against Columbus, helps to put the Red Wings back on the right track, but that doesn’t mean they’re out of the fire just yet.

“I think that should be the message into our locker room right now. We need six more points and then we’ll see where we land.” Said Seider.

With the win, the Red Wings avoided the worst case scenario of their playoff odds dropping to 0.6% tonight. However, this is also a team that hasn’t strung two wins together in over a month, and they still will need some help from the other teams around the league if they want to secure their invite to the dance.

Said McLellan, “I’m going with the positive and trying to bundle that game up and let’s play it again against [New] Jersey on the weekend.”

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