The Detroit Red Wings picked up a huge win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night. Detroit picked up its second straight win following a win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. It was an encouraging sign for a Red Wings team that has struggled at times. A major driving force in Detroit's win was their captain, Dylan Larkin, who showed up big for them as he so often does.
Larkin scored a goal and provided an assist on Wednesday in Chicago. The Red Wings went on to defeat the Blackhawks by a score of 4-1. It was arguably one of the Winged Wheel's best performances of the season. And the Detroit captain echoed a similar sentiment following the win against Chicago on Wednesday night.
“We just didn’t give much,” Larkin said, via NHL.com. “Our goaltending was good. I thought that was the best third period we’ve played, the best 60 minutes we’ve played all season and something to build on. We were more on the attack, more rolling four lines, short shifts, changing in their zone, kind of suffocating them.”
Red Wings salvaged poor first period vs. Blackhawks
Dylan Larkin and the Red Wings did not have a great first-period showing. Detroit struggled to generate shots against the Blackhawks for most of the frame. And if it wasn't for a last-second goal from Alex DeBrincat, they would have left the period with little to no positives.
However, Detroit was able to bounce back from the poor first period. They scored two third-period goals to lift themselves to victory. As Larkin mentioned, they were able to roll four lines and keep the Blackhawks at bay. Head coach Derek Lalonde credited his team with making the necessary adjustments during the intermissions.
“The group’s pretty good judging themselves on performance. Even though I think we had some looks in the first, we’ll take, probably, the chances for versus chances against in that period,” Lalonde said, via NHL.com. “But we weren’t great. We were a little flat. We didn’t manage the puck very well. To come out of that period up 1-0 was huge. I give our guys a little credit. They put it on themselves to be a little bit better in the second, which we were, and I liked out third.”
The Red Wings turned in quite the performance against the Blackhawks. And it could be a positive sign for the rest of the month as the season continues. Detroit travels north of the border to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday for their next contest.