Detroit Red Wings celebrate Christmas early as offense explodes

The Detroit Red Wings were able to open an early Christmas present Wednesday night at Little Caesars Arena.

Maybe it helped that there was a Santa lookalike in the crowd or that the Wings uniform basically amounted to a St. Nick cosplay.

Whatever the reason, the holiday spirit welcomed the Wings and gave them their first winning streak in nearly a month thanks to an offensive explosion that included a huge goal from a player who really had it need.

The 6-4 win over the Philadelphia Flyers represented a season high in goals scored for this offensively struggling team. And no goal was bigger than Patrick Kane’s game-winner at 7:22 of the third period – his fourth of the season, but only his first goal since November 13.

The two points and winning streak are important to the Wings – and to Derek Lalonde’s job security – as they fight to get back into contention. Earning their 30th point in 31 games puts them on track for 79 points, but they’ll likely need at least 90 to secure a playoff spot.

What was perhaps the most understated part of Wednesday’s victory was the lineup change Lalonde made before the game when he juggled his lines, moving Andrew Copp to center on the second line in order to get more production from Kane.

Even though Copp was not directly responsible for Kane’s goal, the decision still led to two points for Kane and three shots each from Kane and DeBrincat. This also had the side effect of pushing defensive and offensive production out of the third line, which produced goals from JT Compher and Michael Rasmussen.

“It’s going to be smooth,” Lalonde said. “That’s how we are. I really liked the JT Compher range. They checked for us tonight and they won the position battle.

“And Copp, Kane and Cat, they produced some offense. There’s clearly some elite IQ there. But at the same time, they found themselves spending a lot of time in their zone and conceded two goals. Think as a group, we probably could have handled their game a little better.”

Maybe. But the Flyers are a good offensive team, while the Wings are the worst offensive team in the Eastern Conference. If Lalonde is looking for perfection, he needs to be more realistic and be willing to trade some defensive mistakes for goals.

Backed by another energetic crowd, though not as passionate as Saturday night’s rally against the Maple Leafs, the Wings maintained a steady march toward the Flyers net and spiked goaltender Samuel Ersson throughout the game.

The Wings outshot Philadelphia 24-19 for the game. They rallied from an early one-goal deficit and took a 4-2 lead into the second intermission, holding an 18-9 advantage in shots, which earned them a round of warm applause.

“We gave up four shots in the first period, we held them to under 20 shots,” Lalonde said. “I mean, we’ll take this game any night.

“Obviously we didn’t make things comfortable. But it was a few individual plays, a few bad bounces that went against us. But of course we will take this match.

The Flyers tied it at 4 with two quick goals early in the third period thanks to a few defensive errors and excellent individual play from Owen Tippett.

But the Wings looked like the better team for most of the game. They made more shots and fewer penalties. They scored on the power play and took advantage of opportunities, particularly on Moritz Seider’s one-on-one pass to Kane during the Flyers’ line change.

As the puck hit the tape on Kane’s stick, a thought crossed his mind. He was 18 when he made his NHL debut, but he’s now 36 and he’d been here many times before, racing down the ice toward the left circle and heading toward the goalie.

“Well, last game I had a similar play and missed the net on the opposite side,” he said. “So I’ve gone down that wing a few times in my career and kind of scored on the short side.”

So Kane opted for the short side and sent a low, screaming wrist shot past Ersson’s stick.

“So, you know, sometimes this play happens one or two times in a row,” Kane said, “and you get redemption the second time. So that’s what I was kind of thinking.

The Wings also reached the .500 mark at home, where they improved to 7-7-2. And this year, it seems Santa is being a little more generous by granting the Wings five of their next six home games, with a home-and-home against Montreal, one of the truly putrid teams in the NHL.

“If you want to stay in this battle, or if you want to push to be in it, you have to take care of home ice,” Lalonde said. “And for the most part, everything is fine.

“A little delay is positive. But we have to continue to win (these) matches and take points at home.

Contact Carlos Monarrez at [email protected] and follow him on X @cmonarrez.