The Detroit Red Wings’ season got off to a rocky start. Disgruntled fans booed former team captain Dylan Larkin and chanted “Sell the team!”
Courtesy of a fruitful road trip, the Red Wings return home with a renewed spirit. They’ll host the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday after wrapping up that four-game swing with a shootout victory in Edmonton.
Detroit has gone 4-1-1 over its last six games while picking up points in seven of its last eight contests. They went 2-1-1 on the road swing, capped by a stellar performance by goaltender Michal Postava, who made his first career start against the Oilers.
Postava stopped all three shots in the shootout, including attempts from superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
“It’s crazy you see how many points they have so far,” Postava said. “They are two of the best players right now. It was amazing for me. I just wanted to enjoy the game and try to help the guys and make some saves. That was the only mentality that I had.”
Postava adds depth to a goalie rotation that also includes John Gibson and Daniil Tarasov.
Larkin, who has not rescinded the trade request he made during the offseason, scored just his second goal of the season with 1:17 remaining to force overtime.
“We’ve been using the word resilient, pretty resilient group for most of the season. We saw it again (Monday),” coach Todd McLellan said.
Viktor Arvidsson, the team’s most significant offseason addition, had a goal and an assist to boost his season totals to five goals and 10 points.
“We finished off the road trip the right way,” Arvidsson said. “It’s been good. So, happy for the team that we can go home and have a good road trip behind us.”
Chicago will be looking for its first road win of the season. The Blackhawks, who are 0-4 on the road, completed a seven-game homestand with a 2-1 victory over Los Angeles on Tuesday. That snapped a three-game losing streak.
“That was a huge one,” forward Patrick Kane said. “You’re down 1-0 early in the game, and (we) just kind of stuck with it, didn’t really give up much. I thought we were the better hockey team (Tuesday). We deserved to win. Nice to see the power play come through, too. That was something we’ve been talking about, and I thought it was really good (Tuesday), too. Keep building on that and get one late.”
Kane assisted on Wyatt Kaiser’s go-ahead goal in the third period. Kane returns to Detroit needing one assist to reach the career 900 mark.
Kane, who has one goal and seven assists in 12 games during his second stint with the Blackhawks, played the past three seasons with the Red Wings.
Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill, a former Red Wings head coach, hopes that Tuesday’s win gives his club some momentum.
“Obviously, we’re in a spot (where) we need wins,” he said. “But I thought we did it in a way that was conducive to continuing to win, in a sense that we didn’t give a lot up, we stayed on top of them, and that’s the way we need to play to be successful.”