DETROIT – What. a. comeback.
In a tale of two games at Little Caesars Arena Saturday night (10/25), the Red Wings stunned fans by clawing back from a 0-4 deficit to secure a thrilling 6-4 victory over the St. Louis Blues.
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After consecutive losses to the Buffalo Sabres (4-2) and New York Islanders (7-2) earlier in the week, Detroit found itself in trouble again.
The St. Louis Blues jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, and the Red Wings were booed off the ice.
The second period started off no better than the first.
An early penalty allowed St. Louis to score two quick goals, pushing their lead to 4-0 within the first three minutes.
Coach Todd McLellan called the situation a “borderline disaster” and slammed the brakes with a timeout.
When asked what he told the team after the Blues’ fourth goal, he kept it under wraps.
“That’s probably a message we’ll keep between us,” he said.
But from that point on, the momentum began to shift.
Jonatan Berggren scored a power-play goal about four and a half minutes into the second period. Rookie forward Emmitt Finnie and forward J.T. Compher followed with goals less than a minute apart near the end of the period, pulling Detroit back into contention.
The Wings kept their scoring streak alive in the third, picking up right where the second left off.
Alex DeBrincat, who struggled through the first eight games, finally found the net midway through the period.
Simon Edvinsson added his second goal of the season less than a minute later, firing a shot through traffic from the blue line. He then sealed the win with an empty-net goal.
“It was a character win,” Compher said. “It’s been something we’ve been working on and Todd’s been working on with us -- being mentally strong. It would have been really easy to roll over after the last seven periods we had, and I’m pretty proud of that. We’re gonna lean on this one down the road for sure.”
Looking ahead, Detroit will start a five-game road trip against Western Conference teams.
The trip begins Tuesday at 8:15 p.m. with a rematch against the Blues in St. Louis.
The Red Wings will then face the Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks, and Vegas Golden Knights before returning home Nov. 7 to play the New York Rangers.
With nine games played, Detroit has shown flashes of promise mixed with inconsistency.
Fans are eager to see if the team can build on its highs and address weaknesses during the upcoming road stretch.
“We have to figure this thing out,” McLellan said. “We can’t be a yo-yo like that. I believe we’re closer to the second half team than we are to the first half. But the proof is in the pudding. It has to show up over and over and over again. We can’t pick and choose fractions of the game or segments of games where we want to play to our identity, and then it just disappears.”