Seider has 5 points, Red Wings top Flyers to keep pace in wild-card race

DETROIT -- Moritz Seider had a career-high five points, and Dylan Larkin had a hat trick and an assist to help the Detroit Red Wings to a 6-3 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday.

Seider had a goal and four assists to tie the team record for points in a game by a defenseman for the Red Wings (41-29-9), who had lost five of six (1-4-1).

“Everyone stepped up huge tonight, and that makes it easier for all of us,” Seider said.

Seider is the fourth Red Wings defenseman with a five-point game and the first to have one in 41 years (Reed Larson, Feb. 27, 1985). 

“He does everything and he does it all well most of the time,” Detroit coach Todd McLellan said. “It’s really remarkable when you consider his age and what he has already accomplished in this game.”

Patrick Kane had a goal and two assists to move within one point of 1,400 for his career, and Alex DeBrincat became the first Red Wings player with 40 goals since Marian Hossa in 2008-09.

“(Seider) can’t have five points every night and (Larkin) can’t have a hat trick every night,” McLellan said. “(DeBrincat) got to 40. We got huge performances from those guys and that played a huge part of the game.”

John Gibson made 13 saves on 15 shots before leaving halfway through the second period with a stiff neck. McLellan said he didn’t think the injury was serious. Cam Talbot finished the game, allowing one goal on 12 shots.

Detroit remained three points behind the Ottawa Senators for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference with three games remaining for each. Ottawa won 5-1 against the Florida Panthers on Thursday.

“That’s only one of four games for us,” Seider said. “We need to get six more points and see where that puts us.”

Porter Martone had a goal and an assist for the Flyers (40-27-12), whose three-game winning streak ended. Dan Vladar was removed after allowing four goals on eight shots, and Samuel Ersson allowed two goals on 14 shots in relief.

Both teams scored twice at even strength, but the Red Wings had three power-play goals and a short-handed goal, while Philadelphia scored once on special teams.

“I think, 5-on-5, we were the better team out there,” Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim said. “We just took too many penalties that cost us.”

The Flyers’ lead for third place in the Metropolitan Division was cut to one point ahead of the New York Islanders, who won 5-3 against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday. The Islanders are also tied in points with the Red Wings, three points behind the Senators in the wild-card race.

“We still control our destiny,” Philadelphia forward Christian Dvorak said. “We worked hard to get ourselves into this position, and now we need to finish it.”

DeBrincat gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 2:28 of the first period. Lucas Raymond got him the puck in the low slot, and he surprised Vladar with a quick backhand over his blocker.

Philadelphia made it 1-1 at 13:24 when Dvorak deflected Martone’s low shot past Gibson.

Detroit scored two quick power-play goals early in the second period.

Seider put the Red Wings ahead 2-1 at 32 seconds, beating Vladar with a high slap shot after a pass from Kane. Kane also set up Larkin for Detroit’s third power-play goal of the game, a wrist shot from the low slot that made it 3-1 at 1:50.

The Red Wings took two penalties, giving the Flyers 28 seconds of 5-on-3, but they killed the first before Albert Johansson’s blocked shot set Larkin away on a breakaway. He scored the short-handed goal to make it 4-1 at 4:56, giving him three points in the period.

“We were very undisciplined tonight, and our special teams were obviously not good,” Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said. “Their best players were just better than our best players tonight.”

Martone’s power-play goal made it 4-2 at 9:25, and Gibson left the game shortly afterward. He was involved in a heavy collision with Flyers forward Owen Tippett in the first minute of the period.

Kane made it 5-2 at 7:01 of the third period, tapping in Simon Edvinsson’s pass at the back door, and Larkin finished off Detroit’s first hat trick of the season and his third in the NHL at 11:39, making it 6-2.

Former Red Wing Luke Glendening scored at 18:09 for the 6-3 final.

“The win feels better than the hat trick right now,” Larkin said. “This was an incredible team effort. We’re fighting for our lives.”

NOTES: Seider also became the first Red Wings defenseman with 50 assists since Nicklas Lidstrom in 2008-09, while he and Raymond became the first Red Wings teammates with 50 assists since Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk in 2007-08. … Martone has six points (two goals, four assists) in his first six NHL games. … Kane recorded his 115th career three-point game and moved one back of Pat LaFontaine for the most in NHL history by a United States-born player.