Red Wings edge Jets, have won 5 of 6

DETROIT -- Dylan Larkin and Mason Appleton scored first-period goals, and the Detroit Red Wings held on for a 2-1 win against the Winnipeg Jets at Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday.

John Gibson made 23 saves to win for the ninth time in 10 starts.

“I thought the guys did a great job of keeping (Winnipeg) to the outside, especially their top line,” Gibson said. “They’ve got a lot of skill, but we took away a lot of their playmaking ability.”

The Red Wings (24-14-3) won for the fifth time in their past six games and improved to 11-3-1 in December.

“I’m happy, because we obviously want to win as many games as possible every month,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan said. “The evolution of our team has obviously been a positive throughout December, but we still have a lot to do.”

Logan Stanley scored for Winnipeg (15-19-4), which has lost seven straight (0-4-3). Connor Hellebuyck made 17 saves.

The Jets finished the month with a 2-8-4 record -- the fewest December wins in franchise history. The Atlanta Thrashers had three wins in December in their inaugural season of 1999-2000.

“There are definitely some positives to take away from this, but we need to take wins away from some games,” said Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey, who was named to the Canadian Olympic team earlier in the day. “We’re at a point where we need wins and we need to go on a run.”

Larkin gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 8:22 of the first period, putting a shot through traffic over Hellebuyck’s glove.

Appleton made it 2-0 at 14:48. Hellebuyck stopped his shot on a 2-on-1 break, but it went in off Jets defenseman Luke Schenn.

After a scoreless second period, Stanley beat Gibson five-hole at 7:04 of the third period with a wrist shot from the left circle.

Jets forward Gustav Nyquist came close to tying the game in the final moments against his former team. With 1:38 remaining and Hellebuyck on the bench, he found himself with the puck about 15 feet from the net. He aimed for the left side of the net, but Gibson turned the shot off the post.

“I’m just doing my job,” Gibson said. “I was able to read it and get into position. It hit me, but sometimes you need a little luck.”

Nyquist had a similar chance late in the second period, but Gibson deflected his shot off the crossbar.

“We created a lot of good chances tonight, but we have to start putting them away,” Jets coach Scott Arniel said. “We’ve reached the point where we have to play a perfect game to end this. We need our goalie to steal one on the same night we finish our chances.”

NOTES: The game was the first Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews played against each other in the NHL after leading the Chicago Blackhawks to Stanley Cup championships in 2010, 2013 and 2015. … The Jets play the Maple Leafs in Toronto on Thursday -- the first New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day back-to-back in franchise history. The Red Wings are also doing it -- they travel to Pittsburgh for a road game against the Penguins on Thursday. … Morrissey played his 700th NHL game.