Red Wings defeat Jets to end seven-game slide

DETROIT-- Gustav Nyquist scored twice, and the Detroit Red Wings ended a seven-game losing streak with a 5-1 win against the Winnipeg Jets at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday.

"We needed to win a game, so this feels great," said Nyquist, who also had an assist. "We need a lot more of these to make up for that streak though."
\[WATCH: All Jets vs. Red Wings highlights\]
Justin Abdelkader, Darren Helm and David Booth scored for Detroit (11-12-5), which was 0-4-3 since a 3-1 win against the Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 17. Jimmy Howard, who had a 4.88 goals-against average during the losing streak, made 25 saves.
"We've spent a lot of time playing on our heels lately, and I thought we made them play on their heels tonight," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said.
Patrik Laine scored for the Jets (17-7-4), who were 9-2-1 in their prior 12 games. Connor Hellebuyck allowed five goals on 32 shots.

"I thought we looked slow all night," Winnipeg captain Blake Wheeler said. "We had some trouble with the ice, but we couldn't get out of our zone and we never established our forecheck."
Detroit's line of Helm, Frans Nielsen and Luke Glendening held Winnipeg's top line of Wheeler, Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor without a point.
"I don't think we've played with a lot of passion the last couple games, so we wanted to show more intensity," Helm said. "We wanted to get pucks in deep, go hard on the forecheck and take away their space."
The Red Wings scored twice in the first period, when they outshot the Jets 16-3.
"Our leaders did a good job of setting the tone early tonight," Blashill said. "We had four lines playing well from the start of the game, and that's huge for us."

Jets coach Paul Maurice said Tuesday morning he expected the Red Wings to come out strong after losing 10-1 to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.
"We didn't compete in the first period," Maurice said. "We lost the game, and we deserved to lose the game."
Abdelkader gave Detroit a 1-0 lead at 10:42, knocking a deflected shot past Hellebuyck.
Detroit failed to score during a 1:55 5-on-3 power play, but moments after the two penalties expired, Nyquist made it 2-0 at 14:43. Hellebuyck made a save on Tomas Tatar, but Nyquist put the rebound into the open side of the net.
Laine made it 2-1 at 6:25 of the second period, scoring with Winnipeg on a 5-on-3 power play. It was his 50th goal in 101 NHL games and 14th of the season.
Nyquist made it 3-1 at 4:55 of the third period. Jonathan Ericsson's high wrist shot deflected off Nyquist and Winnipeg defenseman Josh Morrissey as they collided with Hellebuyck. The play was reviewed for a high stick before the Jets challenged for goaltender interference, but the goal was upheld.

"That changed the game," Winnipeg forward Adam Lowry said. "It is a lot tougher to come back from at 3-1 at that point."
Helm made it 4-1 at 7:25 on a breakaway.
"There was the goaltender interference call -- we probably didn't agree with that -- and then a puck bounces over my stick and they get a breakaway goal," Wheeler said. "Now you are looking at a three-goal deficit."
Booth gave the Red Wings a 5-1 lead at 10:40, knocking in Andreas Athanasiou's pass to finish a 3-on-1.

"Confidence and momentum go hand in hand in this league, and I thought that third goal gave us some of both," Blashill said. "We were able to take care of things from there."

Goal of the game

Nyquist's goal at 14:43 of the first period.

Saves of the game

Howard's two saves on Dmitry Kulikov at 9:38 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Helm's goal at 7:25 of the third period.

They said it

"We lost the game, and we deserved to lose the game. We missed the net on some good chances, but the biggest thing is that we gave up five even-strength goals. That's not good enough." -- Jets coach Paul Maurice
"Compared to the last game, we did a much better job of limiting our mistakes. Even when they got shots, we kept them on the outside. We didn't do that in the last game." -- Red Wings forward Gustav Nyquist

Need to know

The Jets led the NHL with 36 first-period goals; their three shots were the fewest the Red Wings allowed in a period this season. … Winnipeg was 3-0-1 in its past four games. … Nyquist had his second three-point game of the season (Oct. 13 at Vegas Golden Knights) and the eighth of his NHL career.

What's next

Jets: At the Florida Panthers on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; FS-F, TSN3, NHL.TV)
Red Wings: Host the St. Louis Blues on Saturday (1 p.m. ET; SN1, FS-D, FS-MW, NHL.TV)