RECAP: Kane lights the lamp twice as Red Wings kick off ‘big homestand’ with 5-2 victory over Flames

DETROIT -- Putting an emphatic stop to their three-game winless streak, the Detroit Red Wings scored four second-period goals in a 5-2 victory over the Calgary Flames at Little Caesars Arena on Monday night.

“The focus is about getting the job done in here and not focusing on anybody else,” said Patrick Kane, who found the back of the net twice in that middle frame for his second multi-goal game and 10th multi-point performance of the season. “We pretty much, obviously, control our own destiny with the way we can play and the way we can finish. We have 14 games left, so it’s going to be tight all the way to the end. Just got to make sure we bring it every night. A lot of desperation.”

Netminder John Gibson made 25 saves in his 45th start of the campaign to help Detroit (37-23-8; 82 points) win its eighth straight contest against Calgary (26-34-7; 59 points), which saw goalie Dustin Wolf finish with 20 saves, dating back to 2022-23.

“It was a good game,” Gibson said. “Obviously, every game this time of the year is important. We need to start racking up the wins, so tonight was a good start and hopefully we can keep it going. We know it’s a big homestand. We got to be tough to beat at home, and I thought it was a good starting game tonight.”

Joel Farabee had a point-blank opportunity following a defensive-zone turnover by Detroit just 31 seconds into the opener of this four-game homestand, but Gibson came up with the save to keep Calgary off the scoreboard. That big stop generated hearty cheers from the Red Wings fans in attendance, and they erupted when Dominik Shine dropped the gloves with Martin Popisil at 10:31.

“His forecheck that grew the fight was important because he got on top of a D-man, and was heavy and quite physical in that situation,” Detroit head coach Todd McLellan said of Shine. “It obviously drew a response, and he answered the bell there, so everything about it was positive energy and momentum in the building. I’m sure it helped. If anybody wasn’t clear, that got them going. You get energy from a lot of different ways and tonight, that was one of them.”

But 8:07 later, not long after Detroit’s second go-around on man advantage also came up empty, Matvei Gridin raced down the right wing and sent a cross-ice pass to Morgan Frost for a backdoor tap-in goal to give Calgary a 1-0 lead.

“A little bit frustrated after the first period,” McLellan said. “Had some looks on the power play that didn’t go our way and all of a sudden, we’re down by one. So, you could sense a concern in the locker room and around the team, but they handled it well.”

Detroit most certainly did, emerging from the first intermission to score three unanswered goals in a 5:34 span to take control.

Alex DeBrincat wasn’t that far below the blue line when he saw the seam through the slot and connected with Kane at the bottom of the right face-off circle, where the 37-year-old forward snapped the puck over Wolf to make it 1-1. It was Kane’s 11th goal of the campaign and the 503rd of his NHL career, surpassing Joe Mullen for the fourth-most among United States-born players.

Soon after, Emmitt Finnie dropped a pass to Lucas Raymond and the latter quickly found Albert Johansson, who was in the right face-off circle when he fed the 20-year-old rookie forward for a tap-in goal to give Detroit a 2-1 lead at 5:08. Finnie has found the back of the net 12 times this season, including three in his last eight games.

Kane then tallied his 12th of the campaign at 6:37, sending another pass from DeBrincat over Wolf from up close to make it 3-1. J.T. Compher recorded the secondary assist.

“We all want to be known as big-game players, and I think if you have the right mindset and attitude coming into it that you’re going to play confident and get the job done,” Kane said. “More often than not, you play with a little bit of an edge and put together a better showing individually and team-wise too, so I think we all want to be good this time of the year.”

Matt Coronato responded 46 seconds later to bring the Flames back within a goal, 3-2, but Moritz Seider buried a snap shot through traffic for a power-play goal to extend the Red Wings’ lead to 4-2. DeBrincat and Compher picked up the assists on Seider’s ninth tally of the campaign, which matched the German blueliner’s season high.

Kane praised Detroit’s play in the third period, which was capped off by Shine’s empty-net goal at 19:55 for the 5-2 final. Since being recalled from the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins on Feb. 28, the 32-year-old forward has two tallies in nine NHL contests.

“I thought we were pretty aggressive,” Kane said. “You know, still trying to create and playing smart within the game, but still trying to be aggressive and not just sit back.”

NEXT UP: The Red Wings will square off against the Montreal Canadiens at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday night.

WHAT WAS SAID

McLellan on the chances created off checking

“We did a good job. We scored five goals for the first time in a long time. I guess it’s four if you don’t include the empty-netter. We got one on the power play. We did all that and only gave up two. Gibby played a big role in that too.”

Kane on Monday’s homestand-opening victory

“Obviously, not the best road trip for us, but I thought we salvaged a point there in Dallas being down two going into the third and I think that gave us a little momentum coming into tonight. Not ideal being down 1-0, but Shiner with a big fight got us going and we got some momentum off that.”

Gibson on wins and losses down the stretch here

“Every game’s a new game. It’s nice. Enjoy it, then get ready for Thursday. Can’t really dwell on any games. It’s too close, but it’s exciting.”