DET-W 02:02:25

VANCOUVER -- Style points aren’t awarded for wins or losses in the NHL, and the Detroit Red Wings know that. So even though their 3-2 overtime victory over the Vancouver Canucks self-admittingly wasn’t the prettiest, the Red Wings were happy to depart Rogers Arena on Sunday night riding a six-game winning streak and holding the Eastern Conference’s first Wild-Card spot.

“I think we have a lot of resilience in this room,” said Alex DeBrincat, who scored twice, including the game-winning goal 4:18 into overtime. “Today wasn’t an easy game to play. I think we came into the game not giving ourselves any excuses. Needed to just battle through it, and it’s good to get the two points.”

Goalie Alex Lyon stopped 25 shots for the Red Wings (27-21-5; 59 points), who were fresh off a 3-1 road win over the Calgary Flames the night prior and stretched their point streak to seven straight contests. Goaltender Kevin Kankinen made 14 saves for Vancouver (23-18-11; 57 points).

“I give the guys a lot of credit for showing some character,” Detroit head coach Todd McLellan said. “As [assistant coach] Trent Yawney says, ‘Sometimes the art has to hang in the basement.’ It wasn’t real pretty, but we found a way to scrap out a game.”

The Canucks jumped out to the game’s first lead at 4:19 of the first period, as Elias Pettersson’s point shot was deflected in by Pius Suter to make it 1-0. The Red Wings challenged the for high sticking, but the goal was upheld and consequently put them on the penalty kill.

On a counterattack not long after Detroit got through that short-handed situation unscathed, DeBrincat showed good patience when he weaved through the offensive zone before sniping a shot from the high slot past Lankinen to tie it 1-1 at 6:14 of the first period. Andrew Copp picked up the lone assist on DeBrincat’s first goal of the night.

Finding the back of the net for the third time this season, Ben Chiarot tipped the scales to the Red Wings with a wrist shot from the point through traffic for a 2-1 advantage at 5:54 of the second period. The assists went to Jonatan Berggren and Elmer Soderblom.

Berggren is currently on a three-game point streak and Soderblom a four-game point streak.

“The youth has invigorated the older players, I think, and the older players have embraced the youth,” McLellan said. “That doesn’t always happen on teams. It can be really divided sometimes, but if that youthful group continues to provide what they’ve had it keeps the older ones honest. It’s a real good mix right now.”

With 9:16 remaining in the third period, Filip Chytil skated across the slot and tucked the puck into the back of the net to tie it 2-2. The score stayed that way until the end of the frame, sending both clubs to overtime.

In the extra session, DeBrincat one-timed a cross-ice pass from Lucas Raymond into the back of the net, tying captain Dylan Larkin for the club lead in goals (23). Moritz Seider recorded the secondary helper, and has logged 19 points (two goals, 17 assists) in his last 26 games.

DeBrincat also reached the 50-goal mark for the Red Wings in his 135th game, becoming the fastest player to get their first 50 goals with the franchise since Brett Hull did in 130 games from 2001-03.

“Their guy got lost in our zone when we picked it up,” DeBrincat said about how his overtime game-winning goal happened. “I saw it was going to be a long 3-on-2 and [Raymond] was the late guy. I gave it to him and he made a great play back to me.”

Patrick Kane, who logged 18:19 of ice time in his return to the lineup after missing the last five games with an upper-body injury, also expressed pride in the Red Wings’ ability to collect two big points on Sunday despite the circumstances.

“We knew it was going to be a little bit of a grind,” Kane said. “We found a way to get it done. Obviously, you need wins like that when you’re not at your best.”

NEXT UP: Detroit will look to complete a sweep of its four-game road trip when the club battles the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Tuesday night.

POSTGAME QUOTES

McLellan on what the key has been to the Red Wings' success

“Everybody has a sense of belief now. When you come in and you try to create an environment and introduce new concepts for the players, they’re either going to accept them and make it work or they’re going to poke holes in it and basically say it doesn’t work. All of our players have chosen to try and make it work. The longer it goes, the more they believe. We have some things to clean up and some things to advance in too.”

McLellan on Lyon’s night

“Three games in four nights on the road, that doesn’t get done without real good goaltending. He made some outstanding saves. I thought the players in front of him played fairly well though. For me it was a team effort, but without Alex, if he has an off night, you probably don’t come away with points.”

Meijer Postgame Comments | VAN vs. DET | 02/02/25

DeBrincat on the club’s confidence level right now

“We’re feeling good. We’re able to win games that maybe aren’t our best performances, and tonight was one of those nights. A back-to-back, not the best legs and we were kind of sitting back in that third period trying to protect the lead. I think that’s a recipe for disaster, so once we went to 2-2, we got our legs back and pushed a little bit. Would’ve been nice to just protect that lead.”

DeBrincat on Detroit’s defensive effort

“We’re doing a good job boxing out. Their shots are from the outside, for the most part. Obviously [Lyon] came up big for us a couple times with some slot chances or whatever it may be, but overall I think a good defensive game. But we’d like to have the puck more, get more offensive opportunities and put some more on the board.”