But after Detroit's 3-1 win over the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night at Capital One Arena, Red Wings goalie Ville Husso isn't opposed to more travel if the momentum of road victories will help the club continue to keep pace in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
"I think it (road trip) brought us together even more," Husso said before adding a chuckle. "Having dinners and stuff, I guess we should go on the road more often."
Pius Suter found the back of the net twice and Robert Hagg scored his first goal as a member of the Red Wings, who collected two important points in regulation to conclude a successful 4-1-0 road trek.
"We needed a complete effort from everyone," Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde said. "We needed everyone to step up a little bit more, and they did that. We got ourselves a good road win."
With the victory, Detroit (27-21-8; 62 points) surpassed Washington (28-25-6; 62 points) in the conference standings and moved within two points of the Florida Panthers for the second and final wild card spot.
"We know we can win in this league," said Husso, who made 26 saves to improve to 5-1-0 in his last six starts. "We have the team that can win. It's just day by day, have fun and move on."
Jakub Vrana, playing his first NHL game since Oct. 15, finished with a plus-1 rating in 11:31 of ice time on Tuesday. Robby Fabbri exited the contest after blocking a shot late in the third period and did not return.
"It was a really good bounce-back game," Vrana said. "We had a great road trip. But at the same time, we have to go one day at a time. If our confidence is great, we can learn from some things, move on and already start to focus on the next game."
NEXT UP:The Red Wings will open a quick two-game homestand on Thursday night, welcoming the New York Rangers to Little Caesars Arena for the final time this season.
