‘KEEP PUSHING’
Wings look ahead after closing road trip with impressive win in Tampa
DETROIT >> The Red Wings have been through some bad times lately, including a long losing streak that knocked them out of playoff position.
But in hockey, just as quickly as you can fall upon hard times, you can go the other direction too, with timely offense, solid goaltending and simply earning points for the standings.
The Wings are doing that now. Maybe at just the right time.
Monday’s 4-2 victory in Tampa ended a five-game road trip that seemed to squash or improve the Wings’ playoff chances by the day or game.
Monday’s victory, though, definitely brightened the outlook. It gave the Wings a 1-2-2 record on the trip, only earning four of a possible 10 points. But those four points earned were in three of the last four games, with the Wings seemingly gaining momentum with each game.
Now, they return home for a threegame homestand beginning Friday against the Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers.
It sure feels like the final two weeks of the regular season are going to be fun to experience.
“We’ve been good at home taking care of matchups,” forward David Perron, who scored the winning goal Monday with just under three minutes left in regulation time, told reporters. “Everyone is firing on all cylinders in our team game right now. We got to keep pushing.”
A consistent theme from coach Derek Lalonde lately has been the Wings’ ability to persevere and overcome the obstacles in front of them. It’s pretty much been a theme all season, with the Wings overcoming key injuries to captain Dylan Larkin and goaltenders Alex Lyon and Ville Husso, especially, to stay afloat.
Monday, playing against a powerful, red-hot Tampa team in the final game of a long road trip and attempting to overcome a flu bug that has seemingly found its way through everyone on the roster, the Wings dug deep one more time.
“We haven’t been finding ways to get two full points on the road, but our guys are battling,” Lalonde said afterward. “(Monday) was a perfect example. Just really proud of the group. A lot of adversity all year. A lot of ups and downs, and we’ve just kept in the fight.
“We got two full points. That’s going to be a really good road trip.”
The only negative, possibly, is an upper-body injury that forced forward Michael Rasmussen out late in Monday’s game. Lalonde had no further update after the game, and the Wings had the day off Tuesday. They’ll resume practice Wednesday at Belfor Training Center.
The Wings found themselves Tuesday tied with Washington with 82 points for the final wild-card spot, though Washington has played two fewer games. Philadelphia has 83 points, above both teams, while the New York Islanders (79) and Pittsburgh (77) are lingering behind.
Here are three things that stood out against the Lightning that could also be crucial in these final two weeks: