Red Wings-Wild wrap-up: pissed-off Wild steal a point, sting the Wings

The Detroit Red Wings lost a 4-3 overtime decision to the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, blowing 2-0 and 3-1 leads in the process.

Sportsnet happened to post overtime, which ended poorly for the Red Wings, as Marco Rossi raced out of the penalty box, fanned on a breakaway shot on Cam Talbot, but Talbot fanned on the save, too, and the puck rolled over the goal line:

There was bad news after the game, too, as Andrew Copp hurt his arm trying to defend Alex DeBrincat in a 2nd period kerfuffle…

Todd McLellan said Andrew Copp (undisclosed) doubtful for Red Wings Sunday vs. Ducks.
— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) February 22, 2025

The Red Wings will play against the Anaheim Ducks (who are in Boston to play the Bruins this evening) tomorrow at 6 PM EST (FanDuel SportsNet Detroit Extra/Victory+/97.1 FM), so they’ll get the chance to steady themselves against a surprisingly solid Anaheim team, but then the Wings head to Minnesota on Tuesday for a rematch with the pesky Wild…

And then comes the home-and-home with Wild Card pursuer Columbus that will lead up to the Stadium Series.

All in all, the Wings will play 5 games over the course of 8 nights, and they’re all consequential at this point, so losing out on a second point against Minnesota stings, and stings badly…

In no small part because the Red Wings came out of a two-week break playing utterly sloppy hockey. The Wings’ effort, intensity and execution were all present on Saturday, but their “fit and finish” was terrible at times, and that sapped the team’s at least tolerable work ethic.

For the Wild, earning a victory in Detroit was winning an uphill battle against both the Red Wings and the referees, as they told The Athletic’s Joe Smith…

Saturday’s game delivered quite a show for a nationally televised audience. There was a bit of everything, from controversial calls to thunderous hits. The pace was quick. The drama was high, with overtime only adding to it. But for the Wild, who had Brock Faber, Matt Boldy, Joel Eriksson Ek and Jonas Brodin in their first games back, it’s how they found a way that was most impressive.

“I liked our demeanor tonight,” [Wild coach John] Hynes said. “With a lot of things going on and adversity at different points in the game, I thought we stuck with it and remained focused and found a way to pull it out.”

There were a lot of points the Wild could have been ticked off and lost their composure. The controversial Dylan Larkin goal in the second (more on that later). The big-time hit on Faber by Alex DeBrincat (more on that later). The two power-play goals allowed. But Minnesota, in danger of losing three straight road games for the first time this season, stuck with it. Boldy, fresh off an impressive performance for Team USA, scored with just under seven minutes left to pull within 1. And then, with Marc-Andre Fleury pulled, Foligno scored with 1:31 to go to tie it up.

“A huge battle from every guy,” Faber said. “Top to bottom.”

“This group just seems to find a way,” Boldy said. “There’s no quit.”

“Love it, love it,” Fleury said. “We kept grinding and playing hard. Love to see the character of our guys like that.”

The Wild have won six of their last eight, kicking off this last stretch of the season with a galvanizing win. Those who came back from the tournament believe they’ll be better because of going through it, even if nobody from the Wild came home with the gold.

And the Wild complained to the Star-Tribune’s Sarah McLellan as well…

“At the end, we always win more puck battles,” Rossi said, “and that’s why we get more chances, and we bring the puck to the net and good things happen.”

This victory improved the Wild’s NHL-best road record to 20-7-3, and their 72 points overall (34-19-4) are tied for the third most in team history through 57 games.

They now have six multigoal comebacks and two multigoal, third-period rallies; not since Nov. 6, 2021, at Philadelphia had they come back from a multigoal deficit in the final seven minutes of regulation. This was their sixth such win all-time.

The Wild were down 7:54 into the first period when DeBrincat backhanded in a bouncing puck lost by Marcus Johansson, who was a presence late by assisting on Boldy and Foligno’s goals to eclipse 500 career points.

A bizarre sequence at 5:41 of the second sunk the Wild into a deeper hole: After DeBrincat’s shot hit the post on the power play, the goal horn sounded and the referee signaled goal, but Larkin poked the rebound into the net.

Although the on-ice officials huddled and decided there wasn’t a goal, video review reversed the ruling and counted Larkin’s shot.

Faber mentioned he’d never been part of a play like that before, while Fleury accepted the blame despite hearing the puck hit the post and the horn and seeing Detroit celebrate.

“I’m not going to get into the officiating,” Hynes said, “but there are some things I need to follow up on just for information for us and for our players of what happens in those situations.”

But they told NHL.com’s Dave Hogg that they got the last laugh:

Marco Rossi scored at 3:35 of overtime, and the Minnesota Wild rallied for a 4-3 win against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday. Rossi was called for hooking at 1:22, but Minnesota killed the penalty and Rossi took a pass from Joel Eriksson Ek after coming out of the box and skated in on a breakaway. He was unable to get a good shot off, but the puck trickled across the line past Cam Talbot.

“Maybe that was my plan all along,” Rossi said with a smile. “No one is ever going to know.”

Matt Boldy and Marcus Foligno scored 5:22 apart in the third period for the Wild (34-19-4), who have won six of their past eight games. Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves in his 1,045th NHL game, moving him past Roberto Luongo for second on the all-time list. Martin Brodeur leads with 1,266.

“The guys I’m passing are players that I looked up to when I was growing up,” Fleury said. “That’s very cool. I’ve gotten to play as long as they have, doing what I love.”

Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond each had a goal and an assist for the Red Wings (28-22-6), who host the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday. Talbot made 35 saves.

“Today was a real strange game, with the delays and the type of goals were scored,” Detroit coach Todd McLellan said. “It was just an odd one.”

The Red Wings didn’t feel that Dylan Larkin’s goal on Marc-Andre Fleury was a case of scoring “after the whistle,” that Lucas Raymond’s 3-1 goal involved goaltender interference by Alex DeBrincat, or the scrum with Brock Faber was blatantly dirty play by Detroit.

Instead, they focused on the fact that they blew a 2-goal 3rd period lead, losing a crucial point in the process, as they told MLive’s Ansar Khan:

“Are we disappointed? We gave up a point, certainly,” McLellan said. “But four-on-three in overtime, good look off the crossbar could have put the nail in the coffin, and we didn’t. And then we turned the puck over in overtime. And even the overtime goal, I think Rossi missed the puck, took another poke at it and strange one. So just an odd night. I don’t know if it’s because of the break or not, but a lot of strange things happened.”

Said Dylan Larkin: “It’s kind of a sloppy last eight minutes … and then in overtime we got a power play, we got our looks, we got to score there to put the game away. … We had ample opportunities to close that game out, and that’s the frustrating part.”

On a positive note, Larkin and Lucas Raymond, fresh off the high-intensity best-on-best tournament, each had a goal and an assist.

“Asked a lot of them tonight,” McLellan said. “They had an impact on the game, which is a good sign. I’m not sure where their gas tanks are. They’re going to play again tomorrow, and we’ll find them time to get the rest they need. But we’re riding the horse right now and we’re whipping it and that’s how it’s going to be from now until the end.”

Alex DeBrincat also had a goal and an assist and leveled Brock Faber with a shoulder check with 20 seconds remaining in the second period, resulting in a melee.

“He’s a feisty SOB since he’s been in the league,” McLellan said. “Everywhere he’s been, he surprises you when he gets the gloves off, he surprises you with big hits. He’s a hard, physical player that scores goals and just because he’s not the tallest guy in the league, he probably isn’t looked at that way. But pound for pound, I’d put him up against a lot of people.”

Lucas Raymond agreed that the Wings were “off” on Saturday…

“We know what we should have done better tonight,” Raymond said. “I think we played a pretty solid game first two-and-a-half (periods), let it slip away from us.”

As far as the scrum was concerned, the Free Press’s Helene St. James notes that the team didn’t really pay it much heed…

The Wings (28-22-6) get a chance at redemption Sunday when they host the Anaheim Ducks. Andrew Copp is doubtful for the game after leaving Saturday with an undisclosed injury he appeared to incur during a late second-period scrum.

That scrum earned the Wings a power play that spilled into the third period, and Raymond converted at the 22-second mark. The Wild lost their challenge that DeBrincat interfered with goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, leading to a third power play.

The Wings got into trouble during their fourth power play. Moritz Seider got caught flat-footed, enabling Joel Eriksson Ek to challenge Talbot on a breakaway. Seider and Larkin both ended up with penalties, cutting short Detroit’s power play and giving the Wild an eventual 51-second man advantage. Matt Boldy scored to cut Detroit’s lead to one goal, and Nick Foligno leveled it with 1:31 to play after the Wild had pulled Fleury for an extra attacker.

“We’re 6-on-5 and it’s in our net,” McLellan said. “We have a power play goal that we score but we don’t really score, and then we have a 10-minute break to try and figure out what the call may be. It was just add odd game.

“But 4-on-3 in overtime, good looks off the crossbar, could have put the nail in the coffin and we didn’t, and then we turned the puck over in overtime. Even the overtime goal, I think Rossi was intending to shoot it and missed the puck, took another poke at it. Strange one. Just an odd night. I don’t know if it’s because of the break or not, but a lot of strange things happened.”

And instead, the Red Wings told the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan that they were looking forward to a little redemption against Anaheim tonight…

“It was a tight game,” Larkin said. “We kind of got sloppy the last eight minutes and they got one (goal) and then the last one (Foligno’s tying goal) and in overtime we got a power play, and we have to score there and put the game away. They got one there on the 5-on-4 that was a delayed penalty, and they got one 6-on-5. We just let them get in the zone and establish zone time late in the game.”

The Wings (28-22-6) did earn one point for the regulation tie and maintained their playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They return to action quick, hosting Anaheim at 6 p.m. Sunday (FDSN-extra/97.1).

“The best part is we get another game tomorrow,” Raymond said. “We know what we should have done better (Saturday). We played a pretty solid game for two and a half (periods) and let it slip away from us. Everyone will be eager to get back at it (Sunday).”

Because Saturday’s game was strange…

“We started the third (period) and scored and we felt pretty good,” McLellan said., “But the next power play, (after) they challenged, we were a little bit sloppy and we could have put the nail in the coffin there. That hurt us a little bit.

“Then in overtime, we had good looks and (they’re) off the crossbar, then we turned the puck over in overtime. Even Rossi’s goal, it looked like he was intending to shoot it and missed the puck and took another poke at it. Strange one. Just an odd night.”

And the Wings’ effort wasn’t good enough for McLellan, as he told Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen:

“We were a little bit sloppy and we could have put the nail in the coffin there and that kind of hurt us a little bit,” McLellan said.

The Red Wings also received a power play in overtime on a Rossi hooking call.

“But four-on-three in overtime, good look off the crossbar could have
put the nail in the coffin (too) and we didn’t,” McLellan said.

McLellan was not with Detroit last season, but most of his players were. They all know the importance of a lost point down the stretch. The Red Wings missed the playoffs by a single point. Fighting for every point is a theme this season.

“It was just an odd game. Are we disappointed?,” McLellan said. “We gave up a point, certainly. I thought when we started the third and we scored, we felt pretty good. ”

But no one felt good at the end of the game. At the very least, the Red Wings will get a chance to redeem themselves quickly because they play Anaheim at Little Caesars Sunday at 6 p.m.

As for Andrew Copp’s status, Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff noted the following…

Late in the second period of Saturday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild, Copp was suffering an apparent left shoulder injury in a melee behind the Wild net. Grabbing Minnesota forward Matt Boldy with his left gloved hand, Copp slammed Boldy to the ice. Immediately, he grabbed at his upper left arm and quickly skated away from the tussle and toward the Detroit bench.

“I think they’re looking at him now,” Detroit coach Todd McLellan said. “I would say he’s doubtful for tomorrow (at home against the Anaheim Ducks).”

On Detroit’s first goal, Copp drew an assist. That was his 300th NHL point.

And the Hockey News’s Sam Stockton offered this take on the game…

“It was a tight game…and it’s kind of a sloppy last eight minutes, and they got one, and then they got the last one,” said Larkin. “And then in overtime, we got a power play, we got our looks, we gotta score there to put the game away.”

Both Larkin and his coach stressed that, despite the peculiar flow of play, Detroit ought to have skated off with the full two points. As Larkin put it, “We had ample opportunities to close that game out, and that’s the frustrating part.” Meanwhile, McLellan pointed to a pair of power plays—first the delay of game minor that came from Wild coach John Hynes’ unsuccessful challenge of Raymond’s goal, then Rossi’s hooking minor in OT—as moments when his team “could’ve put the nail in the coffin” but instead failed to convert.

If there was a positive to take from the afternoon from a Detroit perspective (besides the point itself), that came in the form of three individual performances: from DeBrincat and from the two 4 Nations representatives, Larkin and Raymond.

DeBrincat scored, added a primary assist, threw a massive hit on Brock Faber late in the second that roused both teams, and provided the screen (which Hynes challenged unsuccessfully) on Raymond’s goal. The diminutive winger was in the middle of most everything good for the Red Wings Saturday afternoon, and McLellan described him affectionately as a “feisty SOB” for his troubles.

Meanwhile, Raymond (21:09) and Larkin (19:55) were the two Detroit forwards by time on ice, despite being the only two players in the lineup who did not benefit from any time off because of their participation in the 4 Nations. Those two received the call-up to international duty because they are greatly impactful players, and for the same reason, McLellan leaned on both heavily once the regular season resumed.

As the head coach pointed out, don’t expect that workload to get lighter any time soon, as the Red Wings prepare to host the Ducks Sunday evening. “We’re riding the horse right now and we’re whipping it,” McLellan said. “That’s how it’s gonna be until the end.”

The Athletic’s Max Bultman offered some Red Wings-related thoughts…

There’s no doubt, this was a disappointing loss for the Red Wings. To have 2 points seemingly in hand and emerge with only 1 is a tough outcome in the midst of a playoff race. Time will tell if it comes back to bite them.

But for now, picking up the point still helped them in the standings — pushing them up into a tie for the first wild-card spot with the Senators heading into the night’s busy schedule. There are a host of teams right on their tail, including Columbus 2 points back. Detroit will see the Blue Jackets twice in the next seven days. That outdoor game next Saturday at Ohio Stadium is now looking huge.

And for Larkin, who just came back from a week of high-stakes hockey, that experience has only added to his desire to play in those types of games in Detroit.

“It’s a great experience, and the games were so intense and so much fun,” Larkin said. “It was a disappointing end for us, and I’m sure (Raymond) will say the same: It definitely is a huge motivator to come back and play today and push our team to make the playoffs.”

And, among DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills’ post-game quotes:

McLellan on what he thought of Larkin and Raymond on Saturday afternoon

“I asked a lot of them tonight. They had an impact on the game, which is a good sign. I’m not sure where their gas tanks are.”

Larkin on how he felt on Saturday following his time at 4 Nations Face-Off

“It was a quick turnaround, to be playing Thursday night and then again tonight, but I guess I would say I felt like it helped me then it didn’t towards the end of the game. I still felt like I had enough juice in overtime, and I lose the face-off. Then [Raymond] and I have to defend, but we had our power play. We had ample opportunities to close that game out, and that’s the frustrating part.”

Larkin on the Red Wings not being able to hold onto their multi-goal lead

“We let them establish zone time late in the game,” Larkin said. “I think before the break, when we were rolling, we were in those situations, and we got on the forecheck. I’m sure Todd will have a video for us tomorrow and we’ll be able to fix what we didn’t do well tonight.”

Multimedia:

Highlights: NHL.com posted a 10:16 highlight clip: