The Detroit Red Wings have earned 5 of a possible 6 points coming out of the Four Nations Face-Off break, with the Wings earning a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night.
The Red Wings now head home to battle the Columbus Blue Jackets in a consequential home-and-Stadium-Series-home series to end the month.
The Red Wings didn’t dominate this game by any means. The Wild held possession and control of the puck in the offensive zone, they out-shot the Wings 17-7 over the course of the 2nd and 3rd periods, and in what was a physical game, they drew 2 power plays, and only gave up 1 to Detroit…
But the Red Wings played rope-a-dope hockey to a tee, and they simply managed to out-hustle and out-last a Wild team that was playing with a better energy level and a better level of fit-and-finish on Tuesday night.
But the Red Wings’ ability to overcome the losses of Andrew Copp and Michael Rasmussen (thanks to the stepping up of players like Elmer Soderblom, who had 7 hits, Simon Edvinsson, who scored two goals, #77’s defensive partner Albert Johansson, who was a stout stalwart, and Marco Kasper, who was tenacious all night long), and Cam Talbot’s ability to steady himself after giving up 2 somewhat shaky goals weren’t the icing on the cake.
The best part of this “revenge game” for Saturday’s 4-3 OT loss to Minnesota was that the Wild were utterly perplexed as to what the hell the Red Wings did to them.
The Wild expressed bewilderment to the Hockey News’s Dylan Loucks…
“I think it’s a disappointing loss from the sense that I thought we played a really solid game,” Wild head coach John Hynes said. “I thought we carried the play. I think if you look at most categories, we were there: offensive zone time, chances for, and Grade As. They found a way to get a couple more goals than we did, but I think the style of game that we played, the structure we played with, the offensive attack that we had, we did lots of good things tonight, but sometimes that’s how it goes.”
According to Moneypuck, the Wild deserved to win that game. After 1,000 game simulations, the Wild win that game 75.2% of the time.
“Well, you have to,” Filip Gustavsson said on if this is a game you flush down the toilet. “You know, I don’t think we played bad today. It just games right now get tight at this time of year and sometimes one bad goal like that can determine the game.”
The Wild opened the game with the first two goals but ended up letting in the next three. They took one penalty and had one of their best penalty kills of the season. That was until Vladimir Tarasenko scored a second after the penalty expired.
“I don’t know, man. Like, we’re confident in it too,” Jake Middleton said on the PK. “We did really well with however long it was — a minute and 58 seconds and whatnot. And then, granted, they make a great pass, and they score a great goal. But yeah, no, we’re still plucking away at it because, as you guys saw, we’re confident, and we feel good when we’re out there. And then sometimes you just score a nice goal.”
Did the Wild use the losses of Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov to injuries as an excuse? Why yes, they did…
“It’s the same template if we have Ek and Kaprizov, the same way,” Hynes said. “It doesn’t change the identity of how the team wants to play. Now, when you don’t have those two guys in the lineup, there’s different skill sets there, but I think if you look at tonight’s game, there’s not much that we didn’t do well. We did lots of things well. We just didn’t find a way to win the game.”
And while the Wild’s bottom line was simple, as the Star-Tribune’s Sarah McLellan noted…
“When we had the 2-0 lead,” Wild center Marco Rossi said, “you have to win that game.”
The Wild were really confused as to how the Wings tied the game and ultimately won it:
“We need to be more tenacious in front of their net because obviously we see the pattern of the goals we scored, and we just didn’t stick with it,” Lauko said. “I think we need to be more hard in front of both nets and just stick with our game plan because it just drifted away a little bit in the second.”
Vladimir Tarasenko wired in a shot from the right side at 10:12 as Mats Zuccarello exited the penalty box after sitting for hooking. (Detroit, officially, went 0-for-1 on the power play, while the Wild were 1-for-2; Marcus Johansson was high-sticked in the second period, but the infraction went uncalled.) Then at 13:12, Edvinsson uncorked a blistering one-timer from inside the blue line.
That set up a make-or-break third period, and the Wild applied more pressure initially before Edvinsson ended the stalemate with another sizzling shot off the right post and in.
“Second one I’m not happy with,” Gustavsson said, “and then the third they go ‘D’ to ‘D’ and go past our guy that tries to block it. They have a screen in front, and I pick it up late.”
The goal was one of only three pucks the Red Wings threw on net in the third; the Wild had 10 shots.
“We were banging on a closed door,” Lauko said.
The Athletic’s Michael Russo and Joe Smith were equally perplexed as to how the Red Wings’ 2-1 goal went in…
The Wild had firm control of the game in the second period after first-period goals by Rossi and Lauko.
It’s hard to even say they didn’t play well in the second period, but Tarasenko and Edvinsson scored three minutes apart on two of Detroit’s four shots in the period.
“We played a really solid game,” coach John Hynes said. “I thought we carried play. I think if you look at most categories, we were there: offensive zone time, chances for, Grade As. They found a way to get a couple more goals than we did, but I think the style of game that we played, the structure we played with, the offensive attack that we had, we did lots of good things tonight, but sometimes that’s how it goes.”
The first goal by Tarasenko was hard to fathom. It came one second after Mats Zuccarello got out of the box for hooking. The Wild’s penalty kill has been much maligned this season, rightfully so.
But after two big kills three days earlier in Detroit, including killing a two-minute three-on-four in overtime before Rossi’s winner after coming out of the box, the Wild were in the midst of an exceptional one before Tarasenko’s goal. The Red Wings barely had the puck, couldn’t enter the offensive zone and the Wild, led by Marcus Foligno and Freddy Gaudreau, actually ate valuable seconds in the offensive zone.
It wasn’t enough. The Red Wings set once, the Wild got too loose with their PK box and Erik Gustafsson teed up season-long disappointment Tarasenko at the side of the net.
“We did really well with however long it was — a minute and 58 seconds and whatnot,” Middleton, who wasn’t on the ice, said. “Then, granted they make a great pass, and they score a great goal. But we’re still plucking away at it because we’re confident, and we feel good when we’re out there. And then sometimes you just score a nice goal.”
Vladdy making it a one-goal game! #LGRW pic.twitter.com/AOadwrjpqv
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) February 26, 2025
Not long after, Declan Chisholm’s neutral-zone pass was intercepted and moments later Alex DeBrincat dropped a pass just inside the blue line for Edvinsson’s 58-foot one-timer scorcher that breezed by Gustavsson.
Simon blast to square things up. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/J2xeI5tqO7
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) February 26, 2025
We could go on, but we’ll move on to the Red Wings’ perspectives instead, per NHL.com’s Jessi Pierce:
Simon Edvinsson scored twice for his first multigoal NHL game, and the Detroit Red Wings rallied from two goals down for a 3-2 win against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday.
Vladimir Tarasenko also scored for Detroit (30-22-6), which has won two in a row and nine of its past 11 (9-1-1). Alex DeBrincat had an assist to push his point streak to seven games (five goals, six assists), and Cam Talbot made 22 saves.
“The resiliency going down two, obviously wasn’t part of our gameplan but we came out of the first period talking about actually playing fairly well and don’t get discouraged, stick with things,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan said. “I also appreciated the fact that we played in a tight checking, not a lot of scoring chances kind of ugly muck it up type game and we were able to handle ourselves fairly well. Those two things put together and we found different heroes. Not your typical power-play night that we’ve had many times, or scoring from [Lucas] Raymond or [Dylan] Larkin or guys that have been hot. We found other guys that were able to find ways to contribute to the win. So, a good night for our club.”
…
“We didn’t get the start that we wanted, but like you said, give our guys a ton of credit for battling back,” Talbot said. “Could be easy to fold after that but we battled back. We knew what we’ve got in this room and we settled down and got back to our game and ultimately got the big win.”
Edvinsson put the Red Wings ahead 3-2 at 11:35 of the third. Albert Johansson got the puck in the right circle and looked to the net before slamming on the brakes and finding Edvinsson with a cross-ice pass for a slap shot from the top of the left circle that went in over Gustavsson’s glove.
“The pass at the end there was unbelievable,” Edvinsson said. “We played outstanding out there.”
As Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff noted, the Wings got a little lucky, too…
After squandering late leads by allowing empty-net goals in a pair of weekend games, the Red Wings were able to hold off the Minnesota Wild when they had the goalie out for an extra attacker and cling to a 3-2 victory.
Minnesota’s Marco Rossi was left with a wide-open chance in the six-on-five scenario. Fortunately for the Wings, his point-blank shot thudded into the side netting of Cam Talbot’s goal.
“We didn’t get scored on,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan said to FanDuel Sports Detroit. “They had a really good scoring chance. They have six players and we have five and it happens that way sometimes. Our structure was fairly good. We made one mistake and it almost ended up in the net, but we handled ourselves well in that situation. There was some poise. I didn’t think we panicked any of the other nights. Sometimes it just ends up in your net. Good job tonight. It gives us a little more confidence.”
But you earn your luck sometimes, too:
McLellan made defending six-on-five situations a prior at Monday’s practice and the work paid dividends.
“Of course we talked about it but it’s a thing that we have to work on still,” Detroit defenseman Simon Edvinsson lamented. “We need to get tighter and yeah they had a good chance. But the hockey gods were on our side today and feels good with two points here.”
Then there’s this, as noted by the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan:
The victory gave the Wings (30-22-6) sole possession of the first wild-card spot and a two-point lead (66-64) over Columbus. The two teams play each other Thursday at Little Caesars Arena and Saturday at outdoors, at historic Ohio Stadium, in crucial games for playoff positioning.
“This is the hardest part of the season,” Edvinsson told FDSN. “Everyone wants to get into the playoffs and it’s not an easy game. We need all the points we can get.”
The Wings have won nine of their last 13 games (9-2-2). They split two home games last weekend after losing third periods against Minnesota and Anaheim but held on to Tuesday’s lead late in the third period.
In coach McLellan’s words, the Wings “mucked and ground” their way to a beautifully ugly win:
“We didn’t play real poor in the first period,” McLellan said. “We found a way to scrap ourselves back into the game. It wasn’t a pretty night for either team, not a lot of shots, not a lot of scoring chances. It almost felt like a playoff game, tight checking and muck and grind. But it was good for us to experience it and good for us to find a way to win.”
McLellan also praised the Wings’ second defensive pairing, and Simon Edvinsson in particular, while speaking with DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills…
“He’s obviously a very, very talented player,” McLellan said about Edvinsson, who became the team’s first blueliner to record a multi-goal game this season. “He’s got great legs. He anticipates well, has a tremendous shot. We saw that twice tonight. His stamina, his engine — if you want to call it that — is very strong. He took a lot of pride in defending tonight.”
But Albert Johansson, who played 21:32, puffed out his chest a bit, too:
“I think we’ve been ready to play again,” Johansson said. “We know every game is huge. We need points and are trying to make a push, so it looks like everyone had a good break and were well prepared to come back and go after it.”
Among Mills’ bank of post-game quotes:
McLellan on Johansson and Edvinsson being paired together
“When [Jeff Petry] went out with his injury, Albert wasn’t playing. [Assistant coach] Trent Yawney and I showed up, and we didn’t know much about him. We kind of took over the team and wanted to figure it out as we went…Albert went in in Winnipeg If I remember correctly, one of the tougher places to play, and he had a real good game. The confidence from there just grew. How did he end up with Simon? The familiarity from his time with him in Grand Rapids and from that day on, they’ve been good together.”
Talbot on what Tuesday’s win says about the Red Wings
“Tough building. Obviously, we knew that the start was going to be key. We didn’t get the start that we wanted, but I give our guys a ton of credit for battling back. It could have been easy to fold out here after that, but we battled back. We know what we got in this room. We settled down, got back to our game and ultimately got the big win.”
Talbot on Detroit being able to protect this late lead
“Obviously, cost us Saturday. Almost cost us on Sunday, but give the guys a ton of credit. I don’t think they even let a puck to the net tonight [while defending] 6-on-5, so a heck of a job tonight and got rewarded for it.”
Edvinsson on how much fun he’s having playing with Johansson
“It’s fun to talk Swedish. That pass at the end there was unbelievable…he’s playing outstanding out there.”
Johansson on gaining confidence from playing in late-game situations
“It builds a lot of confidence. You want to play those big minutes and be a guy the coach trusts. It’s fun to be out there. Happy that we got the win tonight.”
Us, too.
Multimedia:
Highlights: NHL.com posted a 10-minute highlight clip:
Sportsnet also posted a 10:16 highlight clip:
Post-game: The Wild’s website posted clips of Jake Middleton, Jakub Lauko, Marco Rossi, Filip Gustavsson and coach John Hynes‘ post-game comments;
The Red Wings posted an 8:56 clip of Simon Edvinsson, Albert Johansson, Cam Talbot and coach Todd McLellan’s post-game comments:
The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a 7:29 clip of Edvinsson, Johansson, Talbot and coach McLellan’s remarks as well:
Photos: The Free Press posted a 15-image gallery;
The Detroit News posted a 17-image gallery;
Reuters posted a 27-image gallery.
Statistics: Here are the Game Summary and Event Summary:
