It could've been the game that put them in their place, probably should've been when they took a penalty late in the third after blowing a two-goal lead. Surely would've been in years past. But on the ropes and on the road, against the best power play the NHL has seen in more than 40 years, the Red Wings survived. And then they shot more life into their playoff hopes by outlasting the Oilers in a shootout.
So this was the game that dares them to dream. The Red Wings have won four straight for the first time since November and are four points shy of the Capitals for the final wild card spot in the East -- with three games in hand.
"We're playing to our identity, we're just getting the results now, which helps the confidence of everyone individually and as a team," said Robby Fabbri, who scored a power play goal in the second. "We just gotta jump on this now and keep this going."
It's only February. Then again, that's the thing: it's February and the Wings are still alive. At the very least, they're on track to achieve their goal this season of playing meaningful games down the stretch. We haven't seen legitimately important hockey in Hockeytown this late in the season since the last time the Red Wings made the playoffs, in their second-to-last season in the Joe. That was seven years ago. Eight would make this drought a franchise worst.
The Red Wings play game No. 60 Thursday night in Calgary. You get the feeling people will be watching back home. Entering their 60th game last season, they were 15 points out of the playoffs in a conference where the worst playoff team -- the Caps -- finished with 100 points. The Wings would finish with 74. A year later, they're on pace for about 90 points and the Caps have opened the door, on pace for about 91. And while the Wings are also a few points back of the Panthers and Islanders, they have four games in hand on both of them.
In terms of points percentage, the Red Wings (.547) are ninth in the East and just a win or two off the playoff pace, with March around the corner. And look who looms at the end of this five-game road trip, which the Red Wings have kicked off with back-to-back wins out West: the Caps. Might as well stay hot against the Flames.
Is anyone hotter right now than Dylan Larkin? And is cool-headed Steve Yzerman just maybe feeling the heat? With everyone debating how much Larkin is worth, the Red Wings captain has come out of the All-Star break with six goals and nine points in five games. He is doing everything he can to carry his team and might soon have a new contract to show for it. Yzerman isn't one to bend because of five games, but this feels more and more like it has to get done. Again: eight years, $66 million? $68 million?
Larkin was everywhere Wednesday night. He scored on the power play with a nifty finish in the first, beat Leon Draisatil on a face-off to tee up Olli Maatta for a goal in the second and nearly set up Tyler Bertuzzi for the game-winner with a perfect two-on-one pass in the third. When Pius Suter sealed the shootout in round five, Larkin spilled over the boards and raced toward Ville Husso like Detroit had just won a playoff game. The Red Wings have always been Larkin's team, from the moment he learned to love hockey. They are more his team now than ever. "Our go-to guy," says Derek Lalonde.
"He's got some jump right now," Lalonde said after Wednesday's win. "He's playing at a high level. I think the recent success has the guys excited. They feel like they're pushing for something and obviously we have something to play for. That gives you a little bit extra, and he's the perfect example of it."
Know who else is playing at a high level? The very player who has to for the Red Wings to give this thing a go: Ville Husso. He stopped 41 shots against the Oilers, including 19 in the third period and overtime and another four unofficially in the shootout, and boasts a .945 save percentage during this four-game surge. This is the Husso who helped the Red Wings get off to a strong start, and the one they'll need the rest of the way. Lalonde called him "the difference" Wednesday night.
"He has some of these stretches where (he makes) you feel really good about your game and you just don't feel like he's going to get beat -- or it's going to take something really special to beat him," said Lalonde. "And that gives our guys a lot of confidence."
Husso has never played more than 40 games in a season in the NHL. (His professional high is 42, three years ago in the AHL.) His next start will mark a new career-high. He wobbled a bit ahead of the All-Star break, and the Wings wobbled with him, but the rest seems to have done him some good. At the same time, this is what Husso has been preparing for his whole life. He smiled last week on his 28th birthday and said, "It's why I practiced when I was young."
"I've come a long way from the AHL to get to this point," Husso said. "You grow as a person and as a goalie, and I'm just trying to enjoy it at the same time. I don't feel any pressure. It's just come to the rink, have fun, do my job a little extra and try to focus for the game."
The Wings could have wilted on Wednesday. Tied at four after giving up two early goals in the third, they could have let the game get away. But they stood up. They steadied themselves against one of the best teams in the West, one shift at a time. It should have been their cold dose of reality, a reminder of who they are not. It became their reason to believe. We'll see how long this run lasts, and where it might lead them.
But the playoff race is on, and the Red Wings are in it.
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