It wasn't a great first for the Red Wings, who needed a great game. Midway through the opening frame, Dominik Shine chipped and chased a puck into the offensive zone and barreled Flames defenseman Hunter Brzustewicz into the boards behind the net. The Flames took exception, and moments later the 5'11 Shine was dropping the gloves with 6'2 enforcer Martin Pospisil.
"He's a tough kid," Patrick Kane would say a few hours later.
Shine swung first and missed, Pospisil landed a couple rights that put Shine on the ropes, but Shine regained his bearings and connected with a right that drove Pospisil to the ice. An anxious crowd at Little Caesars Arena roared.
"Obviously not ideal being down 1-0," said Kane, "but Shiner with the big fight I thought got us going and we got some momentum off that."
The Flames still scored first to take a lead into the intermission. But the Wings were the better team the rest of the way. They had to be, kicking off a crucial four-game homestand against one of the worst teams they'll play down the stretch. Two points were a must. The Red Wings got them in the end, thanks to two goals from Kane, three assists from his linemate Alex DeBrincat and a strong performance in net by John Gibson.
The final tally came fittingly from Shine, who stripped a defenseman and tucked home an empty-netter to seal the Red Wings' 5-2 win. It marked their first time in 15 games scoring five goals. On that night almost two months ago, after a 5-1 victory in Winnipeg, the Wings were tied atop the East with the Hurricanes. They entered Monday hanging on for dear life in the playoff race, one point clear of the Blue Jackets for the final wild card spot amid another March morass and injuries to Dylan Larkin and Andrew Copp.
Shine was one of three forwards from the Grand Rapids Griffins in the lineup against Calgary, along with John Leonard and Sheldon Dries. He played 9:24 and left his mark. The Michigan native who's spent 10 long seasons in Grand Rapids is showing his value in Detroit. He's as feisty as he is fearless.
"A lot of character," said Kane. "Great story, obviously. We know how much he loved the Red Wings when he was younger, and he’s definitely brought a spark. Every time he plays, he plays hard, gives it his all out there. And to see a fight tonight, I don’t remember the last time we saw one, so it was pretty exciting for everyone on the bench, especially when you’re down. It was a great moment."
The Red Wings have the fourth fewest fighting majors (8) in the NHL this season, three of them from a player who's typically out of the lineup in depth defenseman Travis Hamonic. They also have the fourth fewest hits. They are not a hard-edged team; haven't been in a long time. The last time they saw a player drop the gloves, to finish Kane's thought, was in their first game back from the Olympic break when Simon Edvinsson had to answer for a hit on Brady Tkachuk.
Shine actually had his choice of combatants Monday night when both Pospisil and the 5'9 Ryan Lomberg converged on him at center ice, ready to go. Shine sized them up and signaled at Pospisil, a bruiser who was third in the NHL in hits last season and boasts a long fight card in the pros. So does Shine, for the matter, with 28 scraps to his name between the AHL and NHL, almost all of them with the Griffins. He'll stick his nose in the fray, regardless of the stakes. He'll step up for his teammates, regardless of the stage.
Todd McLellan has been trying to pull more snarl out of the Red Wings since he took over behind the bench midway through last season. There's plenty of grit in Shine.
"His forecheck that drew the fight was important because he got on top of a D-man and was heavy and quite physical in that situation," said McLellan. "It obviously drew a response and he answered the bell there. Everything about it was positive energy and momentum in the building. I’m sure it helped. If anybody was sleeping — sleeping's a bad word — but not clear, that got them going."
The Red Wings won on Monday because their top players rose their games. Kane, in particular, has found a higher gear since the Wings lost Larkin and then Copp as their season started to spiral. He's been playing on the first line with DeBrincat and J.T. Compher and has been more noticeable at five-on-five, with the puck on his stick or not. One of his best plays Monday night was a back-check to prevent a dangerous scoring chance on a two-on-one rush for the Flames.
"He's had a lot of jump for a couple games," said McLellan. "He understands the situation and the need for him to elevate. He's capable of doing it, and he is doing it."
"It’s an important time of year," said Kane, who knows better than anyone in Detroit's locker room what it takes to win right now, "and it’s tough when you see some of your best players go down. But I think the position we’re in, in some aspects you’re playing for them, trying to do the job while they’re out so that when they come back we’re in a good position."
Everyone wants to be known as a "big-game player," said Kane. If you play with "the right attitude," he said, "more often that not you play with a little bit of an edge." Shine's attitude is one the Red Wings could afford to adopt the rest of the way, thinned as they are by injuries. He's one of the smaller players on the ice and he doesn't give ground. He's an AHL lifer who nearly called it a career two years ago, before deciding to keep going so that his young son could see him play. It is rarely about himself.
A couple months ago, Shine earned a two-year extension with the Red Wings. Now he's trying to help them extend their season, nine years after he played his first game for his favorite organization.
"You listen to him, he said he didn’t know what his hockey career was a couple years ago and all of a sudden he’s getting these extensions and got a two-year deal recently, so it’s great to see," said Kane. "He’s well-deserving. He’s a great kid and brings a lot of energy to the group."