MONTREAL — Chants of “Let’s go, Red Wings,” came from just outside the visitors locker room at Bell Centre, where happy dads celebrated a good start to their trip.
The Detroit Red Wings won a second straight game, the first step to doing what they have talked about so much over the past month: Go on a run and get into the playoff picture.
“We smell it,” Robby Fabbri said after scoring the final goal in Thursday’s 4-3 overtime victory over the Montreal Canadiens. “We’re right there. We’re going to keep pushing until the end. In order to keep it close, we are going to have to go on a run here, which, we got a good start here, but no one is satisfied in here. We’ve got a long way to go.”
THURSDAY NIGHT:Robby Fabbri’s overtime goal lifts Red Wings to 4-3 win at Montreal
Their coach would tell them just how long: The game wouldn’t have gone past regulation had the Wings not made costly errors that allowed the Habs to tie the game three times.
“I don’t like the way we managed some of our game,” Derek Lalonde said. “We didn’t give up a ton of offense, but we gave up some easy offense. The really disappointing goal was the end of the second. Just to allow that — we still have a lot of immaturity with managing certain situations.
“I think we’re in a pretty good spot if we go into the third leading, but, good third period.”
As Lalonde spoke, voices nearby grew louder as the dads — and one or two brothers — who are on the trip that continues Friday against the New York Islanders started chants and cheers. “I think the European dads are leading,” Lalonde said, smiling.
MONEY TALKS:Dylan Larkin: ‘No hard feelings’ over contract negotiations with Red Wings
Players aren’t likely to be happy unless they win again on Long Island. The Wings have won two or three games in a row multiple times, but their record — 21-18-8 — shows they haven’t been able to string together five or six victories or more, which is what it will take to rise in the standings.
“We’re all aware of it,” Fabbri said. “It’s closing out periods. We did it last game, and we did it here, too. Without those, we’re going into the next period with some momentum. We’re all on the same page in here, we’re ready to clean that up. We’ve got one more before the break here, and we are going to try and get another for the dads.”
Ville Husso made six of his 20 saves in the the third period and three more in overtime.
“Kind of a weird game,” he said. “No shots and then a couple breakaways, but I felt like we played great. Just, a couple of those chances they got, they were lucky to bury them.
“It’s always, as a goalie you want to play at a high level, but there are going to be tough games and then it’s just back to work. It’s one more big game tomorrow, then get a little break. We are still in the hunt and we never give up.”
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.
Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter.
Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.