How ‘huge character weekend’ shapes Detroit Red Wings’ final month

Detroit Free Press

As the Detroit Red Wings approach the final month of the season, their morale is boosted by weekend performances against the best team in the NHL.

The Wings (30-27-9) have a fading chance of advancing to the playoffs, but a firmer grasp on still feeling good about themselves and making the most of their remaining 16 games. They next play Tuesday at the Nashville Predators, boosted by the confidence earned from outplaying the Boston Bruins in five out of six periods on Saturday and Sunday.

“There’s a lot of pride in our locker room and that was a huge test, huge opportunity for us, that’s how we looked at it,” captain Dylan Larkin said after Sunday’s 5-3 victory. “We got back-to-back games with the same team and a team that is on a record pace. We had a great two games. We didn’t have a great second period (Saturday), but both games, we battled hard.

“Just incredible team effort both nights. It was a huge character weekend for us.”

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Moritz Seider, whose backhand shot made it 2-0 in the nationally televised matinee at Little Caesars Arena, went even further. It was tough on the locker room at the trade deadline, when top-four defenseman Filip Hronek and top-six forward Tyler Bertuzzi were among the players general manager Steve Yzerman traded in hopes of boosting the rebuild. But willpower has trumped a weakened lineup.

“Two really big players for our organization and even better friends that we lost, but now we have to move on,” Seider said. “I think it’s even more fun winning without those guys, to show how much character is in that locker room, to really push here towards the end of the season.”

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The real growth this season always was going to be measured now. The 2021-22 Wings let a solid first half deteriorate into a second half marked by ugly blowouts. This season’s squad was dinged by a pair of ugly losses at Ottawa to open the week of the trade deadline, but they seem to have regained their footing. To lose by one goal in Boston — to a team that has lost only 10 times in regulation — and to beat them in Detroit, isn’t shabby. The Bruins are chasing the record for wins (62) set by the 1995-96 Wings, so it’s not like they’re letting up just because they clinched a playoff spot Saturday night. It’s why it was such a valuable lesson for the Wings in the third period, when the Bruins pulled within a goal.

“The one message I had with the group — we are up 4-1 after the second period and we were feeling good about the start of our third,” Lalonde said. “I really thought we were leaning towards scoring our fifth goal. Instead we give up two really easy goals to make it 4-3. That was really disappointing and a little immature of our group, which is fine — we are still trying to grow. But if we are ever going to get somewhere as an organization, we will have to manage that much better. The good teams, the great teams, they manage those much better.”

Larkin pointed to another lesson imparted by late-season hockey: The officiating.

“The way the games are being called is drawing a lot of attention but it is what it is,” he said. “In the playoffs, they don’t call soft penalties, so we are going to have to learn to play through that and just keep building experience. Winning big games is more fun than going out there and not showing up.”

Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.

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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.

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