The coaching change to Todd McLellan is proving successful for the Detroit Red Wings as they prepare for Thursday night’s road game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Red Wings have won two of their last three games, including back-to-back victories since McLellan took over from Derek Lalonde on Dec. 26. Detroit won 4-2 against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, giving McLellan his 600th career win as a coach.
“It was more about this group than it is about me,” McLellan said after the win. “There are so many excited guys in there and happy guys right now. Just the whole mood is different than when we started, and that means more than the 600. Some of those guys weren’t even alive (when McLellan started his career), so it doesn’t matter to them.”
J.T. Compher broke a 2-2 tie with a goal at 5:34 left, and Dylan Larkin added an empty-net goal. Jonatan Berggren and Patrick Kane also scored, and Alex Lyon made 23 saves.
McLellan has said that NHL games are often decided by the first team to reach three goals, giving them a strong chance of winning.
“I definitely think he’s right,” Lyon said about McLellan’s theory. “But there’s a process. Getting that first one tonight is massive, and if you can put one on the board, it creates a huge advantage. That’s the recipe in this league — you have to score and be smart and play the game the right way.”
Berggren gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead 7:52 into the game.
“A fine line of attacking, but still playing smart at the same time,” Lyon said.
The Blue Jackets have won three of their last four games, including a 4-3 shootout victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in Columbus on Tuesday.
Kent Johnson and Adam Fantilli scored in the shootout, while Elvis Merzlikins stopped two of the four Hurricanes shooters.
“It’s a great result,” said Kirill Marchenko. “I think everybody wants to win (in) three periods, but it’s a great win. Great comeback and gives confidence for us, like everybody play hard today, and it’s awesome. Everybody enjoyed today.”
Dmitri Voronkov tied the game 3-3 with 15:02 left in the third period after assisting on an earlier goal. Marchenko scored twice, Sean Monahan added three assists, and Merzlikins stopped 32 shots.
“Wonderful sign, obviously, moving forward, that we’ve handled adversity up to this point, and now you’re going to have to handle a lot more, right?” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said.
“But to do it against a team like Carolina, which is so good, and to put so much heat on us — we didn’t handle it in some areas, but at the end of the day, we get the job done. And, yeah, we were resilient. We stayed the course.”
Defenseman Zach Werenski had an assist, extending his home point streak to 13 games.
“Any team in this league can win on any night, but I think our mindset is to come in, it doesn’t matter who we’re playing or what the situation is. We’re going out there trying to get two points,” Monahan said.
