Red Wings Postgame: Fighting, Winning, Getting Back in Playoff Chase

There was a time not so long ago when you might have gone 201 days before seeing Detroit Red Wings players partake in two fights.

Saturday, it only took 2:01 for it to happen.

During a 2-1 victory over the Boston Bruins at Little Caesars Arena, Alex DeBrincat dropped the gloves with Boston’s Andrew Peeke at the 1:06 mark of the first period. Just 55 seconds later, Detroit’s Austin Watson and Jakub Lauko of the Bruins were trading haymakers.

THE BEAUTIFUL GAME pic.twitter.com/zr1Hak9bn4

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Did those exchanges fire up the Red Wings? Detroit coach Todd McLellan didn’t see it that way. He did believe it helped to add fuel to a fire that was already ignited within his players.

“I thought going into the game, you could feel us have a little more pop, a little more energy,” McLellan said. “The fights just took it up, I guess.”

Certainly, the sight of the 5-foot-8, 180-pound DeBrincat, Detroit’s leading goal scorer with 33, chucking knuckles was a motivator for his teammates.

“It was awesome,” Detroit forward Lucas Raymond said. “I’ve seen Cat chuck ‘em a couple times now, and he’s got some fire in him.”

McLellan didn’t mind one bit seeing his feisty goal-scoring leader leading with his fists.

“That’s part of Cat’s game,” McLellan said. “He’s played that way since he was in junior. He’s played that way through pro. You come to play and you can’t play safe.

“Would we be disappointed that, knock on wood, something happened and he ever got hurt in the scrap? Yeah, but we’re never gonna take that away from him. That’s part of the fabric of who he is. He’s a competitive, competitive individual. And he and Watty energized the group and the arena.”

Red Wings Razor Sharp

Raymond scored for the second straight game. His second-period power-play goal proved to be the game winner. He now has 26 goals on the season.

LUCAS RAYMOND. WHAT A SHOT. 💪

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Last season, as the Red Wings fought for a playoff spot, the man they call Razor was very sharp. Raymond netted seven goals over the final eight regular-season games. If he can rediscover that mojo, it would go a long way toward boosting Detroit’s drive for the second Eastern Conference Wild Card.

Raymond has set a career high with 73 points (26-47-73) through 73 games. He collected 72 points (31-41-72) in 82 games during the 2023-24 campaign. Raymond has tallied 40 points (13-27-40) in 39 games since Dec. 27 vs. Toronto.

He leads all Red Wings skaters in assists (47), points (73) and power play points (35). Raymond has the fourth-most power play points among all NHL skaters behind Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov (40) and the Colorado tandem of Nathan MacKinnon (36) and Martin Necas (36).

Ice Chips

The Red Wings are 3-4 in their last seven games. They’ve allowed one goal or fewer in each of the three victories. Meanwhile, they’ve surrendered four goals or more in each of the four losses . . . Watson played just one shift in the third period. McLellan indicated it was a shortening the bench decision and that Watson wasn’t injured . . . Defenseman Albert Johansson and forward Michael Rasmussen each had seven hits for Detroit.