Quite Frankly, Red Wings Needed That Win

Down 2-0 to the Toronto Maple Leafs after one period on Saturday, the Detroit Red Wings were dangling perilously close to another debacle.

“Obviously, going down 2-0 and them scoring on the first shot on goal was not part of the plan,” Detroit coach Todd McLellan said. “And at that point, we’d given up seven straight goals.”

Give up another goal, go down to another one-sided defeat similar to their season-opening 5-1 loss to Montreal, and it’s not a reach to imagine the entire season going off the rails.

Instead, they rallied. The Red Wings scored six of the game’s remaining seven goals and wound up whipping the Maple Leafs 6-3.

Big 2 points.#UltraMoments | @MichelobUltra pic.twitter.com/pt2j4WhYeR

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 12, 2025

Is it silly to suggest that Game 2 of the NHL season was a must-win game? On the surface, yes, it would be.

And yet, there was a nagging sense that another one-sided setback on home ice could send this team spiraling downward.

That was certainly how Red Wings forward Patrick Kane saw things unfolding.

“Yeah, I think when I see that empty-net (goal) go in by Simon (Edvinsson to make it 5-3), there’s definitely a feeling of relief,” Kane said.

Red Wings Are A Resilient Bunch

Marco Kasper’s goal to narrow Toronto’s lead to 2-1 won’t go down as the biggest goal of the Red Wings’ season.

It is, however, the biggest goal of the season so far.

Kasper gets the #RedWings on the board with his 1st of the year. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/2pzqZmhg9C

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 12, 2025

“Just prior to that, they had a deflection in our end that almost went in again,” McLellan said. “That would have certainly been deflating.

“Could we overcome it? I’m not sure.

“Marco’s goal turned the tide for us.”

For a team whose mental toughness was rightly questioned following their fold-up-the-tents approach in Game 1, digging in and battling back sent a vital message that should resonate throughout the group. McLellan credited his squad for not embracing the “woe is me” attitude after coming out of their second straight opening period of the season staring down a two-goal deficit.

“You find yourself down 2-0, it’s a little disappointing,” Kane said. “But I think it speaks volumes of the group with kind of just what we went through the past couple of days, not being at the top of our game and not having a great start.

“But to bounce back, being down 2-0 and come out of the second being up 3-2, is obviously an ideal situation for us.

“I know it’s two games into the season, but we proved we can turn the corner when we face that adversity.”