Detroit Red Wings
Cam Talbot Relief Effort Carries Red Wings to Needed Win
The Detroit Red Wings overcame an injury to John Gibson in the first period with a strong relief appearance by Cam Talbot to down the Nashville Predators 4-2 in a rare weekday matinee game.
Talbot stopped 18 of 19 Nashville shots to earn his first win since Dec. 28. He was 0-2-2 in his four starts since then.
Detroit coach Todd McLellan said Gibson suffered a stinger in the shoulder area and the anticipation is he will be fine moving forward. The Red Wings clearly have to view that as the best possible news because Gibson’s strong season is the primary reason why the Red Wings are in a good position to end a nine-year playoff drought.
The win against the Predators moved the Red Wings back into third place in the Atlantic Division. With 21 games remaining, the Red Wings have 76 points. The Washington Capitals are the best Eastern Conference team currently out of a playoff position. The Capitals are seven points behind Detroit and only have 20 games remaining.
McLellan shook up his lines in an effort to find more goal scoring, and it paid off. The Red Wings had scored two or fewer goals in six of their last seven. This was the first time they have scored four or more since Jan. 28.
Lucas Raymond scored his 20th goal of the season to tie the score 2-2 at 9:45 of the second period. Defenseman Albert Johansson converted a two-on-one break for a shorthanded goal at 16:36 of the period. That proved to be the game-winner.
An Albert Johansson shorty for the people! pic.twitter.com/eU1CpiNpm5
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) March 2, 2026
Takeaways
The Red Wings-Predators game was played at 2 p.m. ET to allow the NHL to broadcast it live in Europe in prime time (8 p.m.). . . Emmitt Finnie, playing on a newly minted line with Marco Kasper and Mason Appleton, scored his first goal in 23 games. . . Detroit’s 19 blocked shots were critical to the win. The Red Wings are the only team in the NHL with more than 1,000 blocks on the season. . . Kasper had two assists in the game, giving him nine points in his past 13 games. Before then, he had six points in 47 games. . . The Red Wings haven’t lost two consecutive games in regulation since the end of November.
Key Moment
On the game-winning goal, the play started in Detroit’s defensive zone with the Red Wings killing a penalty. Check out the video. It looks like Kasper tripped a Predators player. But no call. Kasper carried the puck down the ice and fed Albert Johansson for the GWG. Kasper was named the game’s No. 1 star
Key Stat
Defenseman Ben Chiarot played 23:46 minutes, which gave him more time on ice than any Detroit player, including Moritz Seider. Chiarot posted three hits and four blocked shots.
Up Next
The Red Wings play the Vegas Golden Knights Wednesday at Little Caesars Arena. The game is a 7 p.m. start. The team will have a ceremony to celebrate Patrick Kane becoming the highest scoring American-born player. Plus, Dylan Larkin will be honored for helping USA win a gold medal.
Kasper made contact with the puck first …… great play!
Referee made the right call
It looks like Kasper tripped a Predators player.
I think the refs didn’t call a penalty because the Preds player received a 10 on his back-flip dive by the judges.
Situation #2
Should a tripping penalty be called in every instance when a player falls down, even if the offending player clearly and successfully plays the puck? No.
Rule Reference 639(a: Note) The spirit and intent of the rule is to not penalize situations where the defending player has clearly attempted to and then played the puck with the focus solely being on the puck. In this instance, they should not be penalized for tripping when the opponent trips or falls as a result.
Now we do have human officials making determinations regarding the spirit and intent of the rules so it can break either way. I take solace in the fact that these are the best officials in the game of hockey, or they would not be working NHL games. Will they get it right every time, NO!
However, I think they get it right more often than not, for sure…
PBB
Your absolutely right PBB. A player is allowed to play the Puck even when it’s at another players feet, so not a tripping call situation.
Greetings Wheelers of the Wing,
Well, We Won!
That’s great news. The better news is Gibson just tweaked himself and will be back. When that will be has not yet been determined.
Talbot actually was a goalie for 40 minutes; glory be even a blind squirrel finds an acorn occasionally. A good enough performance to walk away with the “W”.
I think this needs to be a Wake-Up call for management and coaching, Gibson is very much a human and an older human by NHL Goalie standards. We need a relief goalie that can give Gibson at least two maybe a three-game break in rotation.
I know he looked good tonight, but the “Slug” is not that goalie, IMOP.
PBB
Totally wrong Mr. Talbot over 600 NHL games and a winning record .Pls pay more attention to overall team play. It’s really the biggest factor and no goalie can succeed without it.
Finally! 100% correct Tom!
Yet, the codger will blather on name calling for his daily dose of attention.
Tom & the Pool
First to Pool, absolutely I am a codger and proud of it, but so is Talbot, 2nd oldest goalie in the NHL. His skill set displays his age…
Tom, Gibson is flourishing and Talbot is floundering, its the same team behind each of these guys.
600+ games and a winning record. This is the NHL ” Not Here Long” what have you done for me lately? This is playing out in “Realtime” not Pastime…
We all will fall victim to terminsl skills even those of you who persist at being Talbot apologists. It’s time to move on or get moved out of playoff contention.
Talbot is toast, if the Wings and us, their fans continue to rely on this guy’s skills it will be an even decade of no playoffs.
PBB
Knew who was being referenced. Got that going for you.
He was signed for 2 years, 2.5M per. This being the last. Nothing extraordinary. His play certainly doesn’t demand the beating of the dead horse spray painted as mere opinion. There seems to be some thought to the goalie plan.
Carolina is a good team and the Wings didn’t answer the bell as Tom referenced. So, in your opinion (with an extra p) Talbot should kill himself? It seems so… after every game he plays. Give it a rest Mr. Critical.
And if the even decade becomes a decade of strong teams? Your gripes are worthless. Does the world end if the Wings miss the playoffs? Please, please, please let me know oh wise one so I can alert my family to this dire situation.
Pool
Are you related to this guy? Do you have some kind of emotional or financial interest in Talbot being a member of this team?
Forgive me, you sound upset, I am not trying to cause an emotional snap with reality for you and yours.
I am a fan (that means fanatic) of the Red Wings since forever. Being a fanatical fan I’m allowed to criticize my team. Why? Because I am fanatical about my team and I want them to win another Cup, I want them to have the chance to compete for another Cup and they haven’t for the last nine(9) years.
Is that the “End of the World”? No, but for a fan, a true dyed in the Red, Red Wings fan it’s pretty close.
I most certainly don’t want Talbot to kill himself, but I also don’t want his lackluster skills to kill off our season and a chance at the playoffs and they are!
Do the math yourself, if Talbot is in the net there is 70/30% chance we lose. It’s not calculus, just straight math.
PBB
And?
A goalie is a slug/sieve if he only wins 70% of his games? And, a goalie’s wins are his sole achievement?
For starters…
Not really true. Talbot has won 11 games this year and done what they asked. Coach Todd has a history with him from Los Angles and Edm. Coaches seem to trust and go with guys they know. Amything could happen next year. See what happens