Patrick Kane scores 2 historic goals in Red Wings' win vs. Flames
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The Detroit Red Wings found their footing after an unimpressive start and banked a badly needed pair of points.
Patrick Kane scored twice and Alex DeBrincat assisted on three goals as the Wings returned to Little Caesars Arena to face the Calgary Flames om Monday, March 16. The Wings put themselves in a good spot entering the third period, and John Gibson stymied the Flames' push to dent the score, helping the Wings to a 5-2 victory.
Detroit Red Wings playoff picture
The Wings (37-23-8, 82 points) won for the first time in more than a week, improving to 82 points in the standings with 14 games remaining and moving into a points tie with Atlantic Division third-place team Montreal, though the Canadiens, idle on Monday, have played two fewer games. The Wings remain in a wild-card spot along with the Boston Bruins, who faced the New Jersey Devils on Monday night as well. The Wings are eight points back of the Atlantic leaders, the Buffalo Sabres, who are trying to end the NHL’s longest playoff drought.
Next up for the Red Wings
It was the first of four straight games at home, with the next three coming against divisional opponents. Next up are those Canadiens on Thursday (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Detroit). After that, it’s the Bruins on Saturday and the Ottawa Senators on March 24.
Extinguishing the Flames, eventually
The Flames are well out of the playoff picture in the Western Conference, and played with the looseness that that affords. The Wings, on the other hand, did not have a good first period, giving up odd-man rushes, squandering two power plays, and unable to generate much in the way of solid scoring chanes against Dustin Wolf.
They fell behind with 2:25 to go in the first period when Morgan Frost tipped Matvei Gridin's shot behind John Gibson, part of an 11-8 shot advantage for the Flames in the first 20 minutes.
Patrick Kane adds to history
It took a breakaway by Patrick Kane to get the Wings on the board. He scored his 11th goal of the season a minute into the second period. Sprung by Alex DeBrincat and with the ice wide open in front, Kane raced to the slot and flipped a forehand shot into Calgary's net for a 1-1 score. The goal was No. 503 in his career, breaking a tie with Joe Mullen for the fourth-most goals by a U.S.-born skater. The only U.S.-born skaters with more goals? Jeremy Roenick with 513, Keith Tkachuk with 538 and former Red Wing (and metro Detroit native) Mike Modano, with 561.
The WIngs had just killed off a penalty when they scored a go-ahead goal, with Emmitt Finnie redirecting Albert Johansson's shot from just outside the crease. David Perron, acquired the day before the March 6 trade deadline, was denied on a chance on the next shift as the Wings gained momentum. Kane made good at 5:37, extending his stick to flip the puck into Calgary's net for goal No. 504 and a 3-1 Wings lead at 6:37. That didn't last long, however, as Matt Coronato got one back for the Flames at within a minute when his shot went in off Moritz Seider.
A third power play finally yielded a goal, with Seider rifling the puck from the top of hte right circle to make it 4-2 at 11:15 of the second period. Dominik Shine added his second goal of the season with 65 seconds to play in the third period when he scored into an empty net.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings enjoy some 'Showtime' in 5-2 win over Calgary Flames
